Posted on 11/23/2014 3:27:10 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
Exhausted, covered in mud and desperately hungry, a team of Swedish athletes sat down for a meal as they prepared to take on a dangerous 20-mile trek through the Ecuadorian rainforest.
As they opened their canned meat, a tired Mikael Lindnord noticed a scruffy, miserable stray dog staring at him out of the corner of his eye.
Feeling sorry for him, he fed the dog a meatball and thought nothing of it, but as the team stood up to continue their race the animal started to follow them - and he didn't stop.
As the group of four navigated the final two stages of the 430-mile Adventure Racing World Championship, the dog befriended them and was eventually given the name Arthur.
Every grueling task the team face, Arthur would do the same. He swam alongside them while they kayaked down rivers, dragged himself up hills during hikes and pulled through knee-deep mud during treks.
Even when the team tried to get rid of their new member out of concerns for his safety - he refused to leave.
This meant when he was tired they stopped for a break and when he got stuck in the mud they pulled him out.
After six days the team finished the race, and the dog had suffered. They therefore decided to take him to a vet while still in South America to have him checked out.
During that time Lindord thought to himself that after their experience, they could not leave Arthur, so he decided to adopt him and take him back to Sweden. He applied to the Jordbruksverket (the Swedish Board of Agriculture) and was made to wait to see if his application was successful.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Many pictures and videos at the link.
Original title: Meet Arthur the stray dog who followed an extreme sports team during a grueling 430-mile race through the Amazon rainforest and refused to leave their side until the finish
Happy doggie adoption story.
I love this story! Thank God Arthur got to go back to Sweden.
He cleans up to be a nice looking dog, too.
Dog was starving and he found a reliable source of food.
Getting a friend who gives unwavering loyalty and love for the price of one meatball.
Angels with fur, they are.
Treat a doggie nice and they’ll be loyal forever.
If a dog will work that hard for food, he surely is worthy of love.
Great story...thanks for posting. Both my pups were adopted from rescues. I’m so glad Arthur was able to go to Sweden.
I have this strange condensation on my iPad.
Thank you for posting this story about Arthur, Dogs and cats are angels in fur.
What a handsome boy! Dogs are wonderful.
Sure he is.That comes later.The poor dog’s first thought probably was,if I can stay with this pack-I can live.
Me too.
Something is wrong with my tablet. Words are all blurry.
That is why I love dogs so much. They are resourceful. But once they get in your heart, their companionship is worth its’ weight in gold.
Since we rescue dogs and can't bear to part with some of them, this pic tugged at my heart as does the one in the story that began this thread.
Nothing is more noble than an old dog.
A friend posted that on her Facebook page. Yes, I sniffled a bit. My cat lasted 13 years, my boy lasted 12-13 years. My girl is 11ish...I’m dreading when her time comes. But there are more for me to rescue and love.
Got some terrier in him. They are tough.
Wow! Good looking guy and hound! (I’m a female by the way)
That’s such a poignant representation of how much our pets are our fellow life travelers. We’re on dog #4 and had two kitties that have passed. All of them were rescues except for our current guy who’s about to turn 11.
I’d like to get another dog when he passes, but at 50 something, I’m just not sure. It makes me sad to think about it.
They've gone grey together!
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