It all started, when I passed an animal shelter on a beautiful day of motorbike riding in February…
The place is located on a hill overseeing a beautiful valley with a river – so I thought I might as well take a break and say hi to few imprisoned puppies. Unfortunately the place was closed (it was a Sunday) – but something caught my attention: only a single dog was out in the open and checked me out from a distance. When I started moving towards him, he took off: no barking – he just silently disappeared. But I had seen enough to get curious and check the pound`s website the very same evening. My shy friend from earlier was indeed waiting for someone to adopt him! His story sounded quite familiar: he was abandoned because his previous owners broke up and neither was able to keep him. And unfortunately he had already been at the shelter for over four months!
One day and a few emails later I had an appointment with the pound`s staff – and without a lot of foreplay, my new friend was brought in. He was quite nervous and easily distracted by the smallest noises but so beautiful that I missed a few heartbeats and looked stupid with my mouth open. Supposedly that is the impression he got – and there was not a lot of interest. We ignored each other for half an hour in a fenced outside area, it was very warm and sunny, so I thought that there are worse ways to spend the afternoon… My friend must have figured the same but came to the conclusion that even the best afternoon can get better – for example by tearing apart a nice leather jacket (mine in this case). He was not aggressive but played a “little game” with me to show me my place.
Two weeks later, we had met almost daily in the meantime, I had managed to win some of his trust and convince him that for the following reasons I should be above him in hierarchy:
- fourtyone years additional live experience
- access to unlimited food and treats
- ability to drive a car and get to fancy places for great hikes
- managing his escape from dog-jail
From day one there was no doubt that if I would really decide to have a dog again, it would be him. He is extremely smart, strong minded and a bit out of shape: a familiar set up – very similar to James (my previous dog) when we first met…
No doubt that it was quite a job to socialize my new friend and bring him into shape! No doubt, he is worth it! And even though he called his previous home “dog-jail”, he was in the best place he could possibly have ended up in: The staff there is friendly and extremely professional: he likes them, I like them to. The place is clean, has lot`s of space inside and outside and even a swimming pool !! Check it out – there are other pets waiting for a 2nd chance.
Stay tuned for more details and the next update!
