Candy, when she first arrived, was completely shut down, convinced that the world and humans in particular, had nothing to offer her but more pain and hardship:(
Sometimes rehabilitating a dog is like a never ending marathon rather than a fun race.
Candy arrived from the pound on 26th of March 2024. We immediately knew that this special girl would need lots of patience, time and space – so that is what we gave her.
She spent weeks crouched in the corner against the wall trying to be invisible. She spent many more weeks hiding in the back of her kennel when any of the volunteers were around…… but we caught glimpses of her playful side when she didn’t know we were watching her 
It took her 3 months to venture out into the yard to mix with the other dogs & another 2 months before she was brave enough to take a treat from a volunteers hand.
She happily ran past us as she went in and out of the yard for another 6 months.
Almost 12 months after she arrived she ventured up to our garden and everything changed. She finally realised she was safe. We were safe. The world was safe 
Candy took 12 months to move past the start line, but she galloped to the finish line in record time. In the last 4 weeks she has gone for walks with many volunteers and has even rolled over to get some belly rubs.
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In June 2024, Candy was having a little outing and some wonderful moral support from Atlas
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The most amazing news we want to share with you is that last Saturday, Candy went to a ‘foster’ home with a human mum & dad and a doggy brother 
and while we hate to count our chickens…. We have a feeling we won’t be seeing Candy again.
and while we hate to count our chickens…. We have a feeling we won’t be seeing Candy again.She is adored already by her family and has her own bed and is going in and out of the garden to play with her brother.
Her family sent us the following “We got a 10 meter long lead and some squeaky toys and she is in love. She’s learning she can come in and out of the door freely but she is so much more confident now then she was when we first took her home. We’ve also enrolled her in some dog training courses to try and learn some more confidence and some tricks. I will keep you updated with that but I don’t think this girl will be back to you. We love her so much and are delighted to have her as part of our family”
Our hearts are full and we really appreciate the amazing couple that stepped up to make Candy’s life beautiful 
(April, 2025)
(April, 2025)….
Yes …. She is still absolutely adored by her family and is making great progress. You can see how happy she is and making eye contact, settling n bed with her humans and enjoying her walks. Amazing job by all involved
“Thank you, again, for all the work you did to keep our dog safe until we could find her on your website. She’s part of our little family, now, and she’ll be loved and cared for, for the rest of her long and happy life.”
This is what rescue is all about 
(July, 2025)
(July, 2025)
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“Thank you, again, for all the work you did to keep our dog safe until we could find her on your website. She’s part of our little family, now, and she’ll be loved and cared for, for the rest of her long and happy life.”
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“As of today, we’ve had Ace for 9 months. After a weekend spent covered in mud, chasing balls around the garden, she spent last night cuddled up with us in bed, and slept through peacefully. She’s so loved, here!
I know it was pretty obvious already, but you’re not getting her back! 😂
She’s a rambunctious little scallywag now. She loves her toys and playing with us. Peter will be geared up for a walk and instead she will jump into a play stance and choose playing with a ball in the garden instead. Ace has had a really lovely Christmas and New Years with us- lots of treats and toys (Santa was awful good to her), and she’s been coming out of her shell so much lately.
She’s becoming a cheeky wee monkey. It’s class!” (January, 2026)
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“It’s Ace’s first gotcha day!! We can’t believe we’ve had her only a year, she feels like such an integral part of our lives, and like she’s been here forever! From the first days, when she wouldn’t look at us, to now, where she pokes us with her nose to get pets, barks at us to play and rounds us up at 9.30pm for bed! She’s so incredibly smart and she’s just a little rascal. We are incredibly thankful for the MSPCA for finding her and looking after her until we could find her.
Ace is my best little work pal. While I’m working from home and writing code, she’s got all her best collie instincts at work making sure I’m doing the typing correctly… Which is to say, one handed, and petting Ace with the other hand. She’s becoming a real little character, and is forceful in her desire to get pets and plays and cuddles. She’s come out of her shell tremendously, and loves learning new tricks. She can heel, sit, lie down, stay, fetch, give high fives, touch, shake your hand, speak, and responds to “Who’s a good girl?” with a VERY dramatic and theatrical bark. We started training any of these tricks 3 months ago, and we’re running out of new things to teach her, so we’d appreciate any suggestions from followers of the Mayo SPCA, if they have them. 
She is a total sponge for new commands and sometimes learns them in minutes! (And often rattles through the list to get a treat off us, because “playing the system” is a secret trick we didn’t mean to teach her!).”
She is a total sponge for new commands and sometimes learns them in minutes! (And often rattles through the list to get a treat off us, because “playing the system” is a secret trick we didn’t mean to teach her!).”
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“Ace is doing great! She recently lost her older brother, who helped her relax into this home, and 5 weird kittens moved into her house, but this
has all been for the better! She is curious about the kittens, but being outnumbered is overwhelming. One on one she will sniff them and they are trying very hard to play with her without pushing her boundaries.
She has learned to fetch properly and she is no longer afraid to bark and lets us know when she needs outside or wants to play with us.
She is absolutely thriving considering how much has changed for us over the last few months. Here she is with her foster brother, Apollo.” (August, 2026)
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A most beautiful update on Ace (was Candy) who is looking so happy and well and learning from her feline friends 
“She’s such a lovely dog, and she’s getting to be so brave- the really funny thing is that the kittens (who haven’t suffered a day of trauma in all their lives) are teaching her what can be got away with. They’re as thick as thieves, the three of them. They even cuddle up together!
They’re straightening the N road nearby, and we were worried about the construction noise, but sure these kittens will hear the same scary bangs and crashes… then yawn and stretch and meow to get pets, so Ace has been watching them and learning what doesn’t need to be stressful for her. ” (October, 2026)
” (October, 2026)
