Recently Rescue Diva received a communiqué from a young friend who happens to be rather well-to-do now. One of our former foster pups, he has moved up in the world, to the point of acquiring aristocratic title… or at least aspirations thereto.

He requested that we post the following message here on RescueDiva.com.

We tend to do as we’re told by my former fosters. Anyway, who could turn down such a… ‘Noble’… request?

From Sir Noble (with transcription by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris, a.k.a. Rescue Diva):

I’m not sure, but the puppy photo above might be the first one that anybody ever took of me. It was the day that Amazing Me stepped onto the global stage. The day My Adorable Self burst upon the world scene. And after that, the planet has never been the same mwahahahaha!

But seriously now. Lookit my first baby pic. Is that a movie star smile or what?

The first steps of my rescue

That first puppy shot was taken before I made the big-time, back when I lived at Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK) on my home island Kefalonia in Greece.

Some nice, worried tourists from a place called England had driven me and my sis there after they found us in the middle of the street, about to get run over by cars. That was a little scary, I gotta admit. We still had short legs then and didn’t even know which way to run.

We were really sick in our tummies, too, so we pooped all over the tourists’ rented car on the way to ARK. Oops!

While we lived at ARK, our Rescue Aunties Marina Machado Kappatou, Melissa Beamish, Madeline Nineham, Claudia Stellatou, and other nice people took really good care of us.

One day Auntie Claudia found a forever family for my sister in a place called Germany.

I cried when my sis left. So what? Dudes can cry too, you know. Even macho Greek guys like me. But not for very long, because I had a bunch of distractions.

Older doggies got upset

There were two other puppies—Frederike and Barney—and about eight big dogs crowded up in our pen because there are lots and lots of dogs who need a place to stay on my home island Kefalonia. But there is not lots of space for us, and there is not lots of money to take care of us, either.

The big dogs were pretty patient with us puppies but we had to be careful ‘cause sometimes when we got in their way (or when we got too cheeky heh heh) they would get upset.

So the lady who snapped the puppy pics of me, Rescue Diva, decided to take me and three other pups home with her to the village of Svoronata to foster us.

My forever family

After a very long story, well… one day the crazy Rescue Diva lady told a friend of hers about me, and showed her my pictures. It didn’t take very long for this lady, named Alinda, to fall in love with… of course… MOI.

Alinda invited me to her house in The Netherlands. There, I met her other dogs and some kitties too. And just like that, Alinda became my Forever Mom! That day was one year ago this month.

‘Let’s destroy Mom’s stuff!’

One of the other dogs here in my forever home is Granger. Granger is a redhead like Mom, and she’s my best play friend. She’s always up for a good chase or wrestle.

We sometimes have extra dogs to play with, because Mom does fostering for a group called Stichting AAI, while the dogs wait for their forever families.

Granger, though, is also my best hey-let’s-rip-up-Mom’s-stuff friend. She’s always game for some search and destroy.

By the way, Granger used to be named Jorja, or Princess Jorja, as she used to refer to herself hahahahaaaa! She says she used to live in an old castle in Kefalonia, but… really? Come on.  She even wrote a story about herself living in that castle. Eye roll. [Read it].

Anyway, for sure Granger did live temporarily at the Rescue Diva lady’s house in Svoronata, a few months before I got there. That place was not exactly a castle, but it was all right. Then Mom saw Granger’s pics on the Stichting AAI website, and adopted her. AAI and the Crazy Cal-Kef Lady worked together to get the redhead “princess” (haha) from Kefalonia to Mom’s house.

OK back to more current stuff… For a while, here in our forever home, we had a third Kefalonian friend with us. She used to be one of the Cal-Kef Lady’s foster doggies too, back on our island. Her name was Penelope at first, but when she got adopted, her Forever Mom Valesca gave her the pretty name Raza.

The three of us Kefalonians had so much fun together here that Mom started calling us the Kehavocolonians, a title of which we happen to be very proud. Hey, don’t knock havoc till you try it.

Speaking of names, back in Kefalonia my name was Solomon. But Forever Mom Alinda changed it to… you ready for this? … Noble! Cool or what?

Noble thank-yous

Thank you Forever Mom Alinda for giving me the coolest name ever, which of course fits me perfectly.

Thank you Forever Mom Alinda for loving me even when I rip up your stuff, or get cheeky with the other doggies.

Thank you Forever Mom Alinda for making the Rescue Diva Lady’s dreams for me come true. Remember how worried she was about me for a while when I was in danger, before you adopted me? (A long story to be told another time.) Well, Mom Alinda, you saved the day and re-rescued me. And look at me now! Look at how big and strong and handsome and… well… even if I do say so myself… noble I am!

Thank you Rescue Aunties Marina and Melissa and Madeline and Claudia. I wouldn’t be in this pretty house now, thinking about ripping the stuffing out of sofa, if not for everything you do at ARK.

And no way would I be here, thinking about how fun it would be to spread the stuffing all over our living room, if not for the donations of everybody who gives money to ARK and to another great group on my home island, Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs).

Help my friends?

There are lots and lots more puppies, dogs, and kitties at ARK waiting for their forever moms and dads to find them. ARK needs donations to take care of them.

And KATs needs donations to help them get spayed or neutered so that they won’t be making lots more babies who won’t have homes either.

Cookies please?

Meanwhile… Happy adoption anniversary to me, happy adoption anniversary to me!!!!

Hey Mom Alinda… you are so beautiful. Did I ever tell you that? And you are just the smartest human who ever lived. And also the most witty and kind-hearted, and… by the way… howzabout a cookie? Look into my eyes. Three cookies? It is my anniversary, you know. Twenty-five cookies?

PAR-TAYYYY!!!

The author gives special thanks to Annemarie Ribberink for her help along the way in Noble’s journey.

Here at RescueDiva.com, we depend on sales of our romantic fiction to help create more real-life happy endings like those of Noble, Granger, and Raza.

Take a look at our stories to enjoy a fun read, to spice up your life, and help replenish our rescue fund.

We, the animals, and our fellow rescuers will thank you kindly!

For more animal adventures please FOLLOW Rescue Diva. Click the ‘FOLLOW’ button above. You’ll receive email notifications of our new articles. We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else. And it’s free!

RescueDiva.com proudly sponsors needy animals in the U.S. and around the world.

For example we help Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs) provide free spay/neuter for hundreds of animals per year, which is one of the best ways to prevent the abandonment and misery of puppies like Noah and Kyla. Please give to KATs via PayPal or bank transfer. Spay/neuter and education are the animals’ best hope for a better future.

Also please consider Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK), another group on the Greek island of Kefalonia who run a shelter  and work miracles with terribly few resources. 

RescueDiva.com and the author of this article have no affiliation with the rescue groups mentioned above, other than as a friend, volunteer, and donor.

Seen our book?  Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need, by Shelley Frost and Katerina Lorenzatos Makris, available through Amazon.com.

Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is a career journalist, author, and editor. Her fiction includes 17 novels for Simon and Schuster, E.P. Dutton, Avon, and other major publishers (under the name Kathryn Makris), as well as a teleplay for CBS-TV, and a short story for The Bark magazine. She has written hundreds of articles for regional wire services and for outlets such as National Geographic Traveler, The San Francisco Chronicle, Travelers’ Tales, NBC’s Petside.com, Animal Issues Reporter.com, and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner).

Together with coauthor Shelley Frost, Katerina wrote a step-by-step guide for hands-on, in-the-trenches dog rescue, Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need (The Lyons Press).