Bagel, a 1-year-old Saluki came into our Nottingham centre as a stray. He’d been wandering around for at least 2 weeks on his own before his finder was able to catch him and bring him to our centre.

After checking him over we could see he was underweight and uncomfortable on one of his legs so he went to the vets for a checkup and x-ray. The results showed he had a bone infection in his leg that had eaten away at a little bit of the bone in his elbow joint. It had been left untreated for a significant amount of time but after some antibiotics, pain relief and ‘TLC’ his leg improved massively.

To help him adjust to life with humans, Bagel went home with Beth, the centre’s Deputy Centre Manager, to support him with house training, to build up his confidence (which was helped by Beth’s dog Millie) and to help him put on some weight.

It took quite some time for Bagel to show Beth and the team his true personality. At first he was very worried by them and his surroundings. They gave him the time and patience he needed to gain confidence with the staff and they worked with their volunteers to build up his confidence when meeting new people.

However, as soon as he let his guard down the team soon saw that he was a really cheeky chap, full of character! He loved playing with toys and rolling around like a puppy. He also enjoyed stealing and chewing items in Beth’s home – so Beth and the team set too with some training to try and kick the habit ready for his forever home.

Bagel had lots of interest when available for adoption, but due to his shy nature and him needing to live in a quiet location as he was worried by traffic, his rehoming criteria was slightly limited. Then, when he did have visits, he was nervous around the potential adopters as they were new people to him, so they were not seeing his true personality.

However, when Bagel found his adopter, Shaun, it was love at first sight! Bagel grew in confidence very quickly as Shaun was extremely patient and let Bagel come round in his own time. On the second visit bagel was already started to show his slightly cheekier side which was lovely and made Shaun laugh a lot.

Bagel is now happily living with Shaun and is getting all of the time and love he needs. Shaun works from home so is slowly building up Bagel’s confidence with being left and has a secure garden where he can run and zoom around in. He also loves sunbathing so it is great space for him to soak up the rays!

Shaun says: “The little monkey has bought a new friendship into my life. He’s such a character, in the sunshine he just sunbathes or lays on his back chewing sticks for hours. Then he will come and find me so we can play ball. The video of him below is him coming to get me to play. He loves, cuddles, fusses and right in the middle of playing ball he will run full pelt, wet nose me and cuddle right up to me for a fuss.

“He also acts like Gillian McKeith from ‘I’m a celebrity’ from when she ‘fainted’ when it comes time for me to wash a bit of mud off him – he is such a drama queen but so funny!

“Everyone he meets loves him. On our walks we’ve met three people already who have asked ‘Is that Bagel?’ or ‘Was he from Jerry Greens?’ He’s a famous boy!”

We want to be there for all the dogs like Bagel that need our help for many more years to come. If you could help us to do this, we, and all of our Jerry Green dogs, would be so grateful. You can simply TEXT JERRY to 70201 to donate £1 towards our vital work, or perhaps consider sponsoring a kennel at your local centre for just £1 per week. Thank you.