Two more lucky souls went home through the adoption weekends held at Pets&U! The sweet little black angels Kubrat and Kardam have gone home to lovely families!

Kardam was adopted by Miumin Emin and his girlfriend Meral Ssetstra:

Silvester Ivanov and Magdalena Kartelska adopted his brother Kubrat:

And we even have some photos from his great new life already:

What an amazing weekend it was at the store! Super fun and lively! To all of you that came – see you soon! To those that didn’t make it – the same, but make sure you take a look at THIS album with super nice photos from the event made by Sim Chengelski.

The adoption weekends have been an amazing success, giving a new life to so many unwanted dogs! Some familiar faces send you their greetings from their happy new lives:

Who will be expecting you on March 01?

Kind babies Emmy, Lidia and Mitko are only 50 days old, but already know what it is to be abandoned and found, to be dismissed as trash and be loved, to hope, to dream… Although their dreams are rather simple. To be honest, it is actually only one dream.

When we look into their shiny eyes all we see is a hope for love, for a new family, for the true happiness of a loyal dog. They dream of no longer being unwanted street-mice. In their dreams they are loved, cherished and always near their people… They hope to find them this weekend!

How is our charity campaign going?

It is going more than well! This month, thanks to your generosity the dogs of the shelter got 260,63 leva! This may not mean much to you, but try and picture 217 kilos of food and you will quickly get it – with so many hungry throats at the farm this is amazing support, thank you!

We cordially thank each and every person who shopped for their animals at Pets&U, thus helping us feed our heroes. Stay put for an even better campaign that will begin in March – Pets&U have firmly decided to change the way charity works here in Bulgaria, we cannot wait!

Pets&U

Pets&U is located in Lozenetz, on the side of the Hemus hotel. The store is open every day from 10a.m. to 8p.m.

The people on staff all love and own animals, the sales-people are both veterinarians. All pets are welcome at the facility!

Find them on FACEBOOK

EDIT – 10.04.2014
Churchill 2 months after surgery

EDIT – 25.02.2014

Best regards from Churchill

EDIT – 21.02.2014

Churchill has been successfully operated!
His surgeries (2×3 hours) took place yesterday and went well. From now on – he will go through serious physiotherapy, but hopefully will be able to walk normally in the future, although with a slight limb. The best of all is that the pain is gone! We will keep you posted. Thank you for all your help!
EDIT – 20.02.2014

THANK YOU!!!! YOU DID IT AGAIN!!!
The funds needed for Churchill’s surgery have been raised and the boy should be operated today (or if the doctor needs some more time of observation – tomorrow).
We will keep you informed about the outcome and recovery, thanks to two larger donations that were received he will be able to stay at the CVC for a few days after his operation.
Keep your fingers crossed!

Churchill was born in a desired litter and as you can see for yourself he is a husky – one of those that are most liked – fluffy, blue-eyed and kind-hearted. He was only a month old when they used him to pay off an old debt and thus – he found himself in a little yard in Chelopechene – an escape artist for a guard, with eyes as blue as the Arctic ice. At first it was all fine – Churchill was a most loved pet, they took him out on walks and it seemed like he is living a dream life. But then things changed.

We don’t know how it happened exactly, perhaps the free Nordic spirit found his way to escape the prison – and more than once too. There is an old, badly performed operation on his hind left leg that testifies he has been hit by a car more than once. Whether because the veterinary bills were so high, or because his family was just sick of him, when a car hit him again on the right hind leg – he was not taken to the doctor.

And so, day after day, the Z-formed fracture was healing in the wrong way, Churchill began to grow shorter and limpyer  until finally he seized to be that good-looking shiny animal that a person can boost their redneck confidence with. He became weaker and weaker, his coat began to mat and finally – he became an ugly site – his broken leg, turned unnaturally in the wrong direction, the old fracture that made him limp with the other back leg… who needs a dog like this? That’s right, only “fools” like us. Thus – Churchill made his first stroll in the street as a homeless dog – broken, hungry and alone.

