Some visiting Belgian volunteers fell in love and took him off with them for a few days. They tried to cheer him up, to keep him warm. Within days he was already a different creature. He wouldn't leave their side. At the time Fabienne wrote in her diary "Slowly he will succeed in getting better and hopefully he will find a boss where he will be respected and spoilt."
Her wish came true. You can read Tjok's story and what happened next here. And now his wonderful new owner, Geert, has sent us news and some photos.
Tjok on arrival at the Refugio, in May 2013. Weak and sad.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Tjok (7115) and Guusje (Amber 6563)
It's been over a year since we got our two new housemates. We picked up Amber first, at Eindhoven airport, and a month later Tjok from
Brussels. Upon arrival, the difference in character between the two dogs was
clear. Amber pulled us forward along groves and shrubberies until we were in
the car. Once we got going she stayed standing, all the way home, watching the traffic through the windows. Tjok walked quietly through the garage to
the car, jumped in the back, lay down and slept.
And so they remained, Amber became
quieter, but still wants to explore the world. Only in a trusted and well known
place will she really relax. Tjok finds everything okay and is completely
at ease everywhere. Because I can take the dogs to work we go by bus to the city four times a week. So we have our preferred spots on the bus, in the place
where there's actually room for a wheelchair. The dogs walk quietly behind me onto the
bus. Tjok lies on the floor next to me and sleeps a little. Amber stays close to me, standng between my legs and keeping an eye on everything. Is always fine, never any
problems and only positive comments from the other passengers.
Tjok's health is slow to improve. Not only that, as he gets older, he
also suffers from the size of his heart. One of the valves leaks a lot and we had to
think about whether we should let him have an operation to repair it or remove it. We thought long and carefully about that. The vet warned us that a general anesthetic could well weaken his heart even more, but fortunately it all went well. He eats with pleasure and can hunt
and run and chase balls.
With Amber there is nothing to worry about - a healthy dog in good
condition and with a hearty appetite. What we find very unfortunate is that her hunting instinct is so strong that we cannot trust her to come back. We have
let her off the lead a few times, but she always goes off at some point to follow a trail
and then, in an instant, she has disappeared into the distance. So far she's always come back, but
every time she's gone off we can really do nothing but just hope for the best. In
addition, when Amber rushes off to hunt somewhere, Tjok coes too and comes back at full
speed, and this was bad for his heart. So we have Amber almost always on
the lead while Tjok runs around loose close to us.
We didn't take them with us when we last went on holiday to France; we were afraid that the heat would be too much for Tjok. So he went
to a boarding house with Amber where they were together in the same cage. Four times a
day, they were taken into a playground with some other female dogs so that Amber was
not afraid. The girls were nice and played together while Tjok was finally
at the head of a gang of women. But next time they will come with us. We'll go to a cooler area because we we have missed them so much in the two weeks we were
gone!.
Overall, we are so happy with our Spanish friends, and we know they are having a good time too.
Sincerely
Geert
Tjok. What a difference a year makes! A year and a lot of love and care.
Happy Amber. Safe now and getting over her fears.
Tjok. Such a beautiful, handsome boy.
Tjok and Amber in the woods.
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