From Polly Mathewson
‘Dear Friends of our beautiful shy podenco brothers CAMILO & ELOY, if you have missed the boys do enjoy a little sit down to enjoy seeing what they have been up to this week.
Read on if you’d like more detailed news, but in any case please share their post all you can so their loving adoptive family can see them!! We know those wonderful people are out there SOMEWHERE, who will fall in love head over heals with our sweet two. Two absolute soulmate hounds in the making for you.
Our brave lads continue to do so well as they strive to get over their fear of humans and the terrible trauma of seven years spent invisible just existing – not living – within four sad walls. This week they had FOUR of their best friends to help them, and the particular focus has been to see how Eloy is doing on his pain medication for his severe spondylosis and to tentatively start the boys getting used to their harnesses. Once comfortable with a harness and lead their lives can start to get bigger. Fun in the countryside awaits!
All thanks as ever to their two temporary local Mums Christiane and Stacey for their dedicated daily visits to the boys, and it is great Stacey is able to get there again now lockdown has loosened a bit. And this week they were joined again by Rosana vet-behaviourist and Pilar trainer to do an assessment of Eloy’s movement and to work with the harnesses. Although Eloy is moving a bit better he is still stiff (you can see this in the first video, while smaller Cami is running around). It’s especially evident around his neck, so we are increasing the pain medicine a bit, and adding a muscle relaxant. Wonderfully in the second video you can see Eloy (larger with purple collar) in high spirits barking and bouncing about. So he is definitely feeling better than before any treatment, when we had no idea the boys were suffering from this condition. Cami remains just on supplements as his spondylosis is not so advanced. The third video shows the boys getting comfy with Stacey again and also to her sitting in the chair we have added into the kennels so the boys get used to new things in preparation for a home.
You can see Camilo cheekily licking Stacey’s knee! The next videos show Pilar carefully putting on the harnesses. The boys were very fearful and so she and Rosana didn’t fuss Camilo by adjusting his to fit closely. This will come next time when Stacey and Christiane continue working with the harnesses. So you can see Cami a bit bothered by his red harness being too large in the run. But we felt really happy that this is a big step on, that they managed to have them put on at all! Eloy seems quite at ease wearing his fine purple outfit. If you scroll on you can see him enjoying time fishing treats out of the kong, and then the lovely new squishy duvet and blanket bedding kindly gifted by Rosana!
What lucky pods with all this love, and our thanks always to every single person who is helping them in different ways – with the amazing recent WHM auction, going shopping on our Invisibles page (I will update the shop for next week – we will have some LOVELY new things to buy on there), the 4 PodGodMums helping with the boys’ monthly kennel costs – Courtney, Chris, Marissa and Deborah – and so many others for your kind donations and care.
But even though our two now have so much help from us all, close by or further afield and so appreciate this, the reality is the brothers are STILL in kennels. They desperately need that elusive forever family who will really change their world. Please get in touch with me their third temporary Mum Polly Mathewson if you spot our two and would love them to join your family. You would need to be a podenco-experienced home with an understanding of fearful timid dogs, have a lot of patient time and huge amounts of love to give, plus very high fences! Being in a home environment would help Eloy and Camilo take bigger strides on, and they would be much happier, but it will likely take a good while until they are at all confident.
The boys must stay together. They have been each others moon and sun for all their lives, lived in one sad situation or another. The journey ahead shared with the boys would not be speedy or always simple, but it would be guaranteed rich and wonderful. As you can see the brothers are two of the loveliest souls you could be blessed to meet and share your life with.
Please enjoy the videos and please do share their post all you can. Thank you from our Eloy and Camilo to you all