Bessie is dog number 6. A very frightened little girl, that took us a long time to get near. It was all down to Mino's perseverance, and he eventually had her eating from his hand. Till this day, she is still "his girl." Bessie was already in pup when we got her, and our vet thought she was too far gone to terminate. So Bessie gave birth to 6 pups on June 22nd 2004. Mino's birthday! We had her spayed after the pups.She is still very wary around strangers,and who can blame her.

Scruffy was dog number 7. He ,Bessie and Bobby were three dogs that lived together. Their owner had died and his son was supposedly taking care of the dogs. He left the dogs in the old mans house, which was practically falling down. They had to scavenge for food. Scruffy was a real challenge for me,he was unapproachable.I loved him at first sight and was determined to get close. Again, perseverance paid off,he used to come for food,but wait until we had gone before he ate it,slowly he became less afraid,until he was so friendly,we had to take him home with us!! We had four good years with him. He also had Leishmanoise, but was successfully cured, only to be killed on the road in February 2006. I miss my little boy till this day.I did not have Scruffy neutered, had I ,he might still be alive today!

Meet Bicki. He was dumped right outside of our gate in the summer of 2006 aged about 2 months. What else was there to do but to take him in. He is a Pastore Maremanno, an Italian sheepdog. There are many of them here . He has turned out to be a very handsome young man, with a lovely personality.He is a huge and very strong dog. Number 10, Bicki is still intact.

Update:My beautiful Bicki was rehomed in September 2008,fortunatley to Mino's daughter,Manuela, who fell in love with Bicki the moment she saw him,so we get regular updates on him. Manuela lives in Genova, in the north of Italy. He is the only dog now and is thoroughly enjoying his life and is so spoilt!

Piccina used to follow one of the local men, she was always very friendly when she saw us, mostly Mino, but was always very hungry.We also saw her in season twice, being followed by all the dogs in the area.She is such a tiny little thing we felt sorry for her. We had her spayed, and after her op, brought her home to recover.Of course, she did not want to go back, so she stayed. Such a happy little  girl.Number 12

Teddy just turned up one day, again outside of our gate. I think we must have a sign somewhere in doggy language, saying "all welcome".He had hardly any fur on him, he was pink and stank to high heaven. He had a terrible skin disease. We took him to our vet ,who diagnosed rogna rossa. I think,in English that is "Red Mange"....Mino had to give him two injections over the course of a month,and several baths with a special shampoo. His fur grew back with a vengeance. it is now really thick. Number 13.Teddy is still intact but really needs neutering!

Update: Teddy has been rehomed to a very good friend of ours and now lives very happily in Suffolk. Well done Teddy XX

This is Doby. During a really bad thunder storm, Mino found Doby huddled against our wall. shivering with the cold and drenched to the skin.We had seen him around, he was left here last summer, probably got too old for someone and replaced with a pup!He is very obedient, but we cannot interact him with our big dogs. He does not mind the small ones, but fights with the three big ones, so has to be kept separate, and taken out on his own, or with the smaller ones..Its pretty hard work! Number 16 .Doby is still intact.

On 6th March 2008 Doby was knocked down and killed instantly outside our house. At least we know he spent his last few months with love and a full belly! Bless you Doby x

Please meet Roxy . She and her sister Milly we found whilst out walking. Roxy was covered in ticks and very hungry. They followed us home. The first thing we did was to apply Advantix, to kill the parasites . Roxy is a little bundle of fluff.

We were so lucky to re home Roxy along with her sister,what lucky girls.

Roxy has been adopted and now lives in Southampton,England with her new Mum Jackie,along with her sister Milly.

This is Milly,Roxy's sister,she was the cheekier one of the two. Milly likes to go on walks with all the others, where as Roxy is still a little afraid. Two delightful little girls.Both of these girls are beng adopted and going to live in England. Please read about it on their own page!

This adoption took place on 19th December 2008 ,and I am pleased to report the girls have settled in very nicely to their new life in the UK.

This is Peggy.

She was a poor stray dog in our village that we saw around from time to time.We noticed Peggy was becoming thin and decided to keep a closer eye on her.The day came when we both decided she had leishmanoise, so we took her to the vet. We were right she was diagnosed with Leishmanoise. We are currently treating her with medication, and although much improved Peggy is far from well, she has a very long road to recovery.But she is decidedly happy, she loves being in a home and for the first time in her life she knows a bit of love. Bless you Peggy

Update: Peggy has become our miracle girl,you would not recognise her as the pathetic little figure in this picture.You will find a current photos of Peggy in the photo section and in Val's Diary!