The Farm cannot take on any new animals and we have already said “no” to helping this boy once. But when we got a hectic call from his friend in Chelopechene yesterday, saying “some guy has tied the dog with a rope and is dragging him in an unknown direction” we had to act fast and quickly a place in a crowded foster home was found. We thought – all right, an amputation is not all that expensive, we can manage it somehow.

But when we took the boy to the Central Vet Clinic doctor Zlatinov had some terrible news for us: yes, the situation with this leg is a nightmare, but there is no way we can amputate, because the other leg has no joint at all – if we do not provide him with at least one hind walking cane the boy will begin to drag his butt, unable to stand up. Check and Mate! The operation that would save Churchill will be a hell of an expensive one, even with a discount, even with the doctor donating his working hours, even with an amazing person like d-r Zlatinov.

500 leva. It is 500 leva that this blue-eyed hero needs to ever be able to run again. He needs 500 leva to become handsome and wanted again. Medically speaking – 500 leva are the price to be paid for a correction of the tibia, shortening of the femur and putting his joint back together. Or simply speaking – 500 leva are a huge barrier on the road to Mr.Churchill’s happiness.

Facts will be facts. Without your decisive support – Churchill cannot make it. He will be another disfigured testimony of how Bulgarians keep their dogs and what they do to them if they get sick.

Still, we are terminally ill with optimism and have the stubborn belief that nothing is as bad as it seems. Countless animals owe their lives and happiness to you, friends. Perhaps you would do your miracle again, for Churchill?

If you decide to help him – we will be very grateful. You can donate for him through PayPal, e-pay or by bank – all details can be found HERE.
Donations for Churchill can also be left at the front desk in the Central Vet Clinic, just don’t forget to say they are “for the bill of Animal Rescue Sofia”.

On behalf of the good little hero, who has so patiently put up with immense pain caused and neglected by people – we thank the donors who will help him in his quest. We want to, we must believe that the world is not such a horrible place and there is space in it for a Churchill. But a happy, jumpy, loved Churchill, not a matted limping stray who wanders hungry and hated through emptiness till the day he dies.

We received a lovely short film from Elizabeth – the adopter of Murphy from Pernik. The author of the clip is Rozalia Grigorova, and here follow a few words from Elizabeth, for you:

I now officially know that dogs can make you do things you never expected you would, or could for that matter.

For example – to go out for a walk at 04a.m. because you work night shifts and there is no way you can wake up in the morning for a proper walk.

Or more – to let someone make a film about your Pernik dog (the city is obnoxiously known) – one that sees a stick game in the following steps: jump on the person holding the stick; take him down on the ground; retrieve the stick and quickly run to play on your own.

Now I am sure that when the robots finally rebel against humanity I will have a loyal protector. Even if this means that my vacuum cleaner be eaten up on a daily basis, hit, chased, hated until it finally hides somewhere or at least stops cleaning. It’s not the most functional thing, but it’s the effort that counts, right?

Every time a happy tail spills a cup of coffee on my keyboard I threaten the perpetrator that he will have to pay the next time. I don’t care how he does it, whatever – he can be a cop, a mountaineer or a movie star – it’s his choice. And now what? He really is in the movies :))))))

Four more lucky little ones went home during the past weeks thanks to the adoption weekends held at Pets&U!

Zacky was adopted by Stephanie Jenayat’s wonderful family, this is Stephanie’s mom on the picture holding him, just before they exit the store!

Little Googie was adopted by Roza Kolchagova, you can deside for yourself what kind of a life she is leading:

And here you see Pippi with her new best friend – Martina Ilieva!

When our boy Zacky chose another family  Tommy had no idea how lucky he was! The next weekend Zlatka Shopova came back to Pets&U and adopted him, she had firmly set her mind to adopt a play-mate for her best friend from us and chose the golden boy:

If you like pretty pictures and stories – take a look HERE and HERE – these shots have been made by Sim Chengelski in two consecutive adoption weekends – such games, such joy, such happiness, it really is a pleasure to see these jolly fellows!

The heroines of this week

Rudy and Mimmi are two lovely 3 month old girls. Refined, gentle and smaller in size, they will not grow up to be huge dogs when they grow up. Both are healthy, vaccinated, dewormed and have microchips and EU passports.

