Otters and Science News: IT ALL STARTED WITH A MEATBALL - STRAY DOG FOLLOWS EXTREME SPORTS TEAM IN ECUADOR, WINS THEIR LOVE, AND GETS ADOPTED AND FLOWN TO SWEDEN

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http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/11/it-all-started-with-meatball-stray-dog.html - Thank you for visiting my blog

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Please read March 24, 2015 UPDATE on Arthur.

He is now free from quarantine and has joined his happy family in Sweden.
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2015/03/dog-arthur-rescued-from-ecuador-by.html

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And here is the November 24, 2014 news report on Arthur's arrival at the Swedish airport, where he met the entire family. Unfortunately he had to go on quarantine.

Here is the story of how Arthur became a member of the team, and was later adopted by one of the teammates.

Just look at Arthur's happy smile!

Arthur meets Mikael Lindnord's daughter at the airport

Team Peak Performance were sat down for a meal before a 20 mile trek in Ecuador when they saw a stray dog

Swedish group were taking part in the Adventure Racing World Championship through the Amazon rain forest

Mikael Lindnord fed the animal a meatball before the team carried on - but the scruffy creature followed them

They tried to get rid of him, primarily for his own safety, but he refused to go so he became a fifth team member

The group of four decided to name him Arthur and have now adopted him and flown him back to Sweden

Lindnord said: 'I came to Ecuador to win the World Championship. Instead, I got a new friend'

This is the moment an explorer who adopted a stray dog that befriended him during a race through the Ecuadorian jungle introduced his young daughter to the loyal animal who has captured the imagination of the world.

The fifth member: Team Peak Performance walk with stray dog Arthur during a stage of the 430-mile Adventure Racing World Championship. He followed the group of four during the grueling race
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Mikael Lindnor was leading his four-strong team of long-distance trekkers through the final two stages of the 430-mile Adventure Racing World Championship when they noticed a tired-looking hound skulking around them.

Feeling sorry for the mournful stray, Mikael gave him a meatball in an act of kindness that would create an unbreakable bond between the two for the rest of the gruelling race.

From that moment on, the dog refused to leave Mikael's side, swimming alongside the team while they kayaked down rivers, dragging himself up hills and pulling through knee-deep mud.

All terrains: Despite numerous attempts by the team to get rid of the dog, primarily for his own safety, he refused to go. It meant when he got stuck in the knee-deep mud they helped get him out and when he was exhausted, they stopped to take a break.

They were so impressed with his loyalty and stamina that they named him Arthur and made him an honorary member of their Peak Performance Adventure Racing team. By the end, Mikael and Arthur were best of friends and Mikael decided to adopt the dog and take him home.

When they finally completed the race after six days trekking through the jungle together, Mikael and his team decided to take Arthur to a vet while still in South America to have him checked out.

During that time Mikael 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.

Determined: Before one of the segments of the race - a 36 mile kayak around the coast - organizers warned the team that taking Arthur along posed a risk to his and their safety. But Arthur swam alongside the boat and ended up being pulled in by Mikael

After a tense few days, the team arrived at the airport with Arthur and boarded the plane with him back home.

However, because of the lengthy quarantine rules in Europe, Arthur must now wait in an animal isolation centre while vets ensure he is carrying no diseases.

Challenge: As the team neared the finished the tasks began to take their toll on Arthur and he ended up with some injuries.

Not only will Arthur have plenty of outdoor space in which to gambol, but he will also have access to a dog dentist, Mikael said. He added that his young daughter Philippa can't wait to welcome him to his new home.

'She was just saying “doggy, doggy, doggy” and seemed very interested,' Mikael added. 'I think she was a bit afraid to pat him, but that will work out nicely when he comes to our house. He is a sweet dog.'

Mikael today told how he had no idea quite how sick Arthur was when they first met.

'He was in really bad shape when we took him in,' he told MailOnline. 'He had big and quite deep bleeding wounds on his back with parasites crawling around inside of them.

The vet told me that Arthur probably had sustained those wounds around three to six months ago and has been carrying them ever since.

'We have kept those wounds a little bit secret so nothing would jeopardise his chances of coming home with me.

But after his visit to the vet in Quito, everything went really well. The vet gave him medicine and sewed all the wounds together, so he was up and running in no time.'

'It makes me very sad of course (to have had to say goodbye to Arthur at the airport),' Mikael went on. 'But we knew that these were the conditions when we decided to bring him here. Jordbruksverket were very clear about the rules and I knew that was not something I could circumvent.'

Asked how Arthur will handle the colder climes of Sweden, Mikael said: 'There is snow on the mountain tops of Ecuador, so I think he is quite used to that sort of weather. But he will live inside our house when he gets out of the quarantine. He will have a warm and cozy environment at home.'

Star power: Arthur and Mikael Lindnord's story has captured the imagination of the global media

Adventure Racing is a form of extreme sport that combines continuous hiking, trekking, mountain biking and kayaking over a successive number of days.

The world championships held in Ecuador covered three diverse geographical regions - the Andes, the Pacific and the Amazon rainforest.

Mikael told Swedish news site Aftonbladet: 'I had just opened a food pack when I saw a scruffy miserable dog in the corner of my eye.

'I thought he was hungry and gave him a meatball. Then I thought no more of it. 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.'

Before one of the segments of the race - a 36 mile kayak around the coast - organizers warned the team that taking Arthur along posed a risk to his and their safety.

They tried to set off without him, but as they left he jumped into the water beside them and started desperately paddling. Mikael, heartbroken by the sight of Arthur struggling in the water, picked him up, put him in the kayak and let him stay for the rest of the journey.

The gesture prompted a standing ovation and cheers from spectators watching from the banks.

The ordeal to get him back to Sweden was documented on the team's Facebook page. In one post Mikael wrote: 'I almost cried in front of the computer, when receiving the decision from Jordbruksverket (Board of Agriculture) in Sweden!'

'The team is overwhelmed and happy knowing that Jordbruksverket has approved Mikaels application to bring Arthur to Sweden. A big important piece in the work to get Arhur on the plane, is done. So far so good. But, There are [sic] still one paper to go. The team are now working hard for the very last piece in this puzzel [sic].'

Mikael ended by saying: 'I came to Ecuador to win the World Championship. Instead, I got a new friend.'