This is Dulcie, she had four legs when we first met her, but sadly had to have a back leg amputated. Read about it on her own page. Dulcie has now been spayed,courtesy of Angela Rain,dogwhisperer,thank you Angela x

Another great sadness in our lives,Dulcie contracted Gastro Enteritis and died on the 8th March 2009. We miss you Dulcie.Sweet dreams xx

Meet Poppy. I found her in the middle of the road, looking towards my front gate. As a quite a few of you are aware , its a horrible road. She had a lot of little bumps all over her head and body. A visit to the vets confirmed it was an allergy to some grass or other, and a mild dose of cortisone has completley cured her. He thought her then to be about four months old.Poppy has now been spayed ,courtesy of Sue Protheroe,susie 78,thank you so much Sue x

Poppy has become one of the most beautiful of all our dogs!

Come and say hello to Patch.We have known this little dog for over three years. He is a stray, that atached himself to a local man, the same man as Piccina used to follow.Whenever we could we used to feed Patch. A couple of months ago Patch was found with a badly swollen and messy tongue.It was thought he had drunk acid....He was taken to the local kennels where he was treated, but unfortunately they also found he had Leishmanoise, which is also being treated. As the kennels are full, we have brought Patch home, to finish the last month of his treatment.That was three months ago,Patch is still here! 

Update: Patch has been taken off his medication as he has done so well. His coat is now amazing. See a recent photo of him in the photo section and Val's Diary!

Further Update:  Poor Patch was killed in November 2011,we are so sorry Patch,we miss you XXX

This is Nana,he is a poor boy that ,because of his size and disability, was being stoned and kicked in a neighbouring village. Nana is the size of an Irish Wolfhound and is a little deformed.But he has a wonderfully sweet nature.He has these eyes that are almost human,and when he looks at you,well they would melt the hardest heart!!He suffers quite badly with stiff joints,and is at present being tested for Leishmanoise as he is loosing his coat in big patches.

Nana's test was positive,he has Leishmanoise,and is now being treated with daily tablets

Update: Nana is now fine and eats like a horse! He weighs over 65 kilo's.

Meet Paddy.Some people who lived not far from us owned Paddy.Then just before Christmas one year they moved away,leaving the dog in the garden. Hard to imagine isn't it. Paddy, of course ,when he got hungry found a way out of the garden,and down to our gate. But there was no way we could tempt him in.For many months we fed him outside the gate. It took a long time,but eventually he became brave enough to enter the garden. Then there was no looking back.

Meet Dottie ,she is the tiniest dog we have. We found her with a fractured back leg,such a tiny wee thing to be abandoned,all alone and so very frightened.Our vet plastered her little leg ,and it has since come off,and she seems fine....... Dottie is so small,she weighs 2.3 kilo's

Update on Dottie: Her leg has healed like brand new,she is a adorable,loves playing with Squirt and also the big dogs,but still remaims very nervous. She now weighs 4.5 kilo's .She is Minos darling!

This is Gyp. Gyp came to stay with us in August for two months in 2009,its now 2010 and he is still here. We took Gyp against my better judgement. I really had said "no more"! But we were promised that it would not be for long. Of course it goes without saying Gyp will be going nowhere now. He was a very frightened little dog. Despite our best efforts after all this time he still is. Mino is not able to approach him,I can,but he just rolls himself up into a ball. Makes me wonder what this dog has gone through. Gyp was 1 year old in September 2009

This is Janey,we found her starving not far from where we live,she had clearly recently had pups,which we eventually found. She had six,four males and two femles,all identical. We brought them all home here with us,and after a few weeks the puppies went to a local kennel,who had homes for them. It is so much easier to re home puppies than older dogs!

Janey remains with us ,and has settled in like she was born here. She is great friends with Gyp and Poppy and also little Rags!

Rags is a dear little chap that Mino found abandoned near us. He was seen being thrown from a car,he has a slight problem with his hip,so we are guessing this is why he was dumped. Why are people so vile to animals? He was about 4 months old when we took him. Not long after taking him,I brought another puppy home,a little pointer.They becames best buddies,then Tinker became very ill with a very contagious disease called haemorraghic gastroenteritis and died,the same day Rags became sick with it. He was extremley ill for a week,where it was touch and go,but he was a much stronger pup,and with our nursing he pulled through.  Way to go Ragster!

Update:   Lucky Rags was rehomed ,and now lives very happy in Leeds with his new family .