Rudy is a calm, intelligent girl with an amazing attitude to Life, The Universe and Everything else. She will shine bright in her adopters home!

Mimi is an exceptionally lovable and huggable soul, very clever and attentive, always ready for a hug, as long as someone allows her to. She is very lonely and sad and craves to go home…

The Martenitzi!

Chose our charity martenitzi for the First of March! Each one of them is a full donation for the dogs and cats at the Farm.

Our martenitzi will be sold at Pets&U from Saturday, 15.02.2014. You are welcome to come and chose yours, they do more than just bring luck, health and happiness!

Pets&U

Pets&U is located in Lozenetz, on the side of the Hemus hotel. The store is open every day from 10a.m. to 8p.m.

The people on staff all love and own animals, the sales-people are both veterinarians. All pets are welcome at the facility!

Find them on FACEBOOK

After his wonderful story about his life with Louie “Little Mook”, our dear friend Tom Chesser from Canada sends us a second one – it’s about our all-favorite boy Negarcheto whose new name is Jeff!
In case you don’t remember – Negarcheto was hit by a train and lost his tail and front leg in the adventure.
Enjoy!

“That’s MY ball!”, growled the gentlest dog I have ever met.

I’m guessing from his behavior that Jeff has never had a toy, or at least not one of his own.

Not surprisingly, this place is littered with balls and chew toys, both inside and out, and could be considered by many as a death-trap for old geezers who don’t watch where they’re going.

A few weeks ago, Jeff “discovered” a squishy yellow ball.  I was delighted.  While it’s a commonplace thing to see Louie express joy and excitement in all sorts of uniquely “Mookie” ways, such as running in great circles, gleefully jumping and yapping, and swinging from the overhead lights, it’s a rare delight to see Jeff actually “light up”.

At first, he seemed to enjoy it.  Then he Claimed It as his own.  No one was allowed near it or him.  (In case you were wondering, yes—he does know how to growl,)  There was a brief family meeting to discuss the ball’s ownership, but I was able to intervene before anyone needed a bandage—including me.  Yes, yes, Jeff had no intention of letting me take the ball either.

Not to fear!  We talked privately about exactly who the hell supplies the dog food around here, and he grudgingly yielded the ball to me.

I immediately gave it back to him.

What happened next made me check the mirror—the look on his face assured me that he must have seen a second head on my shoulders.  He was much too stunned to be happy.  Then I started to trade him treats for the ball.  The treats were interesting enough that he would momentarily forget the ball, but as soon as I reached for it, he would lunge to get it first.  Of course, I started while he was still chewing, so I won.

And gave it back to him.

Thus we proceeded for a while—treat, ball, treat, ball, and very soon reached a point that touched me deeply.  This little street dog with such a harsh survival background let me hold the ball while it was in his mouth, and then gently released it to me.

And I gave it back to him.

The next day, we started this procedure over, but in a very different mood: it had become a happy game for him.  Eventually, he showed me how very well he could catch the ball when thrown from a short distance, and after a while he brought a tear to my eye—he laid the ball down and nuzzled me.  There was no longer any desperation to keep what was his, no worry that his treasure would be lost to him, taken by someone bigger and tougher (or me, either).  And then my little Oliver Twist started to play with other toys—things he had not noticed before, things he hadn’t realized were toys, and things he didn’t have to fear losing.

Jeff, my very dear little street urchin, had learned to play with me.

* * *

I think, perhaps, Louie first told Jeff about training:

“Jeff, listen: when he makes a noise, you plop your butt on the ground and he’ll give you a cookie.”

“Bulls**t.  I don’t believe that for a second.”

“No, seriously.  He will give you cookies for doing the stupidest things.  Try touching his hand with your nose—see what happens!”

I did start training Jeff, but I really did not think it through.  The dog food is stored in cans in a small room which also has the door to the pen; it’s on the route to go outside to pee.  At the time, it seemed like a good idea to train near the food since I use it as a reward.  What I did not count on was how much Jeff would love training.  In every session, he happily dances about on his three legs, his stumpy tail wagging too fast to see and his eyes fixed on mine, waiting for the next command.  It’s truly a joy to work with him—usually. However, when one of the older dogs wakes me at 4:00 in the morning with a need to go out, we have to go through the training area to the door.  I don’t mind too much, but as soon as the dog has finished, I want to go back to bed.

