Testimonials

We re-homed our dog, Jack, from LIB dog rescue and are in the process of re-homing another. Lisa and Paul are great, they clearly want to find each dog the right home and there is no pressure. We were able to meet the dogs as many times as we wanted, both at home, and on walks. This allowed us to make sure our family would suit Jack and now, that Jack and our new dog(s) are familiar with each other and get on well first. Meeting Lisa and Paul was like a meeting of friends, and going to see them and the dogs is always a pleasure, I always come away feeling happy and relaxed, although being surrounded by so many lovely dogs does make the decision making harder! I recommend LIB to everyone I know who it’s thinking about getting a dog, I know that if they go there, they’ll go away with the right dog for them. I’ve never met people more determined to give the dogs the best possible life than Lisa and Paul.

Jo Holman

I came back from working overseas in 2017. The retirement dream was a home by the sea and a dog of my own. Got the house and started looking for my dog – little knowing that would become a theme. I wanted a rescue dog- we have more than enough dogs in our country and so many charity causes are testament to the fact that lack of neutering/spaying is a global problem. That’s how I found Zaki and LIB Dog Rescue. I was looking at a different site and it morphed into this and I saw Zaki. Zaki is a young dog in an old soul’s body. I contacted Lisa at LIB and met Zaki. I met so many dogs that day – the house was fuelled with canine love, grumbles and fur. Heaven on earth! I met Zaki a few times before he became mine and then the fun started in earnest. He settled at first, but didn’t do stairs – so I thought. I’d away to me bed and he’d sleep downstairs – happily, I thought. Clearly he thought I was out clubbing it without him when I disappeared because he started curtain chewing and going off script after a couple of nights. My friend Nicky came round and suggested maybe he could do stairs and we enticed him to the land of bedrooms. Yay – problem solved as up he came, slept through and was ready for daily adventures. Getting Zaki in and out the car though was a bit of a trial. Nicky’s magnificent rescue dog, Bruno, tried to tell him that cars meant trips to joy; abounding fields and fun, but Zaki remained unconvinced. So, Nicky and I had a friend watching Bruno and Zaki whilst we went out to buy spreads/cushions and loveliness to make my car the place to be. Unfortunately, in my absence, Zaki went awol looking for me. It took 3 and a half months to find him. Those months were just hell. Lisa, Paul and anyone who could help tried to shake the planet to make him reappear. In the interim, Lisa saw I was going downhill mentally and suggested I foster Oliver, a quiet, sensitive soul – he channels Shelley to Zaki’s more robust poets. When we finally found Zaki – thanks and adoration go out to Helen Jermy and Dog Lost – I was thrilled but terrified. Zaki had been living a semi feral life for ten times longer than he’d living with me. Olly had become accustomed to home. Yikes indeed. Thank feck Lisa and Paul (LIB DogRescue) realised decompress time was needed. They took Zaki home to their house where he slotted right back into their pack. His recovery was amazing. Dogs are like children in so many ways – they forgive and bounce back. Of itself, this is why we shouldn’t take them for granted – how many adults do this? Olly has his own issues – fireworks and loud bangs terrify him. I spent the week of Bonfire Night (yes – it is only one night but the slaphappy gunpowder twats aren’t aware of that) holding him, calming him and wanting to murder people who set off random fireworks. But they don’t matter in the whole scheme of things. He has brought joy and light and reason to my life. The last time that happened was when my son Joe was born. Joe doesn’t need me now and I want to feel needed. Olly has more than filled that need. He’s joy on legs. All my neighbours know him by name – despite not knowing mine. He gravitates towards children who want to stroke him and he is so gentle – he lets them pet him and remains calm even if they’re noisy. Okay- he isn’t great at recall, but I know he isn’t running away so much as being distracted – by blades of grass or grains of sand – who knew how cunning they could be?? He is joy personified and I love him.

Bernadette Abri

We were lucky enough to find Life Into Balance Dog Rescue whilst searching the internet for a rescue dog as a companion for our dog Marley. To cut a long story short we ended up adopting not one but two wonderful and loving little dogs (Lottie & Zimbar). The whole adoption process from start to finish was really easy and it was a great pleasure meeting Lisa & Paul. Their dedication and knowledge for such a fantastic cause is second to none. We certainly wouldn’t hesitate recommending to others or contacting Lisa & Paul in the future if we ever decided to adopt another dog.

The Long/ Smith Family

Adopting our dog Max has been the highlight of our year! Apart from the immediate reward of offering a cold, stressed little dog a warm and safe home, the process of getting to know Max, gradually building trust and seeing our relationship evolve day by day has been such a humbling and enriching experience. As with any being with a troubled past, adjusting to and building trust in a new situation has had its challenging moments, but we have mainly had a lot of fun and happy times with our new family member. Lisa and Paul have been amazing, offering helpful support and advice throughout. They are doing extraordinary work to get dogs in misery to warm, safe and loving homes – please do give them your support!

