Dilly - From a Towel to a Forever Home
Dilly - From a Towel to a Forever Home
When Dilly came into rescue, everything she had in the world came with her.
It was a towel. No bed. No favourite toy. No bag of belongings. No little
comforts that smelled of home. Just Dilly and her towel.
We had been alerted by one of our supporters after seeing that Dilly was being given away for free online. Giving a dog away for free can leave them incredibly
vulnerable. We had no way of knowing who might take her, where she might end up or what her future would look like. So, we knew we had to act quickly.
The journey to safety
It was a late, cold winter evening, and Dilly wasn’t just around the corner, but one of our incredible volunteers got in the car and travelled a long distance to collect a little dog they had never met, simply because she needed someone to come for her.
Rescue doesn’t always happen at convenient times. Sometimes it means changing plans, getting in the car when you’d normally be settling down for the evening and driving mile after mile through the dark and cold. And that’s exactly what our volunteer did for Dilly.
When they finally reached her, there was something heartbreaking about seeing this little dog begin a completely unknown journey with so little to call her own.
That long drive back wasn’t simply a transport run. It was Dilly’s journey to safety.
Waiting for her at the other end was another member of our team who had agreed, at incredibly short notice, to give Dilly somewhere warm and safe to sleep while we found a longer-term foster placement.
That first night, Dilly was frightened and unsettled. Her foster slept on the sofa
beside her crate, with her hand through the bars so Dilly could feel that somebody was there.
She stayed beside her, offering the one thing Dilly needed most in that moment -reassurance that she wasn’t alone.
Just hours earlier, Dilly’s future had been completely uncertain. Now, someone had driven miles through the cold and dark to make sure she was safe, and someone else was sleeping beside her so she wouldn’t have to be frightened on her own.
Learning to feel safe
After 5 days in emergency foster care Dilly moved to a wonderful foster family who cared for her over Christmas. She carried anxieties with her that couldn’t be fixed overnight. She needed patience, understanding and time. With the help of one of our volunteer behaviourists, her foster family worked gently with her, helping her navigate the things she found frightening and slowly build her confidence. There were small steps, difficult days and then more small steps. But Dilly kept going, and eventually, she was ready for the next chapter - her forever home.
Look at her now…
Dilly’s family have now had her for more than six months, and she has found exactly where she belongs.
From her adopters…
“We’ve now had Dilly for over six months, and she’s really found her place. She’s enjoyed plenty of holidays visiting her grandparents in Cornwall, gets ridiculously excited whenever anyone comes into the house, and has settled into family life so well.
We’ve been making loads of progress with our behaviourist and are starting to see her becoming more confident and comfortable outside, which has been amazing to watch.
Inside, though, she’s a complete angel - happiest snoozing in any patch of sunshine she can find and quite possibly the easiest work from home partner in the universe.
Everyone who meets her falls completely in love with her silly, funny personality.
We’re taking her to Suffolk for a few days, where we’re hoping she’ll get to dip her paws in the sea and have some fun on the beach!”
A little dog being given away for free.
A volunteer willing to drive mile after mile through the night to reach her.
A foster sleeping on a sofa with her hand through a crate so she didn’t feel
alone.
When Dilly arrived, everything she had could be summed up in one heartbreaking little detail - a towel.
But from the moment our volunteer got into that car to go and collect her, she had something far more important. She had people fighting her corner, and now she has a family, grandparents, holidays, sunny spots to sleep in, adventures still to come and, most importantly, a place where she belongs.
She now has everything that matters.