13 May 2016

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Colin is a lucky dog and he knows it.

Not only has he been rescued from a shelter and given a new home with caring owners, he's been reunited with his brother, Jeffrey.

The two schnauzer german shepherd crosses happily rub noses with each other, playfight and jostle for the attention of their owner Jamie Scoble.

The shaggy dog brothers are very similar looking but Colin is slightly bigger. He has the look of a contented pooch, and Mr Scoble says he is actually more relaxed and easy going than Jeffrey.

He and his wife Sam adopted Colin three weeks ago from Christchurch City Council's animal shelter after seeing his photo on a Council website. They knew instantly he was related to their dog.

"It's a reasonably unusual combination of breeds and I remember him from the litter when we picked up Jeffrey. He already had the name Colin then," Mr Scoble says.

They had been planning to get another dog as a playmate for Jeffrey and when they saw Colin's photo they decided it was meant to be. Shelter staff allowed them to bring Jeffrey in to meet Colin so they could see how they got along before making the decision to bring him home.

Colin has settled in well and Mr Scoble says he's a very affectionate dog. "We're really enjoying having him and it's been pretty smooth sailing. We call him our surfer dude because he's so chilled out."

He doesn't know if the two dogs remember each other after being separated nearly three years ago as eight-week old puppies but he says they get along well and when Colin first arrived the pair played non-stop. "They're starting to settle down now. We were worried there might be some jealousy issues but there haven't been any fights so far."

Mr Scoble, who had german shepherds as pets when he was younger, has been training Colin and says he isn't hard to work with and has a gentle temperament. He doesn't know much about Colin's background but he and Sam can't understand why he was abandoned.

"He's really smoochy, he's such a lovely dog. He just wants to give you love, he's a really genuine dog. We can't understand why an owner wouldn't come and pick him up, but their loss is our gain."

Find out about other dogs available for adoption from the Council's animal shelter.