Leia

My story

In the middle of summer, I was dumped at the rubbish tip with my two siblings. Sadly, one of them died and the other one was rescued when somebody came to drop off their rubbish. The lady found my brother first as he was lying on the floor wailing in terror. When I saw her pick him up, I came out of the woodwork and was picked up too. We were terrified, boiling hot and terribly thirsty. We didn’t know where our mum was and we were literally a day or two old. We were taken to the vet and then back to our new home. As we were so young, we needed to be bottle-fed every two hours. My brother wasn’t very strong as he’d been out in the heat since we’d been dumped and after a few days he couldn’t keep his milk down. I was heartbroken to see him like this as we’d been through so much in these last few days. He was rushed to the vet where the lady tried to save him, but he just couldn’t keep any milk down and was struggling to breathe. The kindest thing to do was to put him to sleep, so despite everybody’s best efforts, my sweet brother, Pubert, only lived for four days. We brought him home, and I visit him every day.



Pubert and I.



Opus checking on me after Pubert had left us.

I drank and drank and soon became stronger. I had to be kept indoors of course as I had no mum, so even though I could hear the dogs that lived here, the first companions I met were cats. The strangest one was a cat called Opus as he had no eyes. I wasn’t sure whether this was what all cats looked like, but then I met Earl and Ferris and realised it wasn’t. Opus became my best friend and the only cat that wasn’t afraid of me when I started to run about the place. We had great fun but sometimes I got carried away and had to be reminded that Opus was a cat not a dog.

I grew up around cats and then I met the dogs. I was quite nervous as they were all bigger than me but Peanut and Pepper took me under their wing, and I soon met the whole tribe.

Life today

Despite my bark, I am a good-natured dog, fiercely loyal to my owners and protective of the cats who are my family. I love to play with all the dogs and I even tolerate Happy coming into my territory in the evenings. However, if he dares to move during the night I bark the place down. Just so he remembers who’s the boss around here.

I have a strange condition, which means I can only eat certain food. I’m not sure whether I once ate something that had a terrible lasting effect on my digestive system, or whether I always had an intolerance but it was only activated recently. I had the pleasure of an endoscopy which basically confirmed this intolerance so I have to be on special food. Boooooooooooooooo! You wouldn’t know there was anything wrong with me though as I have so much energy I have to do laps around the house just for starters!

My future

I’m waiting for the next new arrival as we seem to be running a hotel for cats. It’s great though as they are all so different. To name a few, I get on really well with Popcorn, Ripley and Ferris, but I tend to steer clear of Floyd and Benson. I don’t know why but I like to stalk Edward, yet when we’re outside, I get on fine with him. Cats!

Stats

My estimated age on arrival in 2020: two days.
In July 2020 I weighed 2.1 kg.
In October 2023 I weighed 24.5 kg.

I am neutered, and fully vaccinated.

Star Qualities

I am the most loyal dog you will ever come across. I am fiercely protective of my owners and all the other residents that live here.

I love to play catch and am a pro at jumping up and catching the ball in my mouth. When I’m let out of the house in the morning, I tear around the property, like my bum is on fire.

Believe it or not, I am very obedient. I have stopped jumping over the wall to chase passing traffic, but you can’t stop me chasing off strangers. Well, what else am I here for?

Habits

I bark at everyone and everything. I have been known to scare people away if they dare to walk past the gate, while others are more tolerant of me.

I like to place my ball at my owners’ feet and stare at it until they throw it. I can stare at it for hours. It’s my favourite game.

Any time I have to go to the vets, I sit at the back of the car and bark at every moving car, person or animal – all the way there and all the way back. I’m quite tired by the time we get back home and need to lie down.