How Mark met Milly

From all the dogs that have come into our little store, Millie’s smile and excitement always stands out.

And that smile shouldn’t be taken for granted; while Millie is only 2 years old, she certainly has experienced a lot in her life – she may now live with her dad Mark in central London, but her story started on the streets of Vietnam.

“We don’t know much about Milly’s life before I met her other than that she was found in a garbage bin on the streets of Ho Chi Minh with a huge hernia taking up most of her little belly.”

Milly was rescued by the organisation Laws for Paws when she was just a young puppy and was put up for adoption. The charity operates in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, where they rescue abandoned dogs. They organise vet trips, vital surgeries and find foster homes for their pooches. Their non-profit operation relies on the generous donations of their supporters, if you would like to get involved, make sure you check out their Facebook page. They also play an active role in the adoption process – which Mark can vouch for!

“Laws for Paws do an amazing job in very difficult conditions in Ho Chi Minh. They rescue and rehome 100s of dogs every year and save many of them from the cruel dog meat trade.”

When Mark met Milly, she was only 6 weeks old and he knew then that she would join him on his journey. 2 weeks later, the adoption was completed and the two were officially a team! While Mark isn’t completely sure of her breed, he thinks that she is a Corgi/Jack Russell mix. Laws for Paws organised the removal of the life-threatening hernia on her tummy. The operation was successful but she had continued health issues that required another 3 major operations before she reached the age of 2. It comes as no surprise that Milly is not particularly fond of going to the vet.

“When I got her, she still had stitches in from her first hernia operation, but other than that she was a happy energetic puppy. Milly is very sweet, inquisitive and cheeky. She’ll do anything for a treat!”

“She’s always been a very happy dog, no matter the situation, and always full of energy.”

When the pandemic ensured everyone’s life was flipped upside down, Mark and Milly found themselves moving to the UK, away from Milly’s native Vietnam.

“The journey from Vietnam was very stressful for Milly.”

“She spent nearly 2 days in transit before we were reunited. She was flown into Paris where I met her and where we spent a couple of weeks before she was faced with the cold English weather. Overall, Milly has done really well settling into England. She loves the big parks where she can run after dogs much bigger than her and even enjoyed her first snow fall this winter!”

Luckily, the need to go to the vet is less frequent now, she no longer has any health issues and is in the best shape of her life; which her and Talula are both very excited about because it means they can play when Milly comes around! Since Mark and Milly do not live far from our shop on Cleveland Street, Milly always gets to try our new treats and we love saying hi to them both.

Through living so close to Talula Eats, Mark and Milly came to discover our food. Despite being the “biggest street food scavenger ever”, Milly is funny when it comes to changing diets, so Mark took it slowly and gradually replaced her meals with the new Talula Eats food. Our food contains small amounts of turmeric which can help with inflammation.