This gorgeous little girl has already been let down twice in her short life. Please let’s make it 3rd time lucky for her. Sadly, a change of family circumstances has left Zafira’s new home fall through.
But we know with such an easy character she will snapped up soon, so she’s travelling with her adopted siblings to the UK next week and ready immediately when we find her perfect family home.
We can’t see such a gorgeous pup left to become another Ghost Dog of Lemnos Shelter.
Zafira is the last of ‘The Meatball’ puppies. This is our nickname for them, because unlike very many of the scrawny and sickly babies we end up caring for, this little gang were healthy and tubby – just the way puppies should be! The way the came into our care was somewhat different too. A local family had became aware that a friendly stray in our area had given birth, and were worried about her and the puppies. But unlike many of the people who contact us for help with animals, this family wanted to be part of the solution. They wanted to make sure the mamma dog never had to struggle again and never had to fight to keep another lot of puppies alive on the streets. So they asked us if they could adopt her as soon as she was sterilised and finished with her role as mamma, and of course, hoped that we’d find the best possible families for her babies!
The Meatballs are glorious puppies with wonderful characters, who will become fantastic family members if trained and supported the way a puppy should be. They love playing, have no fear of the other dogs at the shelter and are used to the shelter cats. We imagine they are the type of puppies that will enjoy kids who have been brought up to treat dogs properly and with respect.
As with all puppies, their future families need to be ready for sleepless nights, pee and poo everywhere, scratched furniture, chewed shoes, long days of learning to be home alone and of course, training to walk on a lead.
Right now, the puppies are well socialised with other dogs and cats, but future training will be needed to make sure they don’t develop bad habits and continue to be happy and social dogs. The future families need to commit to sterilise the puppies as soon as they reach sexual maturity – we tolerate zero breeding with our dogs and don’t agree with them battling with unnecessary hormones throughout their lives if not sterilised.
In accordance with EU law, the Meatballs can first leave Lemnos when they are 16 weeks old – which in their case is in June 2021. Their mom looks like a petite German shepherd-type mix, and weighs 18 kilos. But this is a guess, and we have no idea who the father is. The puppies are small in size, so the vet currently believes they could end up between 16-22 kilos – again, there are no guarantees.
If there is GS in their mix, it’s worth considering that they might have a guarding tendency as adults – and whether you and your family can deal with that behaviour or train with it. Their mom is a super sweet and gentle dog with no clear guarding instincts, but she has the upright ears associated with shepherds, so who knows what is in their gene pool.