How Liane was adopted by a street dog

I was not particularly a fan of dogs, when one showed up on my patio one summer, with no signs of leaving. I gave him some food because he looked like he hadn’t eaten in quite some time. He devoured my makeshift dog meal and after his lunch, he lay next to my chair and chilled for a bit. It started to look like he finally arrived. I was in Greece this summer and the amount of roaming, homeless dogs there was overwhelming. I was only there for three months before I had to go to Switzerland, next Dubai, then the Maldives, and then some other new place. Surely, my jet setting life didn’t serve a dogs’ need, I thought.

But the next morning he was where I left him on the patio, on the blanket and smiled at me. Debating the consequences of getting attached, I found myself buying an airplane crate that very afternoon. He was a golden-brown mix, so I named him Doro, like Gold. The endless traveling didn’t seem to affect him in any way. He was just so happy, to be with me. I didn’t really know how to train a dog and luckily, with Doro, I didn’t need to. He just read my mind from the get-go.

And when I finally settled down, exchanging endless travel with the countryside, he was essential in training Nuru. Nuru was the newest addition to our family, a Rhodesian Ridgeback. We heard of him through neighbors. There was a litter about to get killed near by and we decided to save at least one. Even though Nuru was a pure-bred, he had many issues. As we have a very public place, a guest house & a restaurant, we couldn’t have his 50 kg jumping up and down on customers. Albeit Doro’s best efforts, we needed a dog trainer and a lot of patience. In the end we succeeded, and Nuru is now a very happy dog with manners. I’d like to caution the health issues with pure-bred dogs though. His Osteoarthritis started very early, and we put a lot of efforts and money into his well-being.  

Inspiration:

Liane took in a street dog, and saved Nuru, who was about to get killed as puppy. The ease of training a street dog stands in no comparison to training a pure-bred dog. It’s just not true that the latter are in any way easier to raise, handle, and have fewer health issues. It’s just not true.