Fat chance.

As soon as Jeff gets to the training area, he begins his “happy dance”.  If I’m too sleepy to notice, no problem: he keeps doing it.  If I make it into the next room, he turns and bounces off the door.  Naturally, I assume this means he really did want to go out and waited too long.  Nope.  We go back into the training room and he dances over to the dog food can and stands up against it, and gives me the look—and there I am, 4:00 in the morning, manipulated into another training session by a pair of irresistible brown eyes.

Who, exactly, is training whom?

He lies as close as he can to me, often with his head on my lap.  He will endure all manner of cuddling that would embarrass other dogs, and remain in place waiting for more.  If I get up, I get looks from him that say, “Where are you going?  Why aren’t you staying here with me?  Are you coming back?  When?  When are you coming back?  Do you have to go?”, and so forth.  If I make it to the door, then I will hear a three-legged thump behind me as he gets off the sofa and follows.

Bathroom privacy is something I have long since realized is a ridiculous thing to hope for, and all that has changed is who is nuzzling me for attention.  Now Jeff is always in the front.  Even Woody no longer has the opportunity to drop a sloppy wet ball into my underwear which provides an opportunity for all to have a great laugh at dad’s expense when dad is too sleepy to notice and pulls up his shorts anyway.  I’ll leave the imagery to you.  But now it’s Jeff wanting to be petted and staring into my eyes with a look that says he wants to be near me—no matter what I’m doing. Then back to the sofa, and after waiting very politely for me to get comfortable—unlike some little three-colored, two-legged dogs—he hops back up into whatever space is available whether is fits him or not, and lies down as close to me as he can get.

There seems to be a “honeymoon” period with new dogs during which they glue themselves to their new human, but as they become comfortable and secure in their new surroundings, they also become more comfortable with independence.  But Jeff, I think, will always be at my side, firmly attached.

And that’s fine with me.

Then and now 🙂

Thomas Chesser, 
Nova Scotia, Canada

CLICK HERE TO VISIT TOM’S WEBSITE – you’ll find plenty of photos of our boys.

You know that until we have finished with the reconstructions and registration we cannot take on new cases. But a distress call about a dog that was dragged by a vehicle shot us out of the Farm with a huge speed to Drujba district last week.  On the spot where Tsvety, a volunteer who found the dog waited, appeared D-r Ilieva.

There, she found a female dog about to go into shock having lost huge amounts of blood and with her tissues torn down to the bone after being dragged by a car for at least 40 meters, judging by the bloody tracks on the pavement. It was after either dumped, or crawled to the side-bank in agony. Dyeing from blood loss and minutes away from sinking into shock the girl was immediately loaded on to the car whilst d-r Ilieva was calling the boys at the farm to get her stuff ready to save the dog’s life.

Minutes later the dog was at the Farm where the guys were already waiting at the door with all the tools needed for blood transfusion and a generous shelter donor.  D-r Ilieva fought an epic battle to save the life of the poor tortured creature. After about two hours she raised her head “I think she made it” and whilst she was putting the dog on a new set of infusions the most unexpected thing happened – the owners were found.

It turned out this is not just a stray, but a run-away that has traveled a great distance in 10 days whilst her owners were searching for her in a totally different part of town:

“On January 31-st Lora was lost in H.Dimitar – a car hit her and she ran away. It was a side hit only of her head and shoulders, I have no idea what her condition is, because she ran like the wind and I lost her from sight in seconds. She might have gone anywhere, it’s been days of search an no one has seen her around here. Until this winter she has only lived in a village and is not yet used to the noisy city, she is very scared! She has a leather collar on her neck. If you happen to know anything about Lora, I would be greatly obliged for you to call me!!!”

Soon after that the owners were at the shelter to pick up their Lora so she can be treated in appropriate clinical surroundings. And so, this girl (your call – do you consider her lucky or un-lucky?) survived a whole range of horrible situations, but despite everything managed to survive and return back to her people.

