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Chasing A Dream – A Stray Therapy Dog

Stray dogs are probably millions in Greece, and given the fact that the mentality here will not be changing anytime soon, there will be millions more to come in the next years. My Blue was one of the million strays out there, when I first saw her in August 2016. I was on vacation in a small village by the sea, about 150 km from Athens – and being on vacation in the countryside is not easy, – you either have to turn a blind eye of come back home with a dozen of rescue dogs. Every afternoon, I walked my dogs by the sea – the people were gone by sunset, and they had the entire beach (all 16 km of it) to themselves. It was one afternoon when I first saw her, coming towards us, wagging her tail. She had spotted us from a distance, and since she was looking desperately for company, she joined the four of us, and tried to fit in.

I panicked. When you are an animal lover living in Greece, you simply get used to lonely stray dogs wandering around everywhere, and choose to rescue the ones that can’t make it on the streets: the sick, emaciated or hurt ones, the newborns, and the pregnant females. Blue was neither of the above (she was already about 6-7 months old and healthy), which meant that she should not be a priority. But Blue had something else, that made her life as a stray extremely vulnerable: she was desperate – desperate for attention, for human company, for a family where she would feel like she belonged. SCARS, the charity I volunteers at took her in. She was rescued and adopted in Holland in October 2016. Her mum and I talk every day, and Blue has made a lot of progress. My gut says that she will make it as a therapy dog, but even if she doesn’t, she will have a great life.

A bit more about her: http://theorphanpet.com/stray-puppy-g…

Blue’s FB page: https://www.facebook.com/BBhayou/?fre…

The therapy dog’s page: https://www.facebook.com/snoezelhond/…

Blue was a SCARS rescue dog

SCARS website: http://www.scars.gr/

SCARS FB page: https://www.facebook.com/scars.gr/?fr…

Donations: donate@scars.gr

Video: Valia Orfanidou

The Orphan Pet Blog: http://theorphanpet.com/

The Orphan Pet Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/theorphanpet…

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theorphanpet

Who am I: https://www.facebook.com/vorfanidou