top of page

Skina's Journal (1)

12/30/2015

I have been actively involved in animal welfare for a long time; I support, among other things, an organization that fights against the catastrophic conditions in the dog horror home Onesti. Someone from this group shared this picture of Wolfskin from the facebook page of another club that also cares for and adopts dogs from Romania.

Wolfskin was "collected" by the dog catchers in such a brutal manner that his left rear leg was practically torn off with a wire noose. Only the quick help of the Home for Strays association and the commitment of Dr. It is thanks to Rudi Hofmann that Wolfskin survived his injuries.

A feed sponsorship was sought for the poor mouse, and I immediately wrote to the chair of the association. 

We had no plans to get a third dog. With 2 horses and 2 dogs, we actually have enough to do... But the more I looked at Wolfskin's pictures, the more I had the feeling that I could do more than pay 20 euros a month for his food.

01/02/2016

I talked to Micha on New Year's Eve. We talked for a long time, thought, talked again. But actually it was just a formality: I had made my decision. I wanted to bring Wolfskin to us and give him a new, beautiful home! We don't care if we feed 2 or 3 dogs, and it doesn't really matter if we can't go on vacation as often because of 2 or 3 dogs... But we would save 2 lives - Wolfskin's and someone else's dog, who now has his place in Dr. Hofmann's animal shelter could take!

I phoned Christel, the director of the association.

Tonight she reserved Wolfskin for us.

01/15/2016

A completely dissolved club chairman calls me. Somehow an error occurred when creating the documents - Wolfskin is not a boy, but a beautiful girl! She was afraid that our adoption plans would become obsolete since she knew that we already have 2 girls in the household. I was able to calm her down quickly - our girls get along well with all dogs. breathe easy It's all OK.

From Wolfskin we make Skina - derived from the original name and more suitable for a bitch. Skina would be going to Germany in February with around 30 other lucky ones to spend a few weeks in a foster home before we will take her home.

02/06/2016

Around noon today, the transport from Romania arrived in Munich with Skina on board.  Inge and Peter, two very nice people with a heart of gold, pick up Skina. Our girl needs Dr. Hofmann must be sedated because she is biting around in fear and panic :-(   Is that a miracle with this history? She doesn't know yet that a new, worth living and hopefully beautiful life will soon begin for her!

The first images of a broken and confused Skina reach us. But soon our three-colored fur nose lets itself be petted and eats together with Inge's other 8 animal protection dogs.

 

February 2016

Skina is making little progress. She gets along well with the other dogs in the pack, does her business outside in the fenced yard - so she's housebroken. This is not a matter of course for former street dogs; many still have to learn this in adulthood...

However, there is a big problem: Skina reacts in a panic to a leash. Inge had already been warned that Skina would turn around with a leash like a crocodile and panic. Two lines had to endure with Inge. For a brief moment, Peter manages to put a leash on her. More is not possible. Suddenly we realize that this would be a huge problem for us.

03/13/2016

A week with readings, family and friends in Germany is behind me. Yesterday Micha arrived with our van and today is the big day. We drive to Regensburg to Skina.

We start early in the morning; Around noon, Inge and Peter welcome us together with their 8 dogs - all rescued noses from animal shelters. Only there is no sign of our Skina ... When we arrived, she fled under the corner seat in the kitchen, and we will see almost nothing of our new family member until the next morning :-(      Inge assures us that she doesn't usually hide under the bench, but is very shy of strangers. I'm sure Skina suspected something was up again and that she was part of a devious plan. The 6th sense of dogs and animals is absolutely amazing and incomprehensible to us humans.

 

03/14/2016

After a nice day with Inge and Peter (and delicious wheat beer for Micha / sparkling wine for Heike and Bavarian roast pork) and a somewhat restless night (the excitement!! and with 5 dogs in the same room, I felt a bit watched :-)  we get up early to arrange our departure as quickly as possible. Skina emerged from her hiding place and for a few seconds we were allowed to admire her in all her splendor - before she disappeared under Inge's bed like greased lightning. 

After a lot of persuasion and two tranquilizers hidden in liver sausage, Skina was put into the transport cage of our car despite vigorous resistance, not without leaving Inge a small souvenir in the form of tooth marks on the back of her hand. I don't know who I felt more sorry for at that moment - brave Inge or our poor Skina, who has absolutely no idea what is going on and why she is being locked in a cage again. I felt so sorry for her! But soon everything will be fine, she just has to hold on a little longer!

03/15/2016

During the first short stops, Skina trembled every time we opened the car door. I gave her little treats, which she spurned at first, but then hesitantly accepted. I was able to caress her hesitantly, so very slowly the fear in her eyes gave way to a certain curiosity, the trembling had stopped completely. Apart from that, Skina behaved so calmly and sweetly throughout the journey that we were afraid she wasn't even alive anymore!

At 5 a.m. we crossed the Norwegian border, fortunately there were no problems at customs. After a short nap behind the wheel, we still had about 8 driving hours ahead of us. Home soon!

Around 5 p.m. we finally arrive home - after a proud 33 hour drive from Regensburg to Isfjorden; with 2 short ferry crossings to Denmark and Sweden and only interrupted by 2 hours of restless sleep in the car when it was no longer possible. How good to have a seasoned trucker like Micha at your side, who drove the whole distance alone (I'm a terrible long-distance driver and fall asleep at the wheel after half an hour).

Micha zeroed his speedometer when he left Isfjorden for Germany to pick up first me and then our Skina. With the last meter to the front door, the mileage slips to 3976.  

 

The route goes on and on... my world's best trucker makes a good face for the strenuous game :-)

03/15/2016, evening

 

We thought long and hard about how to get Skina out of the car and into our house. Since Skina is terrified of being leashed, leading her to the front door is out of the question. Carry - no chance, she would bite in fear, although otherwise she is not a biter at all. And there it was, our huge problem: In Norway it is unusual to fence off your property - and certainly not escape-proof! We also have a nice, large piece of land with a meadow, trees and all the trimmings - but without a fence. Which means nothing else for our Skina than that she can't go outside before she lets herself be put on the leash halfway properly and doesn't behave like a wild berseker.

So we carried Skina and the cage upstairs to our 2nd floor, which wasn't such an easy task as she didn't sit still and calm any longer. Completely understandable... Arrived in the apartment, she quickly got out of the cage and disappeared into a hidden corner of the hallway. We left her alone. But it didn't take long before she came and got to know our two furry friends. Sniffed, even exchanged a little kiss with Shunka - all right! Of this  We had nothing to fear from the side, we were already convinced of that.

Now Skina started to wander around the apartment - not out of curiosity, as we were happy to assume at first, but to finally find a place to do her business... Skina had stayed in the car for over 33 hours without peeing a single time or even a sausage to turn! We wanted to put up some sort of litter box as a temporary solution (what a dumb idea), but we never got around to it. Skina couldn't take it anymore and flooded our living room.  Not that bad - with dogs in the household there are no Persian rugs or floors to ruin! After that, Skina must have felt so relieved that she became brave. The sofa, the couch in my room, all the rooms got a thorough inspection. We were completely surprised. Was that the same dog that crawled away from us 2 days earlier? Skina even took treats out of her hand!  She ignored her dry food, but the lovingly draped fish paste all around hit her taste buds. Then she withdrew to the kennel = cave intended for her, and ended her nerve-wracking day tired and broken.

What a day end!

bottom of page