Written by Helen Pinkham
Photography credit: Helen Pinkham, Sunette de Sousa and Kirstin Trollope
My little sausage dog x Miniature Pinscher, Naaya, passed away from old age in January 2021. My heart was shattered, and the hole she left was much bigger than her tiny body had been. I realised that I needed another dog to fill that hole, even though I already had four cats.
I had some criteria for this new dog, though. Firstly, he/she obviously had to get along with the cats – well, at least not chase them. Secondly, I didn’t want a dog that reminded me of Naaya. Thirdly, I wanted a bigger dog, but not too big for me to handle on my own, so about medium size. And then lastly, I didn’t want a puppy; I wanted an older dog who wouldn’t need much training and wouldn’t chew on everything.
I looked at all the shelter dogs that I could find online and on social media, and I made a “short list” of the ones I liked, but Drago stuck in my head. I told my best friend at one point that I didn’t know why, but I really wanted THIS dog (meaning Drago), and I’d be very sad if they didn’t let me adopt him. He’d lived at the shelter for six out of his seven years of life.
I enquired about Drago, but the shelter didn’t know how he would react to cats, as they didn’t think he’d ever been around them. However, they agreed to do a “cat test” at my house. This meant bringing him over to see how he’d react to my cats specifically. We arranged a time and date, and he was more gorgeous in person than in the photos. He did seem interested in my cats, but not to a concerning degree; they didn’t seem to be his first priority, it was more curiosity on his part. Tanya from the Paws R Us shelter asked if I wanted him to stay for a longer period, and, of course, I said yes!
He never left! I was surprised that this amazing, gentle, obedient dog had been overlooked for so long. I guess he was meant to be mine! He loved walkies, treats and attention, but was not much bothered with toys.
Some months later, when I decided to move to the Netherlands for work and personal reasons, it was obvious that I’d take my pets along, including Drago. I knew it would cost me a pretty penny, which it did, but it was never an option not to bring them.
Drago and three of his cat siblings finally arrived in Baarn on the 26th of January 2022 after quite an eventful journey. Air France left two of them left behind at Charles de Gaulle Airport. To this day, no one knows why the French sent two pets ahead with no documents or who exactly was responsible for doing so! It was quite a scramble to get the other two on the next flight to Amsterdam.
Luckily, all have recovered perfectly, and both Drago and the cats are settling in well to life as Dutchies! Their last cat sibling is arriving shortly. (A gum infection meant that her rabies shot was done later than the others, so her departure was delayed.)
Tanya Nel of Paws R Us: SA adds…
I delivered Drago to Helen on my birthday (23rd of January 2021) – it was the best birthday gift I could have received!
What makes this story even more remarkable is that dogs that enter shelters as sub-adults and then wait so long for homes often struggle for a very long time to adjust to living in a home. Many of them are not successful.
We were fairly certain Drago had never lived with cats, yet he handled that like a champ.
Drago had come to the shelter with a female Pit Bull friend. We wanted to home them together because she’d never accept another companion dog. Unfortunately, that never happened – and this was the only reason he waited so long. We eventually (probably a bit too late) decided that it was unfair to make him wait so long. But, as Helen says, had he not waited so long, he’d never have become her dog.
We’re just so very happy for him and so very grateful to Helen for making the rest of his life magical.
