THE ACE-SHIN ENGLISH BLOG : Happy Dogs. Happy Families. Happy Endings.

Here are a few photos and some extracts from the many letters and emails sent by some of our adoptive families to tell us about their beloved A.C.E. dogs, to let us know how they are getting on in their new homes and golden baskets. This is why we are able to keep on, despite the very real difficulties and problems we face every day.

Every day dogs arrive at El Refugio abused, bedraggled, spirits crushed and shivering with fear. Several times a week we arrive in the morning to find some poor creature tied to our gates. We watch helpless as a dumped dog sits every day by the entrance, pining for a boss who is not coming back. We rescue them from the cruel, horrible killing stations and find them half dead by the roadside, after they've been thrown from a car.

And then this. The happy endings. This is what it is all about. It's heartwarming to see dogs we've rescued and cared for happy and healthy. To see them begin to get over their fears. To see them loved and adored and part of a family again. That's what makes it all worthwhile. We don't always know their stories, in fact mostly we don't. So I don't now if any of the dogs pictured suffered in the ways outlined above. It's possible, but then again their stories might be completely different. The only thing that matters now is that they are home. And loved. Forever.

Sharpi

Sharpi is already getting used to his new life. He's already been with us on an overnight sail on the boat. Which went perfectly. He's a sweetheart and is adapting well. He still finds strange people and unknown dogs a bit scary but he will get over that in time. We don't want to miss a moment with him.

Sincerely,
Cora

Mariëlle

Hello good people of A.C.E.

We are very happy with Marielle. She is a lovely dog and a real cuddle. She loves to play with our puppy Makay; they have become the best of friends. We also have her tested for Spanish disease (Leishmania?) and she has none. We really can not live without her. She likes to play outside all day with the tennis ball and she enjoys going for walks. She's getting totally spoiled here; at night she sleeps in the living room where she has a large basket. But she'd still rather stretch out on the couch! That's where you'll find her early in the morning!

We want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to adopt Mariëlle.

Greetings from the Denissen family.

Zoey

Arriving at Rotterdam Airport - everything new and strange.

Zoey's family had a big shock last December when they found that their dear little Lizzy was beyond saving and had to be put to sleep. When they got home their Shepherd, Buddy, searched for her for days and became extremely depressed. Despite their own grief at losing Lizzy, they needed to take care of Buddy. So they began to look for a small, young sweet companion for him.

They found her on the A.C.E. site. She was called Ninfa, which they have changed to Zoey. Such big eyes, such wonderful eyes. They were in love. They read up about A.C.E. and asked other people who knew of us, and also friends and acquaintance who had A.C.E. dogs. They found the contact easy to make and everything went nice and smoothly. Erne Beckx arranged and made the home visit on 9th January. Then they had to wait. Zoey was in heat for the first time and so needed to be sterilised after that.

And, finally, it was time. On 7th February we were able to pick her up in Rotterdam. For the first few days she was quite scared of the 'big freak', our Buddy, who didn't give up on her and kept trying. After a few days the ice was broken. What a joy to see these two together - sleeping, eating, playing. together at home and in the woods and the forest. They also find it fun to play with other dogs, yapping and going crazy. Zoey goes to sleep between Buddy's legs, warm and secure. And in the morning she does crazy things, challenging him, wanting him to play. Buddy is happy again, thus this has been a success.

Even the cats are great with her. Zita, at 15 years old, was stoic. 'What do you expect!' Nica, who is white and grey and almost 10, kept her distance for several weeks, watching cautiously. But now they both find it really fun to play with each other. It took some time for Zoey to be fully potty trained, but now that's been entirely successful. For the last 10 days it's been fine, even at night. No accidents in the house at all.

We will post pictures regularly of all the adventures of our group - to tell the story of Zoey, Buddy, Nica and Zita. We are all so very happy with this "golden hand". Zoey has been with us for nearly four months and we definitely wouldn't want to live without her.