A DEDICATED family from the South of France proved to be a dog’s best friend when they made a 1,700-mile round-trip, equivalent to sixty-seven marathons, to rehome Gem, a two-year-old German shepherd from Dogs Trust Evesham.

Victoria and David Lewis made the trip not once, but four separate times over a six-week period, to meet Gem and get to know her before taking her back to her new home in sunnier climes, proving that they will go to any length to find their perfect pooch.

The couple are from Caussade-Rivière, a small village in the Mid-Pyrenees region, and had been looking for a German Shepherd when they came across Gem on Dogs Trust website.

After making the initial enquiry and visiting Dogs Trust Evesham in the middle of March to initially meet Gem and make sure that she was the right dog for them, they visited a further two times to get to know her, before finally collecting her several weeks later.

Gem will now get to enjoy life in her new home on an old farm complete with four acres of land to run around in.

Mrs Lewis said: "We’ve always owned German Shepherds and after losing our last rescue dog just a few months ago, we really wanted to fill the dog-shaped hole in our lives with another shepherd.

"We’d spotted Gem on Dogs Trust’s website and even though she was a huge distance away from South France, we decided that we’d enquire about her.

“We made the first trip to see her in March and almost instantly knew she was the dog we wanted to bring home with us. We made three more trips to the rehoming centre to get to know her a bit more.

“It has been a long journey, literally, but Gem is absolutely worth it and we’re so in love with her. We can’t wait to give her the life she deserves and would recommend Dogs Trust to anyone in the UK looking to rehome a dog.”

Si Cutts, Gem’s canine carer at Dogs Trust Evesham, said: “It has touched our hearts that Victoria and David travelled so far for Gem. She has been with us a little while now so it just goes to prove that the right home is out there for each and every dog no matter how long it takes.

“We are so glad that Gem has found her loving home and we are delighted that she has found owners willing to go the extra mile to make her part of their family.

“She is an amazing dog who stole my heart and while I’m going to miss her so much, I know she’s going to have the best life with Victoria and David.”

Chris Slight, rehoming centre manager at Dogs Trust Evesham, added: “There are no boundaries when it comes to rehoming dogs to the perfect family and we will happily consider families from all over the UK if they can offer the right home for a dog.

"However, Gem is the first dog we have rehomed to a family living overseas, but as soon as we heard from Victoria and David and understood more about the home they could offer her, we knew they were right for Gem and we couldn’t be happier.”