And do you know what the strangest thing is? In the rush whilst we were fighting for the dog’s life, before we knew anything of her story, Nadia suggested: “Let’s call her Lora”…

To all the donors who gave her a possibility to recover from parvovirus in the Central Veterinary Clinic before the amputation could take place, Phoebe says a warm, big:

It was a big adventure for such a small little soul, but the end is near. After fighting-off the horrid infectious disease and going through the amputation of her destroyed front paw, we only have to treat her skin and our fair lady will be all set and ready for her new life on three legs! To her great luck, she has found amazing fosters that make sure she gets the love and attention she needs to recover swiftly. The hard part is through, only good things to come from now on!

And so, the last (but not least!) group of lucky souls to leave the Bogrov shelter in its last days of existence. These little heroes didn’t get to enjoy the variety and the cold at the Farm for which we congratulate them with all our hearts! Here are the very last – last Bogrovians:

 Caleb

Ripley (until recently known as Kaleb) is a 2-year old dog who spent his whole life at the shelter. Dumped as a tiny baby and last to be adopted from his litter, he now has his own home! Ripley now lives in the home of Zoya and Kamen Kamenovy in a house with a yard and a dog-companion to share a long happy life with. Farewell, dearest, we thank you for being so patient and kind. Look at him – this is Ripley as a little boy, what a sweetheart:

Shaggy

Shaggy was adopted by Nathalia and Petko Lazarovi! He came to us after a kind foster family took care of him, his mother and a brother until we had space for them. Mom – who was as tiny as him – was adopted in Germany a year ago. The brother, who is a large dog to his misfortune, is still with us. Shaggy now lazes about his own home, sleeping was his main activity at the shelter, but it’s a whole other story to have your own warm bed to snuggle into!

Annie

Do you remember Annie? She is that tiny and incredibly sweet dog that we took in with 2 bones broken on a front paw after getting hit by a car quite some time ago. The good little girl struggled to get back on her feet, but succeeded. After so many procedures and manipulations Annie became a total people-fanatic and it would break our hearts to see her sad and lonely in her otherwise very large dog companion group. Annie was chosen by Irena Gapova and is already enjoying all the pleasures of life as an apartment dog – loved and spoiled as much as she deserves!

Eva

Eva is a lovely dog that was abandoned with our friends at the “Good Idea” veterinary clinic – she had a large unpayed bill and no prospect for anything more than a crate in the clinic’s overnight compartment. After she had lived with the good doctors for many months Eva came to us as a very kind, very people-oriented dog. Sadly, being large and brown she was not on the “rapid adoptions” list.

And still – after such a long time in a cage, she finally got her chance of being happy – Eva was adopted by Tzvetan Tzvetanov and is already enjoying her spacious new yard! Stay safe, you sweet bear!

There was a lot of heavy work to be done during the last month – moving from Bogrov to the Farm at the brink of the New Year was really an adventure – we thank the brave volunteers again for helping out in the most difficult times. Unfortunately, with the many tasks we had during our first weeks at the Farm – we are somewhat behind on our happy dog stories. In a few consecutive days we present to you the last dogs to leave the Bogrov shelter – going to their wonderful new families here in Bulgaria. Today it’s the turn of Max and… Max who were adopted by Michail and Michaela!

Max is a husky found wandering about the Ariana lake. He was dirty, skinny and not as cocky as his typical self, but quickly became a shiny, happy dog, being a strong Nordic soul. Adopted once and then returned to us (he is a very vocal character) he now has the pleasure of singing to Michail Nikolov!

We all hope that now, gotten all the spoiling and attention he craves, he will no longer find it necessary to scream out his feelings. For now he is doing great, keep your fingers crossed for him, because no matter how handsome, smart and spoiled he is – there is still a northern hooligan with bad eskimo manners behind those clever eyes. Stay smart boy and take care of youself!

