About The Book
The heart-tugging true story of an abandoned puppy named Teddy and the devoted animal rescuer who took him in, showed him love, and—against all odds—found him a home. . . .
He was delivered on her doorstep like a present: a frightened, straggly-haired puppy inside a large cardboard box. As owner of an animal shelter, Barby Keel had seen plenty of abandoned animals. But there was something extra special about this one. With his oversized paws, long legs, and awkward gait, he was bigger than most puppies but a big softie at heart. He was so sweet and cuddly, Barby named him Teddy, like a Teddy bear. But finding this Teddy a home would be no picnic . . .
The first family that adopted Teddy returned him 24 hours later. They said he chewed up everything and cried all night long. The second family returned him after a month. Why? Teddy refused to be housebroken. Over the next few weeks, Barby devoted herself to the unruly pup. Soon, he was settling into the sanctuary, playing with the other animals, even rescuing a baby chick. But every night, Teddy reverted back to being a scared little puppy. With Barby’s loving care—and a lot of patience—he slowly began to overcome his fears. And as the two grew closer, Barby began to wonder if Teddy had already found his forever home—with her . . .
Filled with beautiful life lessons in unconditional love, mutual trust, and unshakable devotion, Teddy’s story is sure to find a special place in every animal lover’s heart.
My Thoughts
I put off reading this book because I knew it would make me cry and it did, more than once.
I am such a softy when it comes to animals, I even cried when I read Charlotte’s Web when I was a child. I had no idea the spider would die.
As such an animal lover it was hard to read this book in places especially when it detailed the abuse the puppy received before it was unceremoniously dumped in a cardboard box outside of the gates of Barb Keely’s pet rescue center.
The Barby Keely Animal Sanctuary in the beautiful Sussex countryside was never meant to be. Barby’s father brought home animals needing rescued and this is she got her passionate love for animals. Built from the ground up, it is still one of the remaining private sanctuaries in Britan.
I loved seeing how Barby has such a true passion for animals and devotes her whole life to them.
Though the book does get into the some of the other animals that were there at the time of the writing, many cats, several dogs, a rescue horse, chickens, ducks, goats, and more animals.
Most of the book focuses on Teddy though, a gorgeous Wolfhound/ Briard mix who just wanted love and affection but just got abuse in his former home. The puppy was huge, gangly and prone to chewing and knocking things over because of his size. Well, we all know puppies chew, they need to supervised, shown love and understanding and given toys which was done when he arrived at the sanctuary. Teddy is what we call a foster fail. Now if you don’t know what that is, it is when a dog goes to a new home to be adopted but is returned because they are not compatible with their new home. This happened with Teddy multiple times. I think the author was more than happy about this as her heart had already fallen in love with this dog. Like many dogs, Teddy has behavioral issues that Barby works with a dog behavioralist to help get them straightened out. She shows a lot of compassion for her animals, and it just makes my heart sing to read about someone so devoted to animals such as this woman. I would really love to meet her and visit her animal sanctuary one day. I am a better person for having read this book.
Please if you have a little extra consider donating to your local animal shelter, their vet bills and feeding cost are so expensive. Also, won’t you please consider donating some of your time to volunteering at these animal shelters. They always appreciate all you can do for them.
Here is the link to her animal sanctuary if you’d like more information on it https://barbykeelanimalsanctuary.org/
June 29,2021 publish date.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
The Author
Hello, My name is Barby Keel and I have run the Barby Keel Animal Sanctuary in the lush Sussex countryside since 1971, with plenty of help along the way.
We are a non-profit making charity rehoming or providing permanent refuge for abused, abandoned and unwanted animals. We operate a no destruction policy.
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