Sheila’s story

A tough beginning

Sheila came to us on Christmas morning when a kind member of the public had noticed a puppy on the side of the road in a cardboard box. She had been dumped and abandoned, likely because of her awful skin condition, but we will never know.

One look into those trusting eyes, and we knew instantly that we had to do everything we could for her. She was undernourished and had a severe case of demodectic mange with many secondary bacterial skin lesions.

Day 1

Day 1

Day 8

A speedy recovery

We set about feeding her well, treating her parasite burden and most importantly, loving her up. She lived at the clinic for several months.

As the pictures reveal, “The Ugly Duckling” had nothing on Sheila, as she was soon transformed into a beautiful Deerhound cross with a luxuriant glossy coat. A DNA test revealed that she was Borzoi (Russian deerhounds to the aristocracy) mixed with Great Dane and Bull Terrier. That is what you call “hybrid vigour”!

3rd month

4th month

5th month

And a happily ever after

She was soon adopted by a lovely local couple, the Browns, who renamed her Violet. She lived with them on acreage at Pearce’s Creek, for a few years, until the Browns decided to move to rural England to live.

So, Violet/ Sheila flew to England where she lived a dog’s life, including winning a blue ribbon at a local show! Quite the journey from the mangy abandoned waif in the cardboard box on the roadside.