00:00Eight months ago this puppy was rescued from a life-threatening situation and today she's ready
00:05to begin her journey with her new family. We fostered Rusa and despite starting out as this
00:10terrified dog over the past few weeks she's completely come out her shell. To explain Rusa's
00:15journey we need to start from the beginning. This is Rusa meeting our two dogs Kobe and Moki for the
00:21first time. You can see how scared and unsure she is, she had no confidence. And she sees you as
00:27a safe
00:27space. But on day two she started coming out her shell already. By day three she
00:50really started bonding with the dogs and in day four she even got excited to see them in the morning.
01:11Rusa hadn't been taken on a walk for a couple weeks because she was terrified of new places and cars.
01:16After some desensitizing and easing her outside using this carrier, one week in we were able to
01:21take Rusa out on walks. Having Kobe and Moki there definitely helped her grow in confidence.
01:28A few weeks had passed and we even took her to an Airbnb. The difference was crazy. From being this
01:34scared nervous dog on day one to flourishing and being confident in herself by day 20. It was important
01:41to us to expose Rusa to as many things as possible. Knowing that sadly we weren't keeping her, we wanted
01:46her to be as ready as possible for the day she meets her forever family. We even fostered another puppy
01:52called Sheila which Rusa became best friends with.
02:07She's shaking as well. Yeah she'll be nervous. But she knows the smell.
02:21And we looked after my friend's dog Bailey for a few days.
02:24Who she also became best friends with. Rusa had no idea of the madhouse she was coming into.
02:38The reason Rusa is so nervous when meeting new dogs is because of her story.
02:43Rusa has come over all the way from the Ukraine. When she was only a young pup, she was left
02:47by the
02:48side of a motorway during the harsh winter in December. She wouldn't have survived the night.
02:52Luckily, a stranger noticed Rusa and her litter mate and took them to a rescue. Rusa is around
02:57eight months older and has been living in rescues and foster homes. Although Rusa is so settled here
03:02now, we can't adopt her because there's so many other dogs out there that need help. But that's
03:07why we're committed to finding Rusa her forever home. But the dogs clearly gave her a lot of confidence,
03:12so we were only going to let her go to a family that already has a dog. She's still a
03:16young pup and has
03:17years of living left to do. The goal is to find her the perfect family she can spend the rest
03:21of
03:22her life with and I think we found them. We vetted so many people. We did house checks,
03:27we had call after call until finally we found a family that had a dog and it was time for
03:32Rusa to
03:32meet them. We're going to get them to meet Rusa first without their dog. If they liked her,
03:37then she would get to meet him on a walk. We wanted to make sure they were meeting on a
03:40neutral ground.
03:41When we first picked up Rusa, she was terrified of us. She clearly didn't like meeting new people and
03:46especially people coming into where she was living. So we set up some chairs in our garden. We also
03:51planned for Kobe and Moki to be there to support her, show her that this new family is safe. And
03:56so
03:56the family came in and I'll let you see how Rusa reacted.
04:20She was amazing with them. She was full of confidence and just copied what all the other dogs were doing.
04:26She wanted pets, she wanted to show love and affection. I felt so proud of her. Not only that,
04:32the family were amazing as well. You could definitely tell they were dog people. They fell in love with
04:36Rusa and I don't blame them. So it looks like we were one step closer to getting Rusa adopted. I
04:42think
04:42the emotions started to kick in a bit here. Rusa is the first ever dog we have fostered. We have
04:46never
04:47bonded with a dog and then given them away. I felt sad but also really happy for Rusa. But she
04:52wasn't
04:52adopted just yet because she still had to meet their dog, Billy. After the family had met Rusa,
04:58it was really sinking in that she would be going. The thought of not having Rusa here hit hard and
05:02I
05:02seriously started to think about keeping her. It's very hard to let go of a dog you have bonded with
05:07but
05:07this really was the perfect family for her. So loving and caring. I didn't want to let my emotions
05:13get the better of me and I had to remind myself that it would be selfish to keep her because
05:17we're
05:18on a mission to rescue and foster as many dogs as possible. We agreed to meet Allison and her
05:23family halfway and decided to bring Coby along for support. This is how everything played out.
05:28Oh my god, he's beautiful.
05:33Do you want me to just take one? Otherwise you're going to get down.
05:36Good boy. Hello. He's a gorgeous colour.
05:57She wasn't so sure but she wasn't terrified either which was good so we got walking hoping
06:03this would ease the nerves a bit. Kobe was supposed to be setting an example but being a golden,
06:12he got all excited. We even saw another dog and Rusa can show off her socialisation skills.
06:35She's like, can't I go in? Look at Coby.
06:40Oh really? Yeah. Oh good girl, Rue.
06:44Billy's like, fuck, her breath stinks of it.
06:49Good girl, Rue. That's adorable.
06:53Rusa was doing so well giving Billy lots of kisses. Out of nowhere a horse turned up. I don't think
06:59Rusa has ever seen a horse. Hopefully she doesn't react.
07:04I'm surprised he's so jealous.
07:08He's scared. She's beautiful. She's amazing with dogs, isn't she?
07:13Rue's curious. Look, she has to go smell.
07:16Not surprisingly, Allison said that the family would love to adopt Rusa. I couldn't think of a more
07:21perfect family for Rusa to go to. They're all so loving and Billy is amazing and super friendly and I
07:27knew that Rusa would be going to the best home. They'd be coming to pick Rusa up after a few
07:31days so now all
07:32that's left to do is get Rusa ready and spend the last few days with her.
07:36Bully Billows were kind enough to send us a starter pack for Allison and her family to
07:40have when they pick Rusa up. They were given some poo bags, a really cool car seat belt that would
07:45connect to her harness, some paw balm, a harness, a dog walking bag. They sent so much stuff but our
07:53favorite item was the blanket. We wanted Rusa to go to her new home with something that smelled like
07:58all of us. I'm sure she would be a bit nervous going somewhere new for the first time and hopefully
08:03the smell of the blanket can comfort her a bit. Bully Billows is our go-to brand for all dog
08:07products.
08:08You can check them out in the description below. And the day had arrived, it was time for Rusa to
08:13leave. I couldn't believe it. She's grown so much since we first got her. We've had so many amazing
08:18memories together. She had to be the best first foster dog we could have wished for. But now it's time
08:24for her to live the rest of her life. One last emotional final goodbye from me and Ella.
08:44We had Rusa's starter pack ready alongside some of her food and this is it. Allison and her family
08:50coming to pick Rusa up and Rusa walking off with her new family. Another final goodbye and that's
08:55where our story with Rusa ends. But this is where Rusa's story continues because a few days later,
09:01Allison sent me an update on Rusa. It made me cry tears of joy. Thank you so much to Allison
09:07and her amazing family for adopting Rusa, our first ever foster. We will never forget you.
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