Pure Dog Listening worked with Nowzad And Tali – The Dogs from Afghanistan
A moving story…We couldn’t walk away.
At the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 there was a lot of press coverage about the dog rescues carried out by a unit of the Royal Marines in Afghanistan. It was during a tour of duty that Sergeant “Pen” Farthing and his unit came across an organised dog fight and broke it up. These dogs were being beaten and in the confusion made their escape. One of these dogs was found days later by “Pen” Farthing when they were searching out buildings. A growling was heard in the darkness and he saw one of the dogs that had been involved in the fight. He had had his ears chopped off for the fight and was hiding away, nursing his wounds. His trust was gained by giving him food (Army rations) and kindness. “Nowzad” as he was named (after the town he was rescued from) was later taken back to the base. Other dogs arrived at the base, their food source had been scavenging from the locals, they had since fled and so then had to find others sources….The Royal Marines were their saviours.
At the end of the Marines tour, “Pen” did not have the heart to return Nowzad, Tali and the gang back to a life of pain and danger, and most certainly death by starvation or arranged dog fighting. These dogs and puppies were ferried across Afghanistan, a very perilous journey for all involved, a lot of tragedy and sadness was to follow as well as heart warming moments, that all brought tears to my eyes.
Nowzad and Tali were two of the lucky ones; they now live with Pen and his wife Lisa, along with their other two British born pet dogs.
I made contact with Pen at www.nowzaddogs.co.uk, I wanted to help, and knew with the method of Pure dog Listening I could. These dogs had been so traumatised in the most horrifying way, it was the least I could do. Pen accepted my offer with open arms, as he said, he had only just finished reading “The Dog Listener” by Jan Fennell, which we both agreed was pretty spooky!
Along with my great friend and fellow Pure Dog Listener Robin Glover, we went to meet them all.
Nowzads main problem is his aggressiveness towards other people and dogs, understandably with his history. However, he is an absolute sweet heart and we made great progress during that afternoon and did manage to get him walking past people and dogs. There is along way to go but kindness, perseverance and consistency will win the day…And I know Pen and Lisa have a truck load of those attributes. We are there for the long hall too and will help them every step of the way, as we do with all our clients. Pen later published a book about Nowzad but unfortunately omitted that we were the ones to help him and his dogs.
Nowzad and Pen were nominated for a special award at Crufts 2008, whether Nowzad would make enough progress to be present, only time would tell.
What an amazing time we spent at Crufts 2008. The run through was a real eye opener the night before, as preparation for what we were to expect on the big night its self. Not only were we there for Nowzad and Tali, but were able to offer advice to some of the other nominees, who understandably were very nervous.
Pen and Lisa worked hard on the Sunday in preparation for the big night. It was a tall order for these dogs, Nowzad pulled it off, although Tali should not have been taken into the ring, she is still a very nervous dog and was noticably scared.
Crufts friends for life was won by a very worthy team, a young girl and her visla. This dog had transformed her life and were truly friends for life. Congratulations.
