Boronia Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 (edited) http://gearjunkie.co...ture-racing-dog GO ARTHUR! November 18, 2014, 11:00 am Stray Dog Joins Team, Completes Grueling Race 11K+ shares / By: Mallory Paige Editor's note: Adventure racing is a brutally tough endeavor, pushing athletes to the limits of endurance and mental dexterity, day after day, with little or no rest. And among the hardest are the world championships, held this year in Ecuador. This is a story of a stray dog who voluntarily joined one team. The first rule of adventure racing is that anything is possible. The story of Arthur the dog is a perfect example. It all started when the Swedish Peak Performance Team captain Mikael Lindnord nonchalantly shared a meatball with a scruffy stray dog while preparing to embark on a 40 km jungle trek during the final stages of the Adventure Racing World Championship in Ecuador. A few kilometers into the trek, the team realized the dog was following them. It was an extremely strenuous hike through knee-high mud, but Arthur stuck with the team no matter what. Arthur follows the team through the strenuous and muddy race course; all photos by Krister Göransson There were several times that they had to pull him out of the mud and as Mikael explains, "At one stage we had to take a break and the dog was totally wrecked. We opened two cans of food and let him eat, because he could find no food at all in the jungle." When they arrived at the next transition point teammate Simon Niemi was severely dehydrated and needed to receive medical attention. Arthur loyally stood guard and waited for the team to recover. As the team prepared to embark on the final section of the race — a 59 km coastal kayak — race organizers warned against taking Arthur as it would be difficult and dangerous. The team respected this and started off, leaving Arthur on shore. He refused to be left, though, and he started swimming after the team. This was too heartbreaking to witness so Mikael quickly helped Arthur into the kayak, to the cheers and applause from the bystanders on shore. Mikael explains that having Arthur along was fun, but not exactly easy. "He was kind of in the way during the whole paddle and we had to find different paddling techniques to not kick him off board. A few times he jumped into the water and took a swim, and then he crawled back up again and was freezing so he got to wear our jackets." "One time we got quite close to land and he jumped off and swam to the shore, and we thought that was the last we were gonna see from him. But he ran on the road for a bit and then he swam back to us." After racing for 6 days Team Peak Performance crossed the finish line with 5 members instead of 4 as the 12th top team in the world. Mikael is now working with local authorities and pet experts in Sweden to bring Arthur home with them and have received great support from the public through a Paypal donation site and from their sponsors. "Super excited about a phone call just minutes ago, Peak Performance steps in and does whatever it takes to get Arthur home," the team posted on Facebook. "We will never give up!" and--> http://gearjunkie.co...ing-dog-adopted (in next post) Edited November 22, 2014 by Boronia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boronia Posted November 22, 2014 Author Share Posted November 22, 2014 adopted piccies: November 20, 2014, 10:57 am Adventure Racing Dog Adopted 219 shares / By: Sean McCoy Arthur is going home to Sweden. The stray dog that has captured the hearts of thousands in his native land of Ecuador by following a team through a grueling jungle course to complete the Adventure Racing World Championships has been adopted. Sweden’s Team Peak Performance posted several photos by photographer Krister Göransson showing the dog surrounded by cameras and fans at the airport and being loaded on the plane to Sweden, where he will live with the teammates he so wisely chose on the expedition course after being offered a meatball by team captain Mikael Lindnord. We are happy to see the dog accepted into Sweden after being examined by a vet and vaccinated in Ecuador. The outpouring of love and support shown on the team’s Facebook page is inspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellnme Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Feel good story of the year! Love it. What a wise dog to attach himself to these people and now, hopefully, a great life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Great to wake up to Happiness and Love. Thanks for the share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korbin13 Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Thanks for sharing. I had seen the original story but hadn't seen that he had been adopted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 What a beautiful story. It brings a tear to the eye. Mikael Lindnord and team went all out to help this very determined dog and Mikael has made a loyal friend for life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentchild Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Wow this is so great - brought a tear to my eye. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 They do say that dogs pick us, we do not pick them, and in this case it is very true. I swear that they know more about the ways of the Universe than we do. Beautiful story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 I was just going to post the same thing grumpette - they certainly do pick us.. What a great story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stressmagnet Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Best story I've read in ages. Thanks for posting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 What a beautiful story. It brings a tear to the eye. Mikael Lindnord and team went all out to help this very determined dog and Mikael has made a loyal friend for life. Yep, I feel like giving in to the tearies. I hope we get to see pix of Arthur being let out of the crate and meeting his buddies when they all get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 DD, there's a pic on the Facebook page of Arthur coming out of his travel crate at the airport in Sweden. There's also s pic of him with his adoptive Swedish family. https://www.facebook.com/peakperformanceadventureracingteam?fref=photo I asked my tibbie, Annie, who came from Sweden, did she have any advice for Arthur. She said he's lucky he's got long legs for being in the snow (not like us little guys!). :) . And the first thing he should look for in his new home is the fireplace... where he can snooze away the winter & dream of his great adventure https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=688496864599737&set=gm.881101715241644&type=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Wonderful story! Arthur the Invincible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Thank you Mita Arthur is truly a dog in a million....... or more. Won't it be wonderful when we learn to speak Dog and we can ask him what was going on in his head? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigirl Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 That is the BEST story! It's made my day :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Thank you Mita Arthur is truly a dog in a million....... or more. Won't it be wonderful when we learn to speak Dog and we can ask him what was going on in his head? The nice thing, DD, is that we can continue to follow Arthur on that Facebook page. He's a truly lovely dog who knew lovely people when he met them.... & wasn't going to leave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staycalm Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 What a lovely story. :heart: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denali Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 That is just amazing! so heartwarming. Ditto to grumpette- they certainly do choose us. And he was very determined to not lose his chosen humans! And he must be very fit ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I bet Arthur looked at them and thought "I don't know where they are going but they look like they can use some help!". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I bet Arthur looked at them and thought "I don't know where they are going but they look like they can use some help!". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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