After having thought about it for quite some time, in March 2007 we decided we wanted a dog. We preferred to get a dog from a pound, in order to give a poor animal a second chance.

One of Dennis' colleagues had recently adopted a dog from a Spanish pound, and we liked that idea. Even though there are plenty of dogs in the Dutch pounds, the conditions in the Spanish pounds make the fate of those dogs a lot worse. We therefore decided we would also adopt a dog from Spain.

Searching the internet brought us to the Animal In Need Foundation.
There on the website we saw the doggie LL1021, Bozo - and we were sold.

After quite some contact back and forth, via phone and email, with the incredibly friendly volunteers of Animal In Need, we decided to adopt Bozo. On March 26, 2007, we paid the money and sent in the contract. It would then take several weeks to finish all the paperwork, and then Bozo also had to be neutered. If all of that went well, he would be flown to Brussels, where would could go and pick him up. We had by now also come up with a new name: Murphy.

On March 29 suddenly there was the email: Murphy would arrive in Brussels the next day already!

The following evening, with sweaty palms and pounding hearts we were awaiting the arrival of his flight - and boy were we nervous! And, as luck would have it, the flight was delayed. After the airplane had finally landed, and the monitor indicated that all luggage had been taken off the plane, there was still no sight of the Animal In Need volunteers and the dog kennels. While waiting, we got talking with another volunteer who was picking up the dogs. He told us that sometimes it took a little longer for them to come out.

After about another half our, our waiting was rewarded: there came the bagage carts with the kennels on them. And in a kennel, together with two other small dogs was our Murphy! He was even cuter than we had imagined!

Dennis was asked if he could also push one of the carts, and once behind it, we noticed the smell: we had been warned that the dogs would smell, but this was worse than we had thought... Understandable, though, that stench: the dogs in the pound go where they want, and there simply is not enough time, opportunity and money to clean everything up, so the poor animals get it all in their fur.

Once we got to the van, Murphy was placed in Dennis' arms: there was only a collar that was too big for him, so we had to carry Murphy - and then we really noticed the smell. But we didn't care - we were so happy!

On the way home - going 100 miles an hour, just in case he had to pee - Murphy lay in Anna's lap the whole time. He was so sweet! When we got home, Dennis' parents came over - they of course wanted to see Murphy too. Once inside it became pretty clear he was very happy: he ran around the living room like crazy (and for a few moments we thought to ourselves "what did we get ourselves into"), and after peeing in the middle of the living room he jumped onto the couch with the little ball we had given him, and looked at us with a smug expression on his face: "and what are you going to do about it?"...

Murphy had come home.

Because of the recent neutering we weren't allowed to bathe him for the first 10 days. We weren't too happy with that, since he did smell quite bad. When the 10 days were up, we brought him to a grooming salon, where he got spoiled: all the matted fur cut out, his hair plucked nice and short, and nicely washed, and all of a sudden there was this skinny little doggie coming out from underneath all that hair. But an extremely sweet, loyal and smart dog, and - unexpectedly - house broken. Only once, when he had an infection in his intestines did he do anything in the house.

Now, almost a year later, we are still so happy that we made this decision. Not only is Murphy very loyal and sweet, and prefers to lay on top of you, he is also very smart. It didn't take too long before he obeyed us, even though in the beginning he did try to establish his dominance. After that we taught him tricks pretty quickly: besides sitting, laying down, begging (with both front paws in the air), shaking paws (like shaking hands), he also knows "getting shot": make a gun with your hand, point it at him, say "BANG!" and Murphy will lay down, roll on his side, and stay down as if he was shot - very cute to see!

We will never know how or why he ended up on the street. We also don't know what mix of breeds he is. We do suspect he once had an owner - he got used to stairs, the couches and the house too quickly for that. What we do know, however, is that we could not have wished for a better dog!

If ever you consider getting a dog, think about those poor dogs in the pounds in Spain. If you don't want to get a dog, then maybe consider sponsoring the good work of the volunteers. Even small amounts are a great help. For more information, look on their website: Animal In Need Foundation