Arthur: Dog of the Year

Photo: Reproduction from Team Peak Performance Facebook page

Since June, when I started this blog, I've been following all sorts of news about dogs. Dogs who were reunited with their owners, dogs who helped people, rescued dogs, service dogs and national hero dogs.  I am that kind of human who sobs when confronted to a real dog story. And I am happy to belong to a family who could even adopt a stray dog. And then, after all I read and all dog movies I watched,  there was the real Arthur.

Team Peak Performance Facebook Page Reproduction

This is the one story which I find really magic. No Hollywood writer would be able to be so creative: a dirty neglected dog, a super team of athletes, the Ecuadorian forest. The stray dog who followed a team of adventurer racers in the Ecuador's Amazon forest, restlessly, and beat all sorts of adversities. The choice of a team of athletes who were sensible enough to understand that the dog chose him, a story of a strong connection that unites man and nature in a wider prospect.

Arthur's real journey began when he didn't even had a name.  Michael Lindnord, the captain of Swedish Team Peak Performance gave a meatball to the starving dog, who was hanging around them, on the beginning of November. The sick dog - yes, with deep wounds that the Swedish team didn't want to describe to the press_  then started to be part of the race. He crossed muddy paths, climbed hills and swam (and that was when the team realized he wasn't going to leave them) after "adopting" Team Peak Performance members, despite his wounds, so deep that the vet who examined him said they were open for more than 5 months. Arthur was oblivious to his bad shape and together with those athletes he arrived at the end of the race as a winner.

What he probably wasn't aware of, was that a brighter future was on hold for him. After many days racing with the team, Lindnord just couldn't leave him behind. The decision to rescue and adopt him was easily made. On November 20th Arthur arrived in Sweden and was the great star on the news, thanks to his endurance and unbelievable sense of companionship.

The flood of letters and interest about Arthur's new life made Team Peak Performance organize Arthur Foundation, a non-profit organization to help stray dogs everywhere in the world. I am touched by it and will make sure to contribute to their cause in all ways. This really touches me, because I was in the Amazon forest once a long time ago in a difficult situation while crossing a strenuous trail and certainly if I crossed paths with a local stray dog willing to help me, I would do exactly what Captain Lindnord did. Wouldn't you?