1. Big Troubles

Everything started in "Big Troubles".

Seriously, I'm not kidding. We, the humans live in a small town in rural Portugal called "Sarilhos Grandes". The literal translation in English being "Big Troubles".

If that's not a deterrent to live somewhere, I'm not sure what is... But good thing we are not overly superstitious people. And it's a calm place most days. Anyway, I digress. You didn't come here to listen to me ramble about weird names of Portuguese towns (trust me there is weirder). So let's get to Sushi's (inverted) rescue story.

2. Inverted Rescue

Why do I say "Inverted Rescue"? Well, because we didn't go out with a massive net, and pockets full of biscuits dog rescuing. Instead. Sushi found us. She did all the rescuing herself. Not only for herself, but she also ended up rescuing us.

It went a bit like this. Once upon a springtime in Portugal. April, 2019 to be precise.

Ana (human 1) went to work, just like any other normal day.

Except this day, was nothing like normal.

Lunch hour came. And after finishing her meal, she went for a stroll outside the office. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed what initially appeared to be a fox, run to the side of the building. She thought 'wait, there's not many foxes here', and she waited.

Peering out, came a ginger coated dog, with a terrified look in its eyes. Ana's eyes widened with surprise. She called for the creature. But the dog ran away.

Ana tried calling the scared creature, and even walked slowly towards the direction it ran to. But, no luck. The fox like being was gone. Just like that.

Caught in a daze, to be taken out of by a sudden alarm. Ana took out her phone, hands marginally shaking, and turned off her lunch hour alarm. Time to go back to work. Saddened by the sudden encounter, and the inability to help. Ana strolled back to the office pensively.

--- 4 hours later ---

6pm. Finally. Time to go home.

Ana packed her things for the day, and walked out of office. As she was walking to her car, key in hand, she caught a sudden moving ginger coloured glimpse again. "What the?!" thought, Ana, confused.

There it was. The fox-like dog, right next to her car. Still with a terrified look in her eyes.

"How did she know this was my car? Did she wait for me all this time?" Thought Ana, confused. Ana unzipped her bag slowly, took out a rice cake (the most boring "healthy' snack"), which she wasn't sure would work, but...maybe if the dog was hungry enough.

She slowly put her bag on the ground. Broke a piece of the rice cake, walked a few metres towards the dog, and place the snack on the floor. She kept some in her hand, moved back a couple of steps, and sat down on the concrete. She waited.

The dog, skinny, frail, shaking. Slowly started walking towards the piece of rice cake on the ground. Its eyes, never diverging too long away from the human in front of them. As the dog got closer, Ana could see that she was young, and had many cuts in her neck, ear and paws.

She just sat still and observed. And tried to keep her energy as calm as possible.

The dog eventually got to the rice cake, and chewed it. You could feel it's desperation for food - the generous piece was gone in an instant.

The fox-like dog took a deep look at Ana, and started to walk closer. Its demeanour still showing fear. Ana kept as neutral as she could, and slowly extended her hand with the rice cake piece.

The dog kept walking closer, and closer. Carefully. Eyes never looking away from Ana.

She got close to her hand, and stopped. Ana looked straight in the dog's eyes, a beautiful golden tint. Almost wolflike.

Ana focused on her own breath, dropping her energy to a calmer state, and the dog reached for the rice cake piece in her hand.

It ate the offering close to Ana, and didn't run away this time. It seemed to have gained trust.

Ana slowly put her hand out, and the dog sniffed it. She see closer now. It was a young female Belgian Malinois. Full of cuts, some still very raw.

"What a pity. Who could be so cruel to do this to you." Thought Ana. She felt a bit lost about what to do.

Not a beginner at animal rescues herself. Ana did a veterinary assistant course, and she fostered cats at home. Exactly the issue now. "If I bring this dog home with me, the cats may not survive..." Ana pondered. The dog inched closer, and let Ana touch her briefly.

And yet, there was something that happened at that moment. The Malinois looked so intensively into Ana's eyes. It wasn't only a plead for help, but a deep, and unexplainable connection both felt. She didn't know what she was gonna do. But she was determined to figure out a way.

Ana slowly got up from the ground. Walked towards her car, and opened the door. She threw the last bit of rice cake into the back seat. The Malinois looked at the snack inside the car, and back at Ana. Her legs moving forward. She jumped up and sat on the back seat. Ana in disbelief. Closed the door carefully, got in the driver's seat and drove home.

