On April 25th and on the way back from a journey to see my family we stopped at the Tierschutzhaus. We means Ine, Mischa (Ine's 10 year old puppy-dog) and Pascal. my younger son (15) who wanted a small dog he can play with. We went up to the desk and were told that there was no Orion here. "NO, not again" I thought and insisted on seeing him. Aftre a while the friendly but not very competent lady found the dog at "stable B" and we were allowed to go there. A different carer led us to door B46 and as the door swung open a large dog barked a lot and scared Pascal a little. Pascal never had a dog so he could not tell that this dog did nothing but telling the strangers that this was his room. The carer gave me some treats and Orion took them without fear out of my hand.
We left after 5 minutes and Pascal told me that he wants a puppy and NOT THIS DOG.
Well Pascal wanted a dog, but as it was mainly me taking care of it, I did not want to give up. This dog's eyes told me that we could make it and I started a series of visits.
On April 28th I was lead to another playground and had a chance to play with Orion for 45 minutes. I left an exhausted dog that did not mind my touch and obeyed to the main commands like "Sitz" and "Platz" (meaning sit down and lay down) and went directly to work.
On April 29th I was lead to the same playground and we played thowing a toy and bringing it back for another 45 minutes. As I left for work again I asked if I could feed him some treats I brought (as I cared for Mischa now and then I had dry food at home). I was allowed to do so and he gladly ate out of my hand again.
Orion had a foster mother, Elizabeth, which was allowed to take him out of the shelter's area and we managed to get in touch with her and met her at May 1st in front of Tierschutzhaus. Ine was with me and Pascal and Mischa (he had to stay in the car April 25th). Pascal, Elizabeth and I went in to get Orion and Ine waited outside with Mischa. As Orion reacted agressive to other dogs, it was a risky plan to introduce the boy and the dog to him at the same time. Orion was very excited when he saw me again and jumped around full of joy. Elizabeth was astonished that I had won the dog's hart in such a short time and we took Orion on the lead, put the muzzle on and left shelter "B".
Ine and Mischa were still at the entrance and we were very curious about what would happen now. Orion and Mischa sniffed each other a little and then decided to rather ignore each other so we could leave the area to walk to a large field nearby. I had Orion on the lead and he behaved well, except when he passe other dogs.
He just went crazy, barked and tried to get to the other dog. I managed to control him well and no dog was harmed. At the field I took the muzzle off and Elizabeth told me this was not allowed. I answered that I knew this and let the dog off the leadd. Elizabeth told me that she would be responsible if something happened. I told her nothing would happen and started throwing a toy that Orion returned wit a lot of joy. We went on for about half an hour and then Orion clearly showet that he was tired. He stumbled over his own legs and staggered like a heavily drunk. Attached to the lead again and wearing a muzzle we went back to Tierschutzhaus and on the way Orion decided that he needs a break and rested in the grass. He rolled over and alowwed me to touch his stomach. A clear sign of trust. The last meters to the Tierschutzhaus le was so tired that he leant against my leg to not fall over while walking. He clearly had reached the point where there was no stamina left.
The next visit was on May 6th and Orion was excited to see me again. He jumped around in his small room and it was hard to put his collar around his nsck. As I already was well known to the Tierschutzhaus, I was allowed to take him out whenever I want and we spent some 45 minutes playing. For a change I took him for a walk then to calm him down a litte and it went very well. A few treats before I left a whimpering dog that wanted to come with me.
On May 8th I went to the Tierschutzhaus with Ine and Pascal. Though the boy had clearly stated that this is not the dog he was looking for, he joined in and we all were surprised. He played with Orion running, throwing the toy and finally stated that this is the dog he wants. Orion had won another heart.
On May 9th Pascal and I went to the Tierschutzhaus again to play with Orion and to give him a short walk and Orion surprised Pascal by being strong and fast, pulling the boy around while trying to attack another dog. Pascal became aware of the fact that he has a lot to learn ...
On May 11th and 12th I visited Orion again and he became more and more ecxited about my arrival, confident about me and sad about me leaving. I also met his foster mother again and told her that Orion would move in May 22nd. Then I left for a 4 days bike trip to Germany with Brian (the one who neglected the fact that there would soon be a new family member around) and Ine.
On May 18th and 19th I went to Tierschutzhaus again to see the dog and to play with him. I got all the information I needed for taking him home and decided to pick him up on May 21st after work.
--- to be continued ---
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