By Claudia Ferrerira
About 4 yrs ago we begun our search for a dog and looking into the responsibilities that come with being a dog owner in the UK. We’d grown up surrounded by dogs but living in and bringing dogs up in Africa is very a different process and environment in regard to space and weather etc. They were primarily our guard dogs and lived in kennels outdoors. Our dogs in the UK are way more spoilt and I’m not ashamed to say they have prime spot on the sofa!!! When we started our search, we begun looking at dog rescue centres but found it difficult to find a suitable dog as we have two cats, and a high percent of rescues are not cat friendly. That lead us to doing a 180 and researching dog breeds and puppies. We’d never heard of the Portuguese Pointer, even though we are Portuguese but fell in love with the breed having visited Crufts and Discover Dog at the ExCel centre in London. Through the knowledge we gained having visited these shows, we begin following the PP Facebook page and found a litter that gave us our first PP, Rocco. It was a great experience bonding with and training a puppy, sometimes successfully and it still continues, but we couldn’t shake our longing to give a dog in need a home. We also wanted a play mate for Rocco but by this point we were so in love with the breed that we were conflicted with which way to go – another PP puppy or rescue another breed? It wasn’t long before our answer came along, again via the Facebook PP page, at the beginning of 2020. An article was posted by the Not For Profit Organisation Pointers In Need, who mostly re-home English Pointers from main land Europe. However, this article was about a PP in the UK who needed a new home due to his owners deteriorating health. She was his second owner and rescued him at 6 months from a family who brought him from Portugal but couldn’t give him a good home. The bonus for us was that he was fine with the family cat. We immediately expressed our interest as it ticked the cat friendly, rescue and PP boxes and after phone interviews, house check and form filling we were able to meet Judge with Rocco, luckily just before the first lockdown, to make sure they would be compatible. We needn’t worry as they are 6 months apart in age and matched in energy and enthusiasm and got on like a house on fire from the moment they met. We’re not going to pretend that its been plain sailing. The first week was tough whilst we all adjusted and to make matters worse Judge had digestive issues for at least the first 6 months that we still have to watch and his basic training was lacking including recall of which there was none. He’s also not so good with our cats. He’s had to learn the hard way to give our cats space. They definitely made him know who’s boss. But with time, patience and continuous training he’s making small improvements. It’s a continuous process but we can’t imagine our home without him now as he’s brought us so much joy, we just hope he’s as happy to live with us as we are to have him. Pointers in Need were very professional and helpful with Judge’s adoption but our Facebook PP community are really the ones we have to thank with all the support we have received. A special mention to Ian for taking the time out to assist with the adoption and to Mark Taylor for all the time he’s spent on the phone and texting to help with tips and resources to assist with Judge’s training. We don’t show our dogs, just your standard pet owner but we’ve owned about half a dozen different breeds before stumbling on the PP and maybe a bit biased, but they are the best dog breed ever. And if you’re thinking of a rescue PP, then please check Pointers in Need and please do your homework as any rescue will undoubtedly need additional attention, patience and training so be prepared. It is less daunting and been way more rewarding than we thought. Looking forward to our next PP group walk where we can finally introduce Judge and fingers crossed he will be off lead and well socialised by then.
Thanks to Claudia for sharing her story