Sonia & James 

So last November I was asked if I would be able to do a “bit of translating here and there” to assist a lady who rehomes Romanian dogs. Little did I know then what a big part of my life LIB Dog Rescue and more to the point the wonderful Lisa and Paul would become. I have met each dog that has arrived during 2018 and have seen first hand how they have flourished from very shy, frightened creatures to beautiful, confident dogs who have been found their own loving forever homes. I say First Hand, as in May I met the wonderful Toyah who had arrived from Adjud Rescue in Romania. I joined one of the pack walks (much smaller than they are now, I hasten to add) and took my own 2 family dogs along. Toyah just had this gentleness about her and by the end of this walk I found myself offering her a home. She is still a little shy with men now, what horrors she could have encountered in her young life I guess no one will ever know, but her future is now secure and she is a much loved member of our family. The selfless amount of hard work, love and dedication to these dogs from Lisa and Paul is just incredible. They have an incredible network of family and friends and as I mentioned the pack walks have grown in size considerably given the 36 dogs (and counting) rehomed during 2018. If you are one of the lucky families to have one of these gorgeous dogs, be thankful. If you are considering a family addition go and meet Lisa and Paul, or better still join a pack walk to meet these wonderful gentle creatures. Thank you LIB Rescue for your fund raising, dedication and love from our family and our gorgeous girl, Tia. xx

Marcella Hudson 

In July 2018 we lost our last dog who had been with us only 18 months. We had adopted him from one of the largest UK animal charities and they had failed to provide us with some really important information or carry out any real suitability assessment before rehoming him.  They didn’t tell us that Chez had been rehomed twice before and been returned as ‘unmanageable’ and ‘aggressive towards men’. We only found out about that after I was bitten twice in the first month. Neither did they tell us the true extent of his heart disease which cut short his time with us.

So when we wanted another dog in the summer of this year we asked around people who we knew and trusted, dog lovers who really care about dogs and their well being and we were directed to Lib Dog Rescue. We spoke to Lisa at some length and we were invited to Lisa’s home to meet her ‘family’. At first it was a little overwhelming and seemed like complete mayhem with so many dogs vying for attention. We heard the heartbreaking story of some of the poor dogs rescued from abysmal conditions in Romania and Spain and we joined Lisa and Paul on a pack walk. After a home visit and another couple of visits to Lisa’s home we began to see a picture of a couple devoted to rescuing and correctly placing dogs with adopters who are matched in the interest of the dogs. We would like to say our dog Otto almost picked us. On our visits he would quietly edge closer and nuzzle gently for attention. No jumping all over us and searching our pockets for goodies, as cute and appealing as that is, Otto was happy just to be noticed quietly and just as quickly he was gone, shying away as if he had done something wrong. We took him out for a couple of short walks near Lisa & Paul’s home and it was agreed that we should have him overnight (or it may have been a weekend) but a short stay just to be sure that he was happy and we were too.

We adopted Otto. He is such a quiet gentle soul who needs careful coaxing to come out from the shadows. We love him dearly – he’s just so sweet and adorable. We did come to the conclusion though that he would probably benefit from the company of another dog and there waiting in the wings was Oprah, his sister. Different as chalk and cheese. She’s confident, playful and food motivated. They compliment each other well and Otto is starting to show his character a little more as each day goes by.. It’s going to take time.

Sorry this is so long – the point I am making is that unlike the most caring (richest) animal charity around, Paul & Lisa take great care to place dogs with adopters who are suitable and well matched with an emphasis on the dog’s needs and getting it right. And it doesn’t stop there. We are always welcome on pack walks and both dogs obviously love both Lisa & Paul. They are always there after handover to give advice and support – we have needed some – we aren’t dog experts. Lisa and Paul give their love and time to all their dogs without any recompense except the satisfaction of making the dogs happy and safe.

We would recommend anyone wanting to adopt a dog to contact Lib Dog Rescue as you are more likely to have a long and happy life with your new dog than using some of the other large adoption agencies who are nationally recognised but take little care in rehoming dogs.

Thank you,

Bob n Karen x

I recently adopted a dog from LIB dog rescue, our girl is Betsy, believed to be about 2 and a half to 3yrs old. A beautiful girl, who had like many dogs that Lisa and the team re-home, had a very hard life until Lib dog rescue got involved. What an amazing team, who care for so many unloved and neglected dogs. Our Betsy is a companion for our Harley Bear, she has .settled in so well to our home. Thanks to the tireless work of Lisa Paul and the team, many more beautiful animals will find there forever homes, and leave behind a world of pain and hell forever.  I can’t thank them enough for the work they do, if one unloved dog finds a loving caring home it’s a small victory, but thanks to Lib dog rescue and all the wonderful people who help in anyway they can, many dogs every year are brought back into the light of love and family. All the best to all for 2019, keep up the good work, and thanking you all from the bottom of my heart, for caring for the lost and displaced in this world of ours, much love peace n happiness to all, from Chris n Glo

Chris Bunney

After losing my adored 13 year old dog Bobby in October, I needed to find a useful activity to fill some of my spare time, which ideally needed to include dogs! By chance a friend of mine got chatting to a lady on the beach who is involved with the LIB group and she passed on the info to me. After messaging Lisa on Facebook, I met up with the group on the beach and have been on several walks with them in the last couple of months, it’s great to get out and about again on a lovely dog walk and have a chat with friendly people. But the best thing about it is to see how the dogs thrive in Lisa and Paul’s care, some are understandably nervous of strangers when they first come, but within a week or two they’ve become more confident, happier and have started to enjoy life. I think it’s amazing that even though they’ve often had a less than perfect start in life, they soon become more trusting and crave attention (and treats!) from everyone. All the dogs are gorgeous in their own way, they just need the right person to come along and give them a loving and stable home, and they’ll give back so much more than they take. I will adopt a rescue dog again but was obviously not ready to straight away. LIB has enabled me to still have useful interaction with dogs, but without any pressure to adopt until I’m ready and the right dog comes along.

Caroline Limpenny

November 2018 we were fortunate to meet beautiful ‘Dixie’ and we were honoured that she wanted to live with us, and our two male border collies. Dixie has added so much more pleasure, fun and love to the whole house, just a couple of months on we can’t imagine her not being part of the family!