Part I.
At the beginning of February 2012, a family interested in two Dalmatians travelled to Budapest. It was a snowy Saturday, the wind was blowing hard but the bad weather didn’t frigthen them away. They arrived from the Lake Balaton to visit the two dogs. A young married couple introduced themselves to us; the grandparents took care of their kids while they were working their way up on the slippery road to meet Perdita and Pongo.
Pongo climbed out chattering of his worn-out board house. We had to lure him for a while in the cold. The owner let Perdita out of the cage, too. She became sooo happy to greet the newcomers. Both Dals acted very friendly with us. They were awfully fat and dirty and they were almost freezing in the cold, especially Pongo. He wanted to be stroked, too, though he prefered to ensconce himself into his house in order to find a warm place. But it offered no shelter at all.
The Dalmatians literally looked like as if they were kept in hutches. Perdita was in a better condition than the others. We could see various wounds on Pongo’s body and fur was missing on his nose, legs and tale. However, the sight of the dogs didn’t deter the future-owners. They were experienced Dalmatian-owners and they had two smaller dogs at home, now. Looking into the dogs’s love-hungry eyes, they immediately discovered what they were searching for: two new members of their family.
Pongo and Perdita sensed that their savers had finally arrived and they were fawning upon them continuously. The sympathy was undoubtedly mutual between them, as the pictures show.
We fixed this appointment to see whether they would get on well with each other, but the two Dalmatians endeared themselves to the couple so much that they decided to adopt the dogs. They live in a nice house with a garden and the dogs are treated as members of the family. They are allowed to enter the house and the head of the family works at home so the four-legged pals are never left alone.
Considering the dogs’ condition and the circumstances of their keeping we agreed that they would take Pongo home (he was vaccinated and neutered) and Perdita would move to her new home after the sterilization was done. It was probably a better idea to introduce one dog at a time to their current small-sized dogs, just to make Pongo’s conformity smoother. We believed that they would get on well with each other since the dogs have lived with Dalmatians before so it wouldn’t be a shock to them to get two big friends again. Doing things step-by-step is always a good option.
The family decided to adopt two Dalmatians, so it was a great advantage that Pongo and Perdita have known each other for years, though they lived in separate cages.
Pongo_cs ’wagged farewell’ to his previous owners and he climbed into the car happily. He was joyfully looking forward to what was awaiting him in his brand new life.
The smaller dogs accepted Pongo, who adapted to his new home within seconds. The children fell in love with him at first sight and they named him Kapitány (Captain). The three dogs consumed their dinner together on the first evening. As the days passed by the two small dogs decided to share their bed with their new friend.
Kapitány, the calm Dalmatian Gentleman is incredibly grateful for the love and care he receives each and every day.
To be continued…
Click here for more photos of Kapitány!
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