Pennu, Estonia’s longest-staying shelter dog, finds a home

Pennu, a dog who spent more than four years at the Tartu shelter for homeless animals, has finally found a permanent home, ERR reported. He waited 1,497 days for a family, making him the shelter’s longest-staying resident.

“We have had dogs who stayed for three years. As with people, sometimes things simply do not work out for someone. The right opportunity does not come,” Annika Molder, the shelter’s chief executive, told the ERR programme Ringvaade.

Pennu was eventually taken home by Elisabeth Kaldvee, who had volunteered at the shelter for seven years. It was not love at first sight. Kaldvee initially became attached to another male dog who lived next to Pennu.

“Pennu kept jumping like a bat onto the fence and waiting to be scratched under the arm. I just threw treats to him but did not pay much attention. He was not my main dog to work with. I first took him for a walk about three years ago,” Kaldvee recalled.

Pennu arrived at the shelter from a home where he had bitten another dog and a child.

“It seems impossible now,” Molder said. “The situation was probably that the child was with the dog, the dogs got into conflict with each other, and perhaps the child got caught in between. The owner decided that they did not want to keep such an aggressive dog, as it was too much responsibility, which is also true.”

When Pennu arrived, it was clear that he had not received much training. He was not accustomed to walking on a leash, did not know any tricks, had minimal contact with people and was highly reactive towards other dogs, Kaldvee said.

“A lot of work and training has been done. At the beginning of the summer, we went to a dog show with several dozen other dogs. We were able to stand among the other dogs in the show ring, with about 15 dogs in front of Pennu,” she said.

Kaldvee has loved dogs all her life. As a child, she repeatedly asked her parents to get her a dog, but that never happened. She now believes her parents made the right decision because the time was not right and she did not know enough about dogs.

“But the interest was always there. A classmate invited me to the shelter when I was 18. We went together. For her, it was the last time; I kept going. Especially when you choose one dog there, it is a little like cheating, because you start to feel that you have your own dog,” Kaldvee said with a smile.

Becoming attached to an animal waiting for a home can also bring considerable heartache.

Kaldvee said her first heartbreak came when Bruno, the first shelter dog she had seriously fallen in love with, was adopted. She grieved for him for three months and took a break from volunteering at the shelter.

“It is a bittersweet moment because you are happy, but at the same time he was a dog in whom I had invested so much. It is hard to accept that he is no longer at the shelter,” she said.

Over the years, Kaldvee often wondered why nobody wanted Pennu. At one point, she began to hope that no one would adopt him so that she could take him home herself at the right time.

“He has such an amazing character. He is extremely friendly. A young person wants a dog that gets along with everyone,” Kaldvee said.

Pennu was the first shelter dog she had trained seriously. After working with him for three years, she said, they had grown close and he had already become her dog.

The shelter staff repeatedly asked Kaldvee when she would take Pennu home. He had also stayed with her in foster care and quickly adapted to his new home.

Kaldvee also encourages people to adopt older dogs.