And here is… Max. Only this Max came to the shelter along with his twin-sister Mory. No way to tell them apart, completely identical dogs. They were raised by a woman who had them for a few months, but then decided she couldn’t handle them and brought them to us. At first they were both very shy and easily startled, but managed to get over it and thanks to the effort of the awesome volunteers they both became friendly attention-seekers. Max was adopted by Michaela Kireva who wasn’t scared by our horrid descriptions of his enthusiastic trouble-making and is now reporting of an absolutely calm, obedient, careful boy with a great attitude!

You can probably imagine what a madhouse the moving of all the animals from Bogrov to the Farm was. In the titanic effort to make things run smoothly at the new place we have failed to tell you about the last dogs that found their happiness from the Bogrov shelter. And so – Jivko-Ferdinand and Lubcho have applied to become full-blooded Yankees!

Jivko Ferdinand

Rebecca Margolies adopted the kind, loving, incredibly fun and good-tempered boy Jivko! Jivko (now known as Ferdinand) is one of the many dogs we took from the abandoned plant Kremikovtzi for rehoming. We picked him up with his mother – Lilly, who is already happy and loved abroad. And our dear boy will spend another year in Bulgaria and then head off to USA!

Lubo

Katy Swartz is Rebecca’s friend. As you can see – the two ladies came together to chose their best friends from us and Katy chose Lubcho! Lubo has been with us ever since he was a little baby, he was brought to the shelter by the municipal catchers along with his mother. Like kind Jivko, he too spent a long time at the shelter despite being an all-friendly, cheerful folk. It must have been their trans-Atlantic destiny that kept them with us all this time. After a year in Bulgaria Lubo will travel back to the US with his owner!

Congratulations, boys! 

With a huge delay, but no less pride, we present to you the last dogs that found their adopters before we left the Bogrov shelter for good. We will introduce them to you in four parts, this is the first:

Maron the Seslavian

Maron, or as we called him “The Seslavian” was of course – picked up by us at the Seslavtsi municipal pound. Furry and playful, fabulous with people, he has problems dealing with other dogs. So, he sat alone in his outside enclosure for quite a while without any prospects of going anywhere. This went on until he was finally noticed by Georgi Dimitrov! Maron now lives happily ever after in hisown house with a yard with Georgi here in Sofia.

Zaio

Our fabulous friends and adopters Jean-Luke and Nathalie adopted their fifth pack-member from us! As Jean put it – he wanted to surprise his wife with a big, fluffy dog… Well, we had just the one! Zaio (means “Bunny”)! The rabbit seems huge here, but we found him weak and very frightened, showing signs that he had been beaten badly and often. It so happened that he had to live in the surgery room for quite some time scaring the wits out of anyone that would walk in without knowing we had a bear in there. Zaio is already having a great time with Sivcho, Bear and the babies. Hurray!

Marian

Our famous Marian – the March boy in our 20145 calendar was adopted by Nina Kornileva! Marian came to the shelter at 20 days as a dumbed baby along with his 5 siblings. Poor Max is the last one to remain with us from this litter. And Marian is already shining in the home of his lovely new family in Sofia with a lovely new name – Axel. What a lucky boy! He is the sixth one from the calendar to be rehomed, 6 more to go!

Above, you can see him when he arrived (in the middle) and growing up at the shelter. And here is a short message about him from his new parents:

Hello,
I am writing to let you know that Axel (until recently known as Marian or just “the White”) is feeling great and so are we with him. He is getting to be more and more relaxed, he is no longer scared of stairs, pigeons, doves, trams and noisy children. He is very social – he likes the other dogs and is calm and playful with them. He shows and interest and sympathy to stray cats too, but as expected – it is not mutual.
Regards, Nina

For you especially, from the adopter of Little Mook and Negarcheto – a touching story about how a two-legged Bulgarian dog got his new life in Canada.
(There is no story about the three-legged Bulgarian dog in Canada yet, but if you be so kind as to post a request for it to Tom, we believe he will not resist and send us more!)

“LOUIE! Get out of my coffee!”

The little thirty pound terrier crossbreed paused and looked up, precariously straddling the space between the sofa and the table beside it. This was remarkable because he has only two feet, one in front and one in back. He used the time he needed to lick coffee splatter off his lips and look at me to express, unmistakably, a single thought:

“Your coffee? It’s sitting right here in front of me. It’s my coffee.”

