Paws For Thought March/April 2021

Nefeli’s Corner
Words of wisdom from a chubby and happy
rescue
I have always thought that everyone is
equally important and special, no matter
how different we are. We all have our
place in the world where we fit perfectly. I
want to share a story that convinced me
once more that this is true.
March is usually the last month to enjoy
snow in Finland before the spring starts. In
my family that also means the last chance
to train Search and Rescue in winter
conditions. So my mum packed the car full
of our training equipment, toys and treats
and off we went..
Usually it’s me and 3 german shepherds that
go with her. Reina, my big sister, who is also
famous for fostering hundreds of stray
puppies and two of her biological puppies,
Rip and Junior, aka the terror twins. But
this time Reina stayed home to keep the
rest of the pack in line and to my surprise
Papi Paapi, my little rescue sister, joined us.
I don’t know why she came with us, since
she is not known for her passion for
work. Paapis passion is more towards the
sofa and policing what other dogs do
(including ratting out the rest of us, when
we are up to no good).
Nevertheless I was happy to have her with us,
after all she is also my best friend.
When we arrived to the edge of a snowy
forest, my mom went out to set up the area.
Since it was just us training, there were no
real people to search for and our job was to
find whatever things (like jackets, boots or
backpacks) smelled like people.
The terror twins went first, as they are
always eager to work and they get a bit
fussy when they need to wait. And I’m not in a
hurry. I prefer to take my time and make
sure that I find everything and everyone. It
would be a horrible day if I would miss
someone - after all it’s a new best friend I
would never meet.
Paapi and me watched from the car as the
twins started to work. They rushed to the
forest with the elegance of two rhinos and
soon nothing could be seen except the falling
snow. Paapi’s face was stunned and easy to
read “I don’t care if it’s the president that got
lost, but I am not setting a paw to that cold,
dark and nasty place. I’m staying right here in
the car”.
And Paapi had a point. When it was my turn to
go the forest was even darker and colder. I
could see my mum was already freezing a bit
and I had no objections when she put a winter
coat over me. We worked for an hour or so,
until I had found everything there was to be
found.
I was exhausted, a bit cold and completely
happy. No matter if the lost items had been
between rocks, in trees or in any weird and
difficult places, I had found them all. And that
made my day.
We went back to the car and mom took the
equipment and coat off of me. I jumped to the
car and curled up to take a nap. Mum put a
blanket over me, like she had done with the
terror twins, who were already snoring in the
back seat. Paapi had been curled up between
them and as I settled in she moved next to me.
Her body was warm and I leaned against her,
soaking in the warmth.
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