My journey with 1 Dog began when l saw a photo of a dog on Facebook, huddled at the bottom of a dirty cage with the saddest eyes l had ever seen. Sadly l knew l didn’t have the space for such a big dog, we already had 2 small dogs but curiosity made me look at the other dogs available & the second l saw her photo l knew the painfully skinny, dirty, petrified little girl living in squalor & filth in the Public Shelter, trying to make herself invisible, was always meant to be mine. I would have walked all the way to Romania to get her if l had to. Molly blessed our life’s and filled our hearts with so much joy, l wanted to pay if forward on her behalf and joined the amazing 1 Dog Team to help other dogs just like her. I have absolutely loved every second, I work alongside the most amazing people. It is probably the most rewarding thing l have ever done. In my experience, someone is always just a text or a phone call away, or you can ask the group chats: there is lots of help and advice. It’s great that other adopters and fosters love to hear about and see updates, and likewise, it’s great to see the dogs become relaxed and confident.

After losing my dog at 15 years old, I vowed never to get another, but the sense of loss was overwhelming, and I knew I had to fill the emptiness. My first Romanian rescue was my big boy Fozzy. A plea appeared one night on Facebook to help; he had been poisoned and beaten. Try as I might I could not get him out of my mind, his eyes haunted me. So I pressed the comment button and said… “please get him off the streets and to a vet, I will pay and help him…” little did I know this was the start of a lifetime commitment to helping the street dogs. The lady who had posted Fozzy’s appeal and I worked out how to get Fozzy to me in the UK, I then wanted to help more dogs there to find loving homes. I started helping the dogs that had been captured by dogcatchers and taken to the local public shelter to find homes, one at a time and 1 Dog at a Time Rescue UK started just like that… Helping one dog… The number of time I thought he had got there, let him off his lead and then his ability to cover the miles made Ussain Bolt look like the slowest snail! Dont be fooled – Lesson 3 He still barked, but it was less aggressive and more inquisitive. But he’s a big dog, and we had to appreciate some people passing will misunderstand him, so we protect him from them rather than the other way around. People will misunderstand their behaviour – their problem, not yours Lesson 4 We had never fostered before but felt we were experienced with dogs, having grown up with them, and we had a chocolate lab who had taken about 4 years to calm down so, we felt he was a good induction.As we all know there are millions of dogs around the world that are starving and that go hungry each and every day. Our charity partners are working tirelessly to help and save these poor dogs. The cruelty, despair and starvation that some dogs have to endure are not acceptable and by working together we are determined to stamp it out, so to this end, the Bradshaw’s pledge is ‘ for every bowl you feed we donate to a dog in need’.

His recall took a long time – don’t be lulled, get an extendable lead and take your time – lesson 2. This is a fantastic organisation that makes a huge difference to the plight of street dogs in Romania. They are very thorough in matching the right adopters to the right dog. Their support and aftercare is second to none. I would not hesitate in recommending them to any sincere prospective adopter. After talking to several local and international rescue organisations, I decided that 1 Dog at a Time Rescue had an excellent and well organised system in place, and so I soon had a home visit. The dog that had originally caught my eye had been rehomed, but I soon settled on Kammi and Jaimie as they got on well together. Nothing really prepared us for Raffles. From day 1 he was so loving, would really lean in like he wanted you to wrap him up and snuggle forever. It’s a good job, as after his initial settling in, he certainly found his feet, and I will not lie, he was a little bit of a challenge.

In the One Paw Shop…

I did not imagine for one minute that all this was going to evolve when I started looking for an older dog (I love the oldies) In 2012 I had just joined Facebook and was mooching around when I saw an old boy who looked a little like my soul dog Dillie. He was from Romania and I had just missed out on adopting him. I had no idea about all the cruelty over there and the plight of the street dogs. I have seen many street dogs on my journeys around the world but none so obviously loathed and treated as vermin. I started to read and became completely determined to help one of these poor souls. At Bradshaw’s, we decided that change was overdue in the dog food market and we needed to take what we were good at and make it into something very special indeed.. we want our food to reflect our values. Our model is to create a sustainable stream of giving that helps to feed street dogs around the world by simply feeding our own dogs. I joined the wonderful 1 Dog at a Time Family in March 17. A simple share on Facebook and my application to adopt Annabel Amber and Jessie was successful.

We have a healthy, very happy little dog who’s previous life was a nightmare, 1 Dog changed his life and ours so much for the better. When my Westie died suddenly in 2019, I found a great big hole in my life but thought I’d never replace him. Moving on a few months, I gradually realised that it was time to have another dog and started looking at rescue dogs. It is sad to see how many dogs need a home, so I decided I would get two small dogs. The dogs are imported as soon as possible to ensure the new owners and dogs are united. Once the dogs arrive, they go straight to their forever home, where owners are guided by the charity into helping their new pet to settle into their new home.

Danielle Giannotti with Jessica

Time was getting closer, and this was when we joined the transport chat; this was a big help as we got to know others in the same boat as we were. Reggie’s people had dropped out, and we were asked to foster him; of course we would; he was and still is beautiful. As the days went by, they grew in both confidence and size. At this point, we were asked about Reggie’s behaviour and habits for those inquiring about adopting him. OH NO, no one is having our Reggie. Yes, we adopted him too! We were now failed fosterers and very proud of it. I did puppy walking and dog socialisation and training originally and I have also fostered dogs for various rescues over the years. Some of those dogs have never left, I am what you call a failed fosterer.