We didn't choose her, she chose us

This is the story of Pleun, our 100% Italian dog with the 100% Dutch name. The story of how she found us when we weren't looking for her, here at Valle Dolce, is an unusual one and worth a blog. I think...

When we still lived and worked in the Netherlands we had dogs, at least as soon as we had found our family home in the woods. Being entrepreneurs (next to having the luxury of a nanny) there was always someone to walk them. When the kids grew older, the task could be split even more, until the time came they all lived elsewhere and weekends at home were primarily for dog-cuddles; naturally they missed them more than us….. As we finally were preparing to pack up house and leave for Italy permanently, our last dog died, just short of 15 years old. It was a long haired German pointer, spotted, like all the dogs we had had so far (& all male). Good timing we said and also: we will not take a new dog for a while, at least till we are fully settled and have proper dog sitting options. Because, we were also looking forward to our newly found freedom in life and wanted to explore and travel the unknown depths of our new homeland. 

We moved to Pollutri on September 2nd 2020. Pleun moved in with us on September 27th 2020. So much for planning things. And how did that happen….

That morning I was hiking with my sister up to the village of Pollutri, through the vineyards, fields and olive groves. We spotted some stray dogs along the way, one of them following us for a while until the gang summoned it back into the group. On the way back, about 1,5 km from our home, we realized another dog had started following us; she moved through the fields at a certain distance but parallel to our path. Where we made a turn or crossed the road so did she, always keeping a stealth eye on our moves. Meanwhile, because she wore a collar and it was clear this was no stray dog, we tried to persuade her to move on, turn around, go home! We even tried to trick her into the wrong trail when we got closer to our home, but failed hopelessly. She apparently was determined somehow to keep track with us, complete strangers. When we got home and the rest of the family was informed of our new hiking companion, it started to rain. While we grouped on the veranda, she immediately laid down below a nearby orange tree, the dense foliage of which gave her shelter for a while, until I could bear it no longer and lured her onto the veranda as well. She was quite shy and a bit scared at first, but water and a bowl of cat food (as yes, we had a cat already, for she came with the house) did it for her. She looked quite exhausted, when she started to shiver I gave her a blanket and she went to sleep…. Now what? When the night came and we all went to bed she still hadn’t moved, so we figured: either she will be well rested and fed and will go find her way home or…. She was still there the next morning. Of course. We started a search and asked around at farms and houses we had passed, while we also looked for and found a vet in a nearby village. No, this dog didn’t have a chip (like most dogs in the countryside) and no, he didn’t know where she belonged but would put her up on his Facebook page. He also said she was more or less one year old and was in good health. When he asked us: suppose we don’t find the owner, are you willing to adopt this dog, we were surprised to hear us say "yes" so quickly…. Indeed, we liked her unusual look with short, grey spotted hair and hunting dog features, her size a perfect medium.  And having a female dog for the first time fitted in our new adventure. 

We bought a leach and some proper dog food, while she became more and more at ease. She obviously loved the attention and besides having a sweet, soft character, she also seemed well raised. The cat had made it very clear from the beginning that she was the boss, as she was there first (like, 10 years). After a week or so upon one of our daily walks we ran into a neighboring farmer and he asked how and when we got her. I explained and to our surprise he said: I know this dog, she belongs to friends of mine in Casalbordino (the vet’s village…) and he also told she had run away on the day she came to us. He said their house was a bit chaotic due to works and that the two little children missed her a lot. Although our harts sank, as we already felt attached to this creature, we told him to immediately inform his friends and that they of course should come by to pick her up. That seemed the end of this story, but a week went by without seeing or hearing from him, after another week we ran into him and he then said he’d forgotten to tell his friends, been very busy and all … What?! Now we were puzzled….

He seemed to realize this dog was far better off with us, having all the space and attention she obviously missed at her old place; yet he was torn between loyalty to his friends and this dog and us, getting more and more attached to her and obviously vice versa. We finally agreed that the family would be informed and come by asap and see for themselves that perhaps our situation was more apt for this dog. Or not… The day came, our farmer-friend accompanied the family: grandpa, the mother and the two children, a girl of 7 and a boy of 5. The dog did not appear to know them, let alone to have missed them, she was not interested at all. No fear either (but the father wasn’t there). Anyway, grandpa and mother agreed this was a far better place for the dog to live, the boy didn’t want her back because she was always after his football. But the girl… was weeping that she missed the dog so much. A frightful moment came when the mother was inclined to give the girl what she wanted, but in the end agreed with all adults to the fact that the dog had been very determined to flee her house and chose to live with us. Pffft, were we relieved! And that’s how Pleun, the sturdy name we gave her because I felt it suited her, came to stay with us. Her Italian name we learned was Bernardina … acutally very apt too as it means "strong and brave like a bear"! 

When we were working on our land, she accompanied us; we have no fences but she learned where the boundaries were and stayed close to us.  Until I started to take her on long walks through our valley, she realized her freedom in fact was unlimited and she started wandering further and further, yet she always comes back. She now chases wild boar and indeed knows very little fear, especially when she is with her companian Freddy (but that's another story...). The leach is only used when we go into town or on one of our trips together, because whenever we can, we take her with us. She’s become our inseparable companion during these past 4 years!