Could this be Wales’ most loved dog?

Ben Huxley

May 1, 2025: my partner Addie and I had been living in our house for a week. Due to fresh paint on the bedroom walls, we were sleeping on a blow-up mattress on the sitting room floor.

My alarm woke me at eight. Grabbing my phone from the carpet, I resisted the snooze button and opened social media for what I promised would be a five-minute doomscroll.

Twenty minutes later, I followed a link to a Nation.Cymru article about the music scene in Bangor. A five-minute read. After this, I told myself, I’d make a coffee and start work. But at the bottom of the page something caught my eye: an article titled “Could this be Wales’ most unwanted dog?”

I read that Zeus, a lurcher crossbreed, “has been in RSPCA care for more than a year, but sadly has had little interest.” He had moved from centre to centre looking for a home, and recently travelled 200 miles to the Bryn-y-Maen shelter.

One of the animal care assistants said: “Zeus… is just overlooked time after time. He is a larger boy – but he is so clever and has so much love to give. He watched so many of his furry friends find their perfect match before him… we just don’t want to see him spend one day longer than he needs to in kennels.”

Addie was still asleep, so I absentmindedly sent her the article on Messenger and went to the kitchen for coffee. After throwing the wet coffee granules in the food bin, I picked up my large mug of strong temporary dopamine and turned to the kitchen door. Addie stood in the doorway, bleary-eyed, staring at her phone.

“We have to take him in,” she said.

Neither of us had owned a dog, having grown up with cats before moving to animal-free rentals. But we’d always melted at the sight of them, and loved them just as much as their feline peers. A dog was always vaguely in the cards when we moved into our own place, so perhaps I knew what I was doing, sending the article that morning… Within hours we were at the Bryn-y-Maen shelter, meeting Zeus in the barn.

He was batshit insane. It was love at first sight.

Due to a traumatic past, he can’t live with other dogs – and can’t bear the sight of one. He’s also terrified of the following: motorbikes, bicycles, tractors, mobility scooters, wheelchairs, joggers and probably many other things we haven’t yet encountered. Our first trips out were a shock.

Walking a reactive dog isn’t easy. And Zeus isn’t a tiny Pomeranian, but a lurcher-German shepherd cross. When he sees or hears a trigger, be that the sight of our dalmatian neighbour or the distant growl of a motorbike, he bravely lunges towards the danger with thunderous barks.

It takes firm footing and a strong grip to hold him back, to stop him chasing a Harley all the way to Chester. Occasionally we smile at a terrified onlooker, mouthing the words: “He’s just scared; he’s actually lovely.”

Hyper

Because he is lovely. He’s mischievous and hyper with a penchant for destroying pillows (I suspect I’m not the only one in our house with ADHD). But he’s the friendliest dog I’ve ever met.

When we have a visitor, he’s the first one to greet them at the door, desperate to show them his new toy, sniff them all over, or jump into their arms (regardless of whether their back can handle his thirty-three kilograms).

If one of us cries, he’ll bound over, frantically licking our faces, anxious, it seems, for us to be better. I had no idea, before him, that animals could be so tuned in to human emotions.

More than a year later, his mischief around the house has improved dramatically, thanks to the help of animal trainers and behaviourists from Bryn-y-Maen shelter. Pillows and cushions are now, for the most part, safe.

Phobias

We’re still working on his outdoor phobias, which seem to be rooted in deep traumas. We have no idea why motorbikes elicit such an intense reaction; the sheer terror in his eyes when he sees one is heartbreaking.

But we’re optimistic, and with gentle exposure therapy we’re hoping to heal his traumas as best we can. Addie and I go to therapy too. The three of us are doing the work together.

I decided to write this because last year’s article needed a follow-up. Anyone who follows me on Instagram will have seen plenty of Zeus content (sorry about that), but I couldn’t let our boy remain in the annals of Nation.Cymru as “Wales’ most unwanted dog”.

It’s about time Zeus had an official rebrand, based on the joy he brings his owners, friends, and online followers.

Could this be Wales’ most loved dog?

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