Yesterday morning, we added a new family member to our household. Our new street dog, Charlie, flew from Pristina, Kosovo to join us here in Germany. So far, he’s fitting in beautifully, and getting reacquainted with Noyzi, our sweet, gentle, relatively giant rescue dog, who is also from Kosovo.

Noyzi and Charlie are both about six years old. They were both rescued in 2018, when they were puppies, by our friend Meg, an American who has rescued many street dogs in Kosovo. When we took in Noyzi in 2020, Charlie was also supposed to find a new home in Germany. However, his home fell through, and he spent the next few years in limbo, being cared for by a foster family in Kosovo. Kosovo, like a lot of Eastern European and Balkan countries, has a pretty big problem with street dogs.

A couple of years ago, when Meg visited Noyzi at our home, she told me about Charlie. At the time, we still had Arran, our very devoted and extremely jealous beagle mix, who was having trouble adjusting to Noyzi’s presence after we’d lost Arran’s buddy, Zane, to lymphoma. I remember when Meg first told me about Charlie, and I had this feeling we were going to end up adopting him. But, at the time, Arran was still very much with us, and he would NOT have appreciated another dog coming to live with us at that time.

We lost Arran to lymphoma on St. Patrick’s Day, 2023. In the past, we’ve been quick to adopt new dogs after we’ve lost one. But it’s harder for Americans to adopt pets in Germany, thanks to shelters not trusting us to take them with us when we leave. Now, of course Bill and I would not consider abandoning any of our animals in a shelter unless there was an extremely good reason and no other feasible alternative. I would actually say never— but I’ve learned it’s best never to say never. However, not every American who lives in Germany is as dedicated to their pets as we are, so the rest of us get a bad rep.

I do want to write a quick word about this issue. Sometimes people who work with the US military or government do have to re-home their pets due to situations beyond their control. Sometimes they have to move to places where it’s impossible to bring their pets with them. And sometimes it’s simply much too expensive to move the animals. The costs can suddenly change, as can the rules for shipping pets. Shit happens. But because so many Americans have ditched pets at pet shelters in the military areas of Germany, Americans are often discriminated against when they try to adopt from German shelters. I know there are exceptions, though… especially when Americans can get a German to vouch for them. And I also know there are Germans who would vouch for Bill and me.

In any case, although we knew we wanted to adopt another dog eventually, we weren’t in a hurry. Losing Arran left a big hole in our hearts. But then last fall, Meg asked me if we would be interested in adopting Charlie, who was still waiting for a home. I asked Bill, and he quickly said yes. So the process of moving him to Germany began. I knew Noyzi wouldn’t mind it if Charlie came to live with us. He loves other dogs!

Bringing a dog to Germany from Kosovo isn’t a matter of simply putting them on a plane. They have to have a special blood test before they can come, and there’s a waiting period. Then there are the actual logistics of the move, which involve traveling through several countries by car, or flying on a plane. When we adopted Noyzi, we met Meg in Slovenia. That was quite an adventure, as she was bringing other dogs who would be adopted by Americans. You can read about that saga by clicking here.

Charlie had already taken and passed the blood test back in 2020, but because so much time had passed, he had to have another test done. And then we had to coordinate logistics for getting him here. At first, we thought we might have him by April, but that didn’t happen. The weeks went by, and I wondered when we were going to be able to meet Charlie. Not that his foster family minded, as they were very attached to Charlie. Now that he’s home with us, I can see how they got so attached. He really is adorable!

Meg finally decided to go to Kosovo this month, although her plans for how to get Charlie to Germany were kind of fluid. Would she be driving or flying? She worried about the temperatures, as it’s not safe to fly animals in very hot weather unless the airline has temperature control in the cargo hold. Lufthansa is usually pretty good about this, as are other European airlines.

