Phoebe's Story

This ugly little pup who was unwanted and unloved for so long, is now an incredibly happy, well-adjusted, self-controlled dog

- Lisa Nel

This is not just Phoebe’s story – it could be the story of every dog. Well, that’s what I believe.

I lost my very precious Great Dane, Schmeichel, in June 2017 to a traumatic and awful disease, Megaesophagus. I was absolutely devastated, and it took over a year for me to even begin thinking that I might get another dog. To be honest, I was only going to get another dog because everyone said my remaining dog, Snoopy, was lonely.

One day I saw a post on Facebook, shared by my animal rescuer friend Patti (who’s also on the editorial team of Canine Zone), of a six-month-old pup at SPCA Vereeniging. Well, this little girl was just stuck in my head, and I couldn’t get her off my mind. I loved her floppy ears (little did I know they wouldn’t stay floppy, but anyway) and her strange, “ugly” look which clearly put prospective adopters off. Eventually I sent her picture to my mom, who immediately said: “That’s your dog!”

I messaged Patti after two days of very careful thought and said, “I think I’m going to adopt this girl.” Well, Patti was in tears! I didn’t know how close she was to euthanasia and how hard Patti had tried – she’d all but lost hope. I immediately called and “booked” this pup and drove through the next morning with Snoops for a little meet-and-greet. Well, it was a whirlwind!! This puppy was super high-energy and being stuck in a cage all day meant that being let out for a meet-and-greet was anything but that. I’d planned to take photos of her, but all I got was blurred streaks – Snoops just stood aside and waited patiently for the hooligan to go away! I, however, had decided that she was definitely coming home with me.