This is Tinker,a sweeter more lovable puppy you could not find. For me it was love at first sight,he was delightful. We found him by the rubbish bins scavenging. I have never in my life before seen so many ticks on one dogs. The inside of his ears were smothered in them,it was horrific. But within 24 hours we had got rid of them. After 10 days Tinker became very sick and within 24 hours had dies,despite ours and our vets best efforts. He had haemorraghic gastroenteritis,a most ghastly disease,of a parvo form.

We only had you for 10 days sweetheart,but within those days you knew our love, Rags friendship,and what it was like never to be hungry.

It was just not fair,for you to die so young,from such a horrible disease!

Our very good friend Bob called us in April,for us to please come and look at a dog! Oh my,when we saw him,well words fail me,he was literally a skeleton covered with patchy fur,the poor boy. We of course brought him home.We called him Bob. He was a Bretton,a hunting dog. He clearly had Leishmanoisi,it was as clear as if he had had it stamped on his forehead.He had a course of injections and tablets ,after which he looked like a different dog. He has since been adopted and lives in Genoa,what a result. He is in seventh heaven!

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Ellen is a female with a lot of Dalmation in her. She is delightful. We found her and her sister/mother not far from where we live. They had made their home besides some wheelie bins on an old materess. Mino would go and feed them daily,and because it was summer,he would go three times a day with water.The older dog had clearly had puppies quite recently,but we never found them. We continued with our daily visits,the dogs were always so pleased to see us. We called them Alice and Ellen,as they looked like twins,and Alice and Ellen were a famous twins ,a variety act here during the 60' and 70's.One day when we went Ellen was on her own,no sign  of Alice. We looked all over the place for her,I can only hope someone took her,if she had died to the road,we never found her body. Ellen started doing something quite out of character for her,she started running after our car. So we ended up bringing her home,she is a delightful dog,probably only a year old.We now need to find Ellen a forever home.

Next to arrive was Lupo a GSD x. Mino found him in an awful state by the roadside,he was thin,dirty,and full of fleas and ticks,he didnt look as if he had eaten in a long time. He brought him home.

A few weeks after,when he was clean and had put alot of weight on,we rehomed him. Mino went back to see Lupo a couple of weeks later and found him tethered to a chain,where he had been since he had left him,he immediatley released him,opened the car door and Lupo jumped straight in. The horrible man said,OK thats fine,he wasn't vicious enough for me anyway!!!! Lupo you had a lucky escape. But again we do need to find him a good home.

The last arrival is Abbie.We were asked to take a look at this tiny puppy,by some local people. When we saw her,she looked as if she couldn't possibly survive.She was very tiny,and had been mauled by a bigger dog.She was quite lame when she started to walk. We took her straight away to the vets,he kept her in for several days,then we brought her home and she has gone from strength to strength,but remains slightly lame,although it doesn't stop her from running and playing.She is a lovely young dog and we need to find her a forever home.

These should really have been at the top of the page as we had these two before we had any dogs! Meet my big beautiful Hank, he and Minnie are brother and sister. And yes, Hank rules the roost in this house.His first playmate was Sparky, as Sparky was only six months old, then he played with Puppy Bill, now its Squirt, they play and play. Squirt drags hank along with his teeth. Its so funny to watch them rolling around together. i am sure hank thinks he is a dog!

In April 2008, Hank was hit by a car, and suffered a puncutured lung from a broken rib, and a broken tail, which he had amputated. I am pleased to say he is fine again after a worrying time with him.

Update:Hank was recently diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and has been very poorly,but at this moment seems stabalised.So we are sincerley hoping he will be OK.Further Update: Our wonderful boy,was killed on the road on June 5th 2011  Bless you Sweetheart XX

This is our sweet and gorgeous Minnie she is so lovely, all fat and cuddly. The two of them are so good, with all the dogs we have brought into their home, and they are so close to each other. They will both give a dog a smack if needed. Where Hank plays with some of the dogs, Minnie will not.

Minnie was attacked by a dog in May 2009 and nearly lost her life.She made a remarkable recovery with our nursing and is again a picture of health.Although she is no longer close to her brother,for some reason since they have both been ill they have grown apart,such a shame..

This is Sbirulino,he was found abandoned by his mother when he was just a couple of weeks old. We have bottle fed him and he is turning into a beautiful little kitten.There was a time when I did not think he would make it. But just look at him, he is gorgeous. Nerina became his foster mum! Sbirulino has now been neutered.

Update: He is now a huge ,absolutley lovely natured young male cat.We adore him.

Further Update: Our beautiful boy was killed on the road on 17th January 2010. We miss him so much,another whole in our hearts.