3. A Cat's Den

"A Cat's Den, but not for very long..." Ana joked in her head. "What the hell am I doing?".

Ana lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in rural Portugal. It wasn't luxurious, but fairly spacious. With a terrace, but definitely not enough for a working dog... And definitely too many cats (currently 5) to deal with, on top of now, a dog.

She pulled the car in the garage, turned the engine off. She took a deep breath and called her (now ex) partner.

"I...I need your help with something. Come down here and see".

Her partner came down. Ana got out of the car, and as she was about to break the news, her partner peered into the car window, and looked back at her. Eyes, widening, with a hint of anger flaring. "A dog?! What the hell are you thinking! You know we have 5 cats upstairs right? There's no way we can keep this thing." exclaimed the partner, in distress.

Ana, already getting flustered, took a deep breath, and with a calm, but firm voice said "It's not a thing. It's an adolescent Belgian Malinois. She is hurt, and malnourished. She needs tending to. And I'm gonna help her."

The partner responded "Ok, but only if we put her up for adoption when she's ready. There's no way we are keeping her long term."

With sadness, Ana nodded in agreement, opened the car boot and took out a leash. A leftover from the other rescue instances, except this time, she was the one fostering the dog.

She opened the back seat door slowly, and put the leash around the Malinois. She said light, "C'mon', hop off, time to go home", and the dog followed.

The partner, irritated, went ahead, put the cats in one of the rooms first, and Ana walked inside the apartment with the Malinois.

"Put her on the terrace", said the partner, sternly.

Ana went into the terrace, with a bowl of cat food, and a bowl of water. Layed it out for the Malinois. Took the leash off, went back inside, closed the door, and observed.

The dog ate happily. "She probably hasn't eaten in days". Thought Ana. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to leave you out here tonight. I need to take you to the vet first before letting you inside with your cat siblings".

The Malinois slept outside that night. Except it behaved a lot more like a wolf. Howling non-stop.

4. SOS Pet

The next morning, Ana called the veterinary she did her course at to book an emergency appointment.

She took the Malinois to be examined and treated. There was no micro chip to be found. Many cuts in her ears and neck. Seemed almost on purpose. As if someone cut her neck, to take out the micro chip.

Apart from the wound, and the malnourishment, the Malinois appeared to be in good health.

As Ana was about to pay, one of the nurses said "She looks like a dog that came here last week. Pimenta the name. We need to make her a new registration. What are you going to name her?" asked the nurse.

Ana thought briefly, she had a slight feeling of hunger in that moment. Half-jokingly she said "Sushi. How about we name her Sushi?". The nurse laughed, and said "Guessing it's what you want for lunch today? I'll register her as Sushi Pimenta."

After a few more vet visits, Sushi was vaccinated and dewormed. Ready for rural apartment life...almost.

5. An Energetic Nightmare

As expected, the energy of a young Belgian Malinois, is not for the faint hearted. Even worse, is a traumatised young Belgian Malinois.

Sushi was scared, and that meant that she thought the only way to protect herself, was to lunge at people walking in the street that came too close to her.

Ana, now walking 2 times a day, 45 minutes at a time, had gained a lot of arm strength, and practice at keeping Sushi at bay from hurting dogs and humans around her.

One thing was certain though. If they were going to put her up for adoption, as agreed. There was no way she could be adopted by someone, whilst this aggressive and reactive. "She needs training Ana thought."

A few days later, and after searching online and calling a few dog trainers. Ana and her partner went for a trial session at Doggy Clube. A dog training center nearby, with an award winning trainer for obedience and agility competition.

6. Quarantine

No, this isn't a quarantine to do with Sushi. It's the big Corona.

As always, self development and growth always take longer than we expect. The very same case is for dogs.

Months of training and Sushi was still reactive. Better, and more manageable. But still a very difficult and energetic dog to handle.

Ana created an adoption advert a while back. Posted in many social media platforms, but she was disgusted at the first question people asked her. "Is she spayed?". Not even a "Hello, what's her age, story". Heck, not even "What's her weight?". There only seemed to be people interested in illegal breeding.

Ana was determined to not let Sushi be put into that situation again. No more suffering. She kept the adverts up, but with little hope.

A couple of months later, Covid hit. Which meant, there was an even lower chance of her getting adopted.

"Well, guess we are keeping her then". Said Ana, with a content grin on her face.

And the rest is history.

--- To be continued.... ---

NB: What you didn't think I'd tell the WhOLE story in one go right? More adventure awaits

Human author: Christelle