Then there were our schedules to consider. Bill left this morning to go to Texas and Utah and he’ll be gone for ten days. We have plans to go on vacation at the end of August-early September. We wanted time to break in Charlie and allow the people at our Hundepension to meet him. And then there’s just the reality that dogs don’t live as long as most people do, and time was getting away from us. So Meg decided that she would fly Charlie to us yesterday, since she has plans to go home to the United States for vacation.

Meg booked an early flight from Pristina to Vienna, then onward to Frankfurt on Austrian Airlines. I remember when she sent the itinerary, and I was a little skeptical that she’d be able to make the layover, which was only 35 minutes. If she hadn’t had Charlie, yes… it would probably be possible. But he had to go through security again once they landed in Vienna. Then there was the big IT Windows screwup that affected air travel everywhere.

Fortunately, Austrian Airlines did a great job in getting Meg and Charlie on the next flight, which arrived in Frankfurt yesterday morning a few minutes early. But they didn’t get Meg’s bags on the plane, and then they had to wait for the cargo folks to get Charlie to the baggage area. That took over an hour. But finally, they showed up, and there was our sweet new rescue dog, sitting quietly in his kennel. We loaded him in the kennel in our car, drove home, and prepared to introduce him to Noyzi.

It was interesting to wait for Meg in the arrivals hall. We saw a lot of stories in action. The cutest one involved a little girl with a rainbow painted on her forehead. She held a sign that read “Hallo Papi.” When her Papi finally showed up, she ran to him and he swept her up in an embrace, then kissed her mother. It was so sweet to watch!

I also watched a dog reunite with a man who must have been her favorite person. He came into the arrivals hall, arms outstretched, and she ran to him, showered him with kisses, and then greeted everyone else in their party. Then the whole group left the airport with great joy among them. I think if you need a pickmeup, hanging out in an arrivals hall could be an interesting pastime.

Anyway, back to Charlie’s arrival home. We think he and Noyzi will co-exist nicely. Noyzi is kind of a loner, and he spends a lot of time in his “bedroom”, which is also our entertainment room. But he likes other dogs, and doesn’t seem to be the jealous type, as Arran was. Noyzi is the biggest dog we’ve ever had, while Charlie is the smallest! They look like Rocky and Bullwinkle! Charlie also has hind dew claws. We’ve never had a dog with those before, either.

When we got Charlie home, I called Noyzi down from his room to go outside. We brought Charlie out to the yard, only letting him out of the kennel when Noyzi was there to meet him. They touched noses, sniffed butts, and Charlie went around to inspect his new surroundings. He was definitely a lot less nervous than Noyzi was when we brought him home in 2020! He was delighted to meet all of us, and very quickly made himself at home.

As I write this, he’s sleeping on the rug behind me. He’s learned to go up and down the stairs, marked a few things in the house, and slept in a bed with his foster dad’s shirt on it. After I finish this post, we’ll take our first walk around the neighborhood. I have a feeling he’s going to charm a lot of people, because he’s got such a sweet, sunny personality. It almost feels like Zane and Arran are both visiting us through Charlie.

Noyzi doesn’t seem bothered by Charlie. The two of them almost had a play session last night, although I think Noyzi might be dealing with a slight case of arthritis. He’s been slightly gimpy lately until his joints warm up.

Below are some of the best photos from yesterday.

So far, Charlie seems very happy to be in Germany. He’s been through some tough trials. There’s a scar on his back from when he was a tiny puppy. Two girls found him and begged Meg to save him. Meg has told me she thought someone had tried to kill Charlie when he was a puppy. Charlie somehow survived, in spite of that person’s cruel efforts to end his life. Obviously he was meant to be here.

I said this when we took in Noyzi… who by all rights should have died on the streets of Pristina. Imagine the odds that a dog from the streets of Kosovo would end up living with Americans in Germany! And yet, here they both are… living with Americans in Germany. Both of them have done what may have seemed truly impossible. I guess their story is a life lesson we can all learn.

Here’s a video of the experience so far…

I just took them on their first walk. They did fine together. Charlie will be one of the locals in no time!