Sunday Success: Leika’s Story

🌟 A Tale of Sunday Success 🌟

This week's success story highlights the journey of the resilient and charming Leika, who persevered through multiple attempts to find her perfect home.

OUR’s encounter with Leika started when she was approximately 3 years old. Rescued from Roman kill shelter, she found temporary refuge with a local Romanian fosterer named Ringo.

Due to her undeniable charm and fluffy appearance, Leika received numerous adoption applications. However, our priority was to find a family that truly understood and appreciated the unique characteristics of her breed.

In December 2022, Leika finally arrived in the UK and was given a new name, Darcey. Despite our best efforts to match her with suitable adopters who could handle the quirks of a Mioritic Sheepdog, she faced three unsuccessful placements with our support.

Everything changed though, in October 2022, when she crossed paths with her forever person, Mel.

Mel, who had previously adopted the beautiful Phoebe from OUR, understood that welcoming ‘Darcey’ into her home wouldn't be without its challenges but was open to giving her a chance. Upon a visit to the vets, where she was accidentally called ‘Leika’ again (as per her original passport) it became clear that she showed positive associations to that name… so Leika it was!

With perseverance, determination, and love, along with invaluable guidance from our exceptional behaviorist, Mary, Mel's journey with Leika has led to her having a pet today who she describes as ‘truly amazing’.

Here is Mel's heartfelt story about her time with Leika…

“On Leika’s early walks she was crippled by anxiety and would not walk at all for long periods when stressed. If there was any noise or if a person or other dog was approaching, she would freeze. She would not change direction, she would only walk where she wanted to go so to change direction was impossible. Even treats made no difference; she just wasn't interested. When she used to stop completely, I would frequently be rescued by our marvellous Romanian post lady, who would stop the van, get out and start talking Romanian to her. It worked like magic! She would jump up and run and cuddle into her. Then, she would just trot off home with me.

I soon learnt that she was highly reactive to all dogs, particularly ones that were a poodle mix and where I live the majority of dogs are just these! 🙄 She also gave a few joggers a bit of a scare in the early days. With Mary's help, we found the K9 bridle to be of great help, especially as it stopped any risk to others. We had a plan where we stuck to certain roads and did small walks on the same route. This meant each of our three dogs was having to be walked separately, and with Leika, our giant bear, taking up to 40 minutes to walk a 10-minute route, it was a very time-consuming task! The separate walks and road walks only for Leika went on until she gained more trust in me and was more confident…one whole year.

Eventually, I felt able to walk Leika and Phoebe (our first Romanian rescue) together and from there her confidence has grown and grown. Phoebe is Leika’s protector, previously a hearding dog in the mountains of Romania, she ensures that any dog that approaches Leika is stopped in its tracks as she seems to sense her reactive state.

With Phoebe’s help, Leika is now learning to socialise and greet other dogs. As she is still lead-walked with her K9 bridle, she safely says hello and if she reacts, it's no biggy because I can ensure she stops immediately. For the majority of the time, she is now as good as gold. Yes, she still will react at times and that's OK, we cope and manage her. We never gave up. Looking back now on her first months (even years) with me, she was just so different then: somehow she was broken. Only now are we gradually seeing her giggly nature return.

She is an incredible girl, and though it has been harder than I could have ever imagined, I would not be without her. One cuddle from her and she makes you feel safe and warm inside. We love her to pieces.”

All of the OUR team would like to send our deepest appreciation to Mel and her family for their dedicated efforts. If every adopter displayed the same determination and resilience as you have towards Leika, our rescue efforts would undoubtedly be significantly easier. ❤️