We began to advertise Dani in May 2011 upon his owners’ own request.
Dani is a young and powerful Dalmatian male, full of energy spiced with a little stubbornness and strong will, which are typical features of this breed. His owners weren’t able to cope with his incredible energy and they were also forced by their neighbours to find a new home for Dani. They called for the help of a professional dog trainer, which was another chance to make their life better. Unfortunately they couldn’t attain radical changes in Dani’s behavior so the search for an optimal solution continued.
Shortly before Christmas we received a letter from a family interested in Dani. Letter followed letter and we agreed to get them in touch with Dani’s owners. During their visit they decided to adopt the dog. Dani spent the Christmas in his new home surrounded by his new owners. They had firm ideas how to train Dani and they began his education with lots of patience.
Here is their first letter:
“We are grateful for your help! Your organization made our family’s life truly happy with this beautiful dog. In the following I’m going to describe what happened yesterday. I hope that our letter will please you, too:
We had a pleasant journey, Dani is a clever boy, he behaved disciplined and he didn’t try to jump or bark and he didn’t throw up. We haven’t told our daughters about his arrival, because we didn’t want to beguile neither them, nor ourselves with useless expectations. We took his leash off in the garden and as we stepped into the house, our two daughters couldn’t help gasping from the joy. Dani sniffed the older girl (16 years) but he seemed to not notice the younger one (5,5 years).
Then we took him for a walk. He didn’t engage in conflict with the neighbouring dogs, he bravely went straight ahead and he listened to us. As soon as we arrived home, we fed him. He gobbled up the tinned meat within a second…
I had to leave then, but when I arrived home at 5 pm, he came to greet me when I called his name. He was pleased to see me but I didn’t let him jump on me. I allowed him to enter the house… Again he bubbled over with joy!
We’re planning to make this a habit. Dani stays outside during the day but we will let him in from 5 to 7pm when everyone is at home. This way he can be with us and enjoy our company. We often tell him „phew!”or „what are you doing?” and the „stay!” command. He registered the kitchen counter, the fridge and the cupboard as unfailing treat sources. He loves being around us, always looking for some delicious bites.
Dani accepted his place on the terrace but he jumps up the moment we open the door. Today morning he peeped through the door and waited for me to wake the others and he greeted everyone (even our smaller child!) happily. When we left for work we ushered him outside.
The morning walk has become my husband’s duty. He gets up at 5 am now, though I wasn’t able to get him out of bed before 5.30am earlier in the dog-free days of our life.
A couple of months have passed since then. We have received news about Dani recently:
“We’d be glad if others were also able to feel our pride. Not for our own glory but because there is so much sadness in this world, so many dogs end up on the streets and in shelters. Those who are blessed with the tiniest good sense, would love to give a home to every lonely dog… We all know that it’s impossible but it often breaks one’s heart to see the situation…
Dani and us are happy to say that we’ve had luck. We adopted the young gentleman in December 2011 and we celebrated his 4th birthday on 8th March 2012. We didn’t prepare a cake for him.
We can say now that after the difficulties of the winter season, sun has finally come out. Most of the times the door is open (!). Dani have brought lots of happiness into our lives. He’s allowed to enter the house (the kitchen is the border), we all give him a nice word, stroke him and tap on his nose when he wants to put his big head on the counter or the dining table.
After a long time Dani finally gets along with our younger daughter, as well, whom he somehow didn’t manage to notice until now. Thanks to the open door, Dani steps into the house just as often as we go out in the garden, so they had the chance to pal. He has never ever growled to our little girl, but it made Viki sad to see how much Dani adores us, while he simply passed by her.
We didn’t have to do a lot to amend this problem: we put a bag of yummy biscuits into the child’s hands, she climbed up onto the top of the jungle gym and she happily ordered Dani to sit, down and ask. Of course all his attention turned towards Viki since he couldn’t climb after her.
Due to the warm weather, Dani eats once a day. He has already lost some weight and his figure looks finer and finer. Naturally, he would gobble up all the treats of the world and he could easily dine four times a day, but he is allowed to be in the kitchen during the weekend lunch (!). We only need to say „sit” and he is able to wait (well, not the most patiently), until we finish, since he knows very well that we will surely give him some yummy bites. (Feeding the dog at the table is strictly forbidden!!)
We travelled to Domonyvölgy (close to Gödöllő) for the long weekend and we let him wander freely in the woods. Ticks avoided him and he got sooo lost in the countless interesting things he found on my mother-in-law’s plot that he forgot to take a rest during the day. We arrived home in the evening, gave him his dinner, after which he nestled up in his place and dug his nose out only the next morning.
He got used to travelling in the car and my daughters enjoyed the trip just as much as he did. A young Westie accompanied us all day long. The silly terrier provoked Dani sometimes but our four-legged friend looked down on the little ratbag with sorrow in his eyes, just like a real gentleman. He let him drink from his water bowl but he did warn the dog to stay away from his food bowl. His self-assertion hit the target.
So, that is how we live. Dani has become a lot calmer in the past months. He is not so nervous, not so wound up and he lets me embrace him, which he didn’t tolerate earlier. Not even from me, although I cowered to be level with him.
Please, put a symbolic „tick” beside Dani’s name. I believe and I feel that we were meant for each other and my family feels the same, too. We get on very well with each other even if there are (and there will be) misunderstandings and trespasses. We became attached to each other and we have also accepted the others’s whims. God only knows, we all have lots of them.”
Click here for more pictures: http://gallery.site.hu/u/dalmatamentes/ … 2011/Dani/
English