Goodbye to a friend…

España, Sunday, March 24, 2019

This week we made the decision, although with a great deal of regret. We can’t give Amigo a good home and upbringing, so he’s social enough once there are guests. And so we brought him back to the neighbour so she can give him a good home.

The past 14 days have actually been hell for Amigo. He actually had to be on the chain constantly because otherwise he would run off, and because at the moment we do not have the option and the budget to provide a closure so that he can walk around freely. At least 4 to sometimes 10 people work here every day from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Certainly now that they are working hard on the pools. It makes a hell of a noise because they had to cut everything out with heavy machines. In addition, Amigo had to give up its spot at the swimming pool, and we ourselves moved to our definitive house. Result: Amigo lived under very heavy stress and had constant stimuli. We noticed that his behaviour deteriorated every day. He barked almost constantly, bit us more and more, and jumped on everyone who passed by.

Education was not possible because, first of all, we were unable to free up enough time for him because we simply have a hundred thousand things on our mind and are practically working 24 hours a day. Furthermore, it turned out that all workers had their say on how to raise a dog, and that this was often in a very dominant way, which, although they temporarily get him submissive.Our approach to rewarding and ignoring as an education method therefore went completely wrong. The poor animal no longer knew what was expected of him. It only made him more nervous.

At the weekend, when there were no workmen and the peace returned, we let him walk around freely. Unfortunately, he escaped, as expected, but he kept coming back. Which was good. But apparently he went on a raid, and ate everything he could find. The result was that he came home sickly and vomited all night and had diarrhea. So this was not a solution either.

When the Abanillas (workmen) pointed out to us on Monday the various heaps of living Processionary caterpillars that had fallen from the trees, it only became clear that it was dangerous for Amigo to walk around freely. Processional caterpillars are so toxic to dogs that they become fatally sick. We could not take that risk. The control of the caterpillars must also be done in the autumn, now it no longer had any effect.

The apotheosis came after a hellish night of constant barking from Amigo, which kept us awake all night. Because it was no longer tenable, Wim went all the way down with Amigo to fix him there,     at 4 o’clock in the morning. Because it was quite dark at that hour, he had turned on a headlight. Apparently the neighbour found this suspicious and 10 minutes later the Guardia Civil stood at the fence. Wim had to identify him with his E-id … We were desperate. This was no life for Amigo, not for us, and even less for our guests and for our enterprise. All reasons to consider. It was not an easy choice, but sometimes you have to make choices that you would rather not make. The neighbour came to fetch him and took him home for the time being.

One day later the neighbour called because she wanted to know if Amigo had eaten poison, because it turned out he was very ill. His blood was full of poison and he had to be hospitalized and given heavy medication and blood. Nobody had seen this. Also not the so-called “connoisseurs” of abanillas and everyone who saw him daily. So we had nothing to blame for ourselves, but it gave a very bitter feeling. And at the same time also the feeling that it was better that he stayed with a family where he gets all the care and especially all the freedom he deserves … Fortunately he is recovering well, we heard.

Adiós Amigo!