By Luke Voogt
Hundreds of Geelong dog-lovers have been following the weight-loss journey of adorable seven-year-old malamute Panda and her search for a ‘fur ever’ home.
Panda and her canine companion Hammer were very overweight and struggled to get around when they arrived at Geelong Animal Welfare Society in April.
With a starting weight of 65kg, Panda lost an incredible 11.7kg over 12 weeks thanks to a special diet and three walks a day with GAWS volunteers and a temporary foster carer.
Sadly and unexpectedly, Hammer died 11 weeks into the program, leaving staff, volunteers and foster carers devastated.
But GAWS staff gave Panda plenty of extra attention to keep her paws-itive after the loss of her lifelong friend and got her to a weight where she could be safely de-sexed, and adopted.
My partner Cindy and I had the absolute joy of continuing that journey, helping her lose a few extra kilos.
Panda was advertised for adoption as a “single dog” but we applied anyway thinking our energetic Siberian husky Jakhobi, who we adopted from GAWs last November, resembled her beloved Hammer.
After GAWS contacted us, we fostered her to see how they would get along. Initially Panda was a little shy and would flinch when we went to pat her.
But following the fantastic work of GAWS, she continued to come out of her shell.
Now she enjoys copious belly rubs and head scratches, playing with local dogs on the oval, trotting after Jakhobi on daily walks and looking after her own ‘pet’ Peppy the toy skunk.
We officially welcomed her into our family by adopting her on Tuesday and hope to provide plenty of love and belly rubs for years to come.
Luke Voogt
