My Website


Changing the world, one site at a time…

Hello

My name is Hera.

I live in Staffordshire in the UK with my human family of Tracy, Richard and Kevin. I also live with three cats, who are my friends and we often play together. The cats are Mai, Percie and Latte. They often snuggle up to me and sometimes wash my fur. If they go out hunting they sometimes bring back a treat for me - usually a mouse or a bird because they don't think I can hunt! Sometimes another dog comes to live with us for a few days. His name is Otto, and he is a German Wire-haired Pointer. Otto and I love to go to a local dog paddock where we can run around free and play.

I was born in Romania sometime around 10 May 2021. I was born in an area of Transylvania, in a town which has links to Vlad III (commonly known as "Vlad the Impaler", or "Vlad Draculea"), situated in the Carpathian Mountains.

I was born a street dog, and was found by a kind lady named Mironella, who took me in, to live with many other dogs she had rescued, as well as cats and a duck. When she found me I had been badly mistreated - beaten with sticks and bitten by other animals, with badly infected wounds and I was riddled with parasites. I was severely malnurished. The vet estimated that I was only a few weeks old, and that I was close to death.

Mironella nursed me back to health and arranged for me to be adopted in the UK. This was because people in Romania tend to care less for dogs, often abandoning them if they become ill, or mistreating them. The "Forgotten Souls" rescue charity, based in the UK, arranged for me to move in with my current humans - my "forever family", and I arrived at my new home on Sunday 9 January 2022. "Forgotten Souls" was formed in 2019 specifically to rehome rescued Romanian dogs and is based in Coventry.

My name was given to me by Mironella, and in ancient Greek religion Hera was the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology Hera is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Olympus, sister and wife of Zeus, and daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Her Roman counterpart is Juno.

When I am out I am very reactive. My humans are working hard with me to overcome this. I have made a lot of progress, but there is still a long way to go. If you see me out we will try to move away from you - please do not try come to me and stroke me or give me a treat without speaking to my humans first. I react to several things, probably due to negative early-life experiences, but we are making progress with dealing with this. I react to the following: - People who approach me rapidly, especially from behind or who pop out from gaps in hedges or between parked cars, - People who reach out to me uninvited, - People who are carrying sticks such as walking sticks or rolled umbrellas, or who are holding mobile phones, (probably from the beatings I had as a very young puppy), - People who have their face or eyes covered, - People who ride bikes or e-scooters close to me, - Other dogs, especially if they are not on a lead and are close to me. It takes time for me to trust other dogs.

My humans have tried to find out more about the type of dog I am. I have many characteristics of the Romanian Carpathian Shepherd Dog - a large breed of livestock guardian dogs that originated in the Carpathian mountains.

  • A Romanian working dog developed many hundreds of years ago in the Carpathian Mountains:
  • A large, strong breed,
  • Good herder,
  • Used to herd and guard livestock,
  • Brave: prepared to tackle any predator including native wolves and bears (30% of bears in Europe live in Romania, and 35% of Wolves in Europe live in the Carpathian Mountain area of Romania),
  • A double-layered thick coat as Shepherds live outside day and night all year around in harsh conditions,
  • Head and face is wolf-like,
  • Extremely loyal, gentle, calm and loving family dog,
  • Amazing sense of smell and react instantly to protect the flock and human family members,
  • Very intelligent,
  • Not overly social and wary of strangers - potentially to the point of aggression,
  • Not generally keen on making friends with new, unknown animals.

Informauion sourced from various Internet pages and "Romanian Carpathian Shepherd Dog" by Caris Michelle - ISBN: 979846268361