Letting Cyril Be A Dog.

Cyril, Marleen  and Tina.

It is truly wonderful to see how well Cyril is doing these days; he has been here now since 5^th January 2011.

We thought he was barely a year old, until we looked at his passport, and saw that Cyril was five years old, yet he did not have the physique of a full grown dog.

We were also horrified at his very long toenails as well as how emaciated he was, the vet told Richie he hadn't been exercised for up to 3 years.

The toenails were so long they were nearly growing into his pads; the lack of exercise was causing his muscles to atrophy quite badly.

Cyril had also not been to the vets for the yearly injections in 2010, I'm quite surprised that he seems to have had them in the years before, as surely his condition and his nails should have been noticed.

Richie got the vet to immediately give Cyril his injections as well as micro chip him so that if lost he will be returned to us.

He also got his toenails clipped and got worm and flea treatment for him, as soon as his nails were done the poor dog could walk much better.

Then Cyril was all set for his new life, Marleen and him hit it off very well, I think having another dog here, and one as calm, sweet as she is really was good for him.

He was obviously very depressed, as well as traumatised by what he experienced previously; we think that a man has treated him badly at home, which is the only place Cyril panics.

Indoors it is often difficult for Richie to do things, such as picking him up to give him a cuddle or even just patting him on the head will often trigger off a panic attack.

Outside Richie can do anything with him and he doesn't mind, so it just seems obvious to us that he was being badly treated in the house, maybe picked up and thrown, called to come and hit, even in his safe place, his bed.

Gradually Cyril has acclimatised to being here; it usually takes a year for a dog to get used to a new home as well as recover from depression.

Now Cyril is very happy and obviously loves living here with us and the other dogs, Tina and Marleen; they are such a nice pack, who enjoys each other's company tremendously.

He has really come out of his shell, and in the last year he has learnt to trust us and to expect good things to happen daily.

He has learned how to play, he loves going to the park or the woods, I think he still can't believe that it happens every day now.

I really can't imagine how such an active dog, especially such an active Jack Russell like Cyril could have coped not going out and being isolated and alone at home, no wonder he still has flashbacks.

Despite that he sometimes panics, now he has become a very playful loving and happy dog which is really lovely to see.

There is such an explosion of joy from Cyril every time he's about to go out, he jumps for joy and his tail never stops wagging when he is outside enjoying himself like a dog needs to.

What is also good is to be able to see that he has put on a lot of muscle in the last 18 months; he looks in excellent condition now.

Looking back I can see we took quite a gamble taking Cyril on, it has more than paid off we are now extremely happy to have such a lovely lively friendly Jack Russell living here with us.

It is so worthwhile to re-home dogs, to give them a chance to be themselves, real dogs not cute possessions, Cyril is only now discovering what it's like being a dog.