Louie first came to my attention with the name “Little Muck”, referring to the character in a tale by Wilhelm Hauff. Since Little Muck ended his tale as a rather unpleasant character, and since the North American term “mook” refers to someone obnoxious, I decided to change his name to Louie. After more incidents like the one above but involving my rum and cola, a bowl of ice cream and a chicken leg, I have seriously reconsidered the name Mook.

I found him on the Animal Rescue Sofia website by following a link from Negarcheto’s page. (Negarcheto, now “Jeff” also lives with me, but he’s another story.) Louie’s and Jeff’s stories were sad, even horrific, but what touched my heart was what was written about them:

Louie: “…the little angel finds the strength in him to love us, to be joyful when he sees us, to crawl toward us when he is called, to wag his tail like a banner when we reach toward him. Mook has life in him, he has love in him, he has a tiny gentle heart, ready to beat for his human till his last breath.”

Jeff: “…Negarcheto being alive after a train is not the biggest surprise. What is most shocking is his kindness. His joy of human contact. You cannot see it in these photos, because he is camera-shy, but this is a very gentle, sweet boy. A boy for the heart, not for the streets.”

There was no way I could resist dogs like that.

I saw the webpage while a guest at the home of Susann and Jochen Langkeit after she had teasingly asked if I would be interested in a three legged dog—Jeff. I saw the two web pages for the dogs and said, “I’ll take them both!” As it happened, she was heading to Europe and brought first Louie back, then Jeff.

And that’s when the fun started.

When I first saw Louie at Halifax airport, I was not sure he was the right dog. He was standing, walking and even trotting along so well that I actually counted his feet. Two—that was him. And that was the first time that I realized he would never “adapt” to his handicap—he just didn’t know he had one!

On the way back to Cape Breton we stopped for a hamburger. Once back in the car, Louie woke up at the smell of food.

“Is that mine? That’s mine, right? That’s for me. Gimme!”

Even after his long trip from Sofia to Frankfurt followed by a long flight to Canada, he was ready to go and take on the world.

Once home, he met the other seven dogs who would be members of his pack without any problems. He first met Rufus, the pack leader, who looks like he could have been Louie’s father except for the size difference. He was very polite and respected Rufus’ authority. The other dogs came and met him and all went well.

Then he met my aging beagle, Simon. Without a moment’s hesitation, Louie told Simon that Simon was to be his new friend—and chew toy. Being of a very gentle nature, Simon simply agreed, or perhaps, failed to disagree. Now, when dad’s not available and Louie wants a soft, warm place to lie, Simon becomes a pillow. When Louie is a little bored, Simon’s ear becomes a chew toy.

Louie considers it part of his duty to care for the others in the pack which he carries out by intently washing their ears, inside and out. He has extended his care to me, as well, and I have found little need to wash my own face since he arrived. I need to dry, frequently, but never wash.

He can be a handful since he has, at times, challenged the “world order” within the pack by such things as growling at Bubba who is easily twice his height and three times his weight. It does make me feel useful to snatch him up at such times saving both his dignity and his life. I doubt Bubba would harm him, but as I once told an old girlfriend, “if you don’t want to know the answer, don’t ask the question.”

When it’s time to eat or go outside, both his excitement and noise level escalate to the point that I have requested he lower his voice.

“YIP! YIP! YIP! YIP! YIP! YIP! YIP! YIP! YIP! YIP! YIP!”

I assume you understand what I really mean when I euphemistically say “lower his voice”. Some of the other dogs have even politely requested that he “SHUT THE HELL UP!”

What I will always remember about Louie, though, is how a little dog who lost two feet struggles to climb into my lap while I’m typing.

And when he wakes up and changes position on the bed to lie closer to me and put his head on my chest before falling asleep again, I know that getting a little loud-mouthed, handicapped dog from halfway around the world was the best thing I ever did.

Thomas Chesser,
Nova Scotia, Canada

CLICK HERE TO VISIT TOM’S WEBSITE – you’ll find plenty of photos of our boys.