This handsome little man was found wandering the streets of a local mountain village called Mouliana.  He was soo scared of humans, that he would run away anytime someone would go near him… It took us a long time to try and catch him, we tried many different ways, including food and calm talking….. finally we did manage to catch him, and bring him back to the shelter for a check up with the vet and treatment for fleas and ticks.

Within the first couple of days at the shelter we could see that we would have to work a great deal with little Coby… He was showing signs of depression, and didn’t trust any human, and was also showing signs of behavioural problems…… all of which would need to be worked on if he was going to stand a chance of a finding a new home.

One of our volunteers, a kind and patient lady called Eleni Petropoulou offered to foster Coby….. To start working on his trust issues, whilst we tried to find a more permanent solution for him.

So we posted his story and photograph on our facebook page…. where by the hand of God a woman named  Julia Kontaros, who is from Sweden and  is married to a man from Greece.  She saw the post about little coconut and immediately knew that she wanted to help and got in touch with us.

It is one thing to say that you will help, then it is another thing to go through the lengths this lady went through to bring little Coconut to Sweden…. There were numerous messages back and forth between herself and Eleni (who was already fostering him) so that she could prepare for the work ahead… and then there was the technical side… getting him to Sweden, trying to find the best, most comfortable was for him to travel…. would someone drive him over, would he fly over…. In the end they got lucky and a friend of Julias was flying over…… and very kindly offered to escort him on his journey over.  At the same time Julia had managed to already find his forever home …. a Lovely lady called Nicoletter Lindvall-Rae and her family, who also lived in Sweden.

Whilst his transport to Sweden was being sort out, Eleni made a start working with him on some of his issues, giving him unconditional love, and time….. time to realise that this human was here to help him and not hurt or abandon him…. 

Unfortunately we do not know anything about his past, and what he went through before he was found at the village… so she was having to work without knowing if anything in particular would trigger him off.  One thing was for sure… He needed a bath and a brush…. Which did not go down well… And the judgment  was made that she would have to cut out some of the knots in his fur…. as he was not keen on being brushed at all…..

The day arrived for Coconut to leave…. His passport was ready, the paper work was done and he had all his injections ready to go….. this is a hard day for a foster mama….. But also a good one…. So a happy but sad Eleni bid good bye to coconut, and watched him fly away…..

Now i don’t think i will be amiss to say that Coconut owes a great deal to all three of these ladies, but Julia especially went above and beyond… from the beginning she was in communication with the shelter, Eleni and Nicolette…. she was the glue that held it all together.

Once he arrived at her house, she had a great many behaviour problems to work on with Coconut…. many were going to take training, others were going to take time, love and patience.

Julia had another dog, and Coconut would become possessive over food and toys, and most things… So this took a lot of training and calmness…..

Over the next weeks… she worked tirelessly on all his issues…. And he started to come out of his shell….. Started following her around the house, letting her brush him, and eventually stroke and hug him… The whole time she was keeping everyone up to date with his progress… until he was ready to go to Julia and his forever home.

He still has a few issues, and these will fade with time and love, but wouldn’t you?

He is a very happy boy now….. He now goes by the name Coby…. He loves to have his tummy rubbed, he adores Julias and especially her son…. And likes nothing more than going for a walk and then home for a cuddle.