Luna fra Kuusamo(English translation below)

Pludselig var hun der – ud af den blå luft. Vi ville rigtig gerne ha’ en blue & tan tæve med et godt temperament, helst med så meget nyt genmateriale som muligt – og så gjorde det jo heller ikke noget at hun så pæn ud. Sådan én havde Orvokki Lämsä i Kuusamo.

Men der var så lige dét, at Kuusamo ligger i Midtfinland! En biltur på mindst 3-4 dage? Jo, men lige midt i eksamenstiden er det ikke optimalt ved mit gymnasielærerjob. Så en flyvetur blev løsningen. Inden da skulle en importtilladelse dog i hus og her var det dejligt at have hjælp fra Jill, som i øvrigt her på aussiesiden www.australsk-terrier.dk har lavet en fin vejledning til netop hvad man skal gøre når man vil indføre en hvalp inden den er 3 måneder gammel. Det kan lade sig gøre uden rabiesvaccination, men altså kun indtil den er 3 mdr og der skal foreligge en erklæring fra opdrætteren om at hvalpen ikke har været udenfor hendes/hans hjem m.m.
 

Importtilladelsen fik vi altså lovning på fra Fødevarestyrelsen(det skal man ikke ha' i dag) og så var det om at få bestilt billetten. 3 timer på nettet for at finde den billigste som passede ind i mit skema. Det blev med Finnair, hos hvem man efterfølgende bestiller en plads til hunden – ikke fordi den skal ha’ et sæde, men fordi de kun må ha’ et bestemt antal dyr med i kabinen på hver afgang. Når man skal ha’ hunden med sig i flyet skal man ha’ den i en taske med bestemte max-mål og betalingen for turen er efter vægt. En 12-ugers aussiehvalp er ingen elefant, så her er udgiften overskuelig.
 

Men jeg tog altså den her flyver fra København over Helsinki til Oulu, hvor Orvokki havde tilbudt at mødes med mig (200 km fra Kuusamo, hvor hun bor) medbringende Luna, som hun nu hedder. Svær var Orvokki jo ikke at finde, med vuffen på armen og det var sandt for dyden heller ikke svært at få kontakt med Luna: ikke én kvadratcentimeter af mit ansigt gik fri. Orvokki havde sin veninde Anu (også aussieopdrætter) med, da hun selv endnu ikke er så stærk i engelsk. De kørte mig til mit hotel og det var rigtig hyggeligt at få snakket om aussier i Finland og Danmark. Luna tog det hele i stiv pote,  frisk og frejdig med et hulens gå-på-mod og en vældig tillid til mennesker. Det er naturligvis også Orvokkis fortjeneste, at Luna tydeligvis er rigtig godt præget. Og saftsusemig om hun ikke også indvilligede i at gøre både stort og småt udenfor, i helt fremmede omgivelser. Og sådan fortsatte det: om natten på hotellet der sover man da på sit tæppe, tisser en tår ude på græsplænen o.s.v.
 

Flyafgang fra Oulu 06.30. Altså op kl …. og med taxa til den pulveriserende lufthavn – hvor vi kl 05.00 havde hele – og jeg mener HELE – lufthavnen aldeles for os selv. Hvorfor  stå tidligt op når det hele kan klares på en god halv time, det synes finnerne altså. Men stress fik vi således ikke og Luna hade gået så mange gange frem og tilbage foran lufthavnen at hun snorkboblede fra Oulu til Helsinki. Stewardesserne var lidt imponerede. I Helsinki lufthavn tronede hun i sin taske på toppen af bagagevognen og blev dikket af mere end én rejsende, bl.a. en lille flok australiere som spurgte, hvad hun dog var for en race! At træde af på en avis midt i afgangshallen er "a piece of cake" for Luna, altså. Jeg holdt mig til de lidt mere autoriserede aftrædelsessteder.

Helsinki – København foregik efter et kort ansigtsslik på vores stewardesse selvfølgelig sovende hele vejen. Man er vel en verdensdame, der ikke hidser sig op over en smuttur med en flyver.

Ved ankomsten til Kastrup blev vi mødt af familiemodtagelseskomiteen – Marius, Sofus og Deborah, og det var en noget træt men efter et par minutter vældig fattet og imødekommende Luna, de mødte.  Familien havde selvfølgelig parkeret så langt fra ankomsthallen som muligt, men dén tur tog Marius Luna i snor hele vejen næsten non-stop.

Næste stop var Kildevej 3 i Sorø hvor Louis ventede - intetanende om den kommende bombe. Han tog det nu pænt, skikkelig som han er, og Luna får som alle hvalpe lov til en hel del. Han synes også det er dejligt, at den unge dame har en kravlegård, som menneskene somme tider synes, hun skal tilbringe lidt tid i, så man kan få sovet bare LIDT.

Luna from Kuusamo
 

Finally I found her – She’s the one!  We had been searching everywhere for a blue and tan bitch with a good temperament, preferably  with as good a pedigree as possible – and of course a good exterior was no hindrance – and there she was, a puppy owned by Orvokki Lämsä from Kuusamo.  The only problem was that Kuusamo is situated in the middle of Finland, which would mean, at least, 3-4 days journey by car. It was at the time of year when our students take their exams, and, being a high school teacher, not the most convenient time.  I decided that the solution to the problem would be to go by air.

Before leaving, I had to get an import permit(this is no longer nessesary).  With my friend, Jill Grenaa’s , guidance who, by the way, has provided  useful instructions on the Danish Aussie site about importing a puppy before it is 3 months of age, I was ready to go.  I learned some useful information along the way, such as, the fact that you can import a puppy without a rabies vaccination but only until they are 3 months old and there must be a written statement from the breeder declaring that the puppy hasn’t been outside the home.  I received the import permit from the Ministry of Provisions here in Denmark and then it was time to buy the tickets. It took 3 hours on the net in order to find the most inexpensive tickets which, at the same time, fitted into my work schedule. Finally, I decided on Finnair with whom I ordered a compartment for my dog afterwards. The dog sits with it’s owner on the flight but only a certain number of dogs are allowed on each flight.  It is compulsory that the animal is in a carrier bag for dogs. There are certain regulations concerning measurements of the carrier bag and the cost of the flight depends on the weight of the dog. A 12 week old Aussie puppy is as light as a feather so the cost of her trip was nothing to speak of.
 

So there I was, on my way from Copenhagen to Helsinki to Oulu, where Orvokki, the breeder had, very generously, arranged to meet me. (200 km from Kuusamo where she lives) With her, was our new member of the family, Luna. It certainly wasn’t any problem to find Orvokki in the crowd since she was the only one with a little pup in her arms and, delightfully, no problem  meeting  Luna – She licked my face like there was no tomorrow. Orvokki brought her friend Anu (who is also a breeder) with her since she doesn’t quite feel at home with the English language yet. They drove me to my hotel and it was great to exchange views on Aussies from Finland and Denmark. Luna took everything in her stride and, being a puppy, the fur really flew.  She was cheerful and lively with a hearty drive and enormously confident with people. Of course we can thank Orvokki for making sure her puppies are full of trust. Not only that, Luna even managed to see to public matters outside despite being in new surroundings.  Everything continued going smoothly for the rest of the trip: at night at the hotel she slept on her blanket and did her business outside on the lawn. 
 

Departure from Oulu was at 6:30 a.m. which meant that I had to get up at … well, very early and take a taxi to the bustling airport. But, to my surprise, at 5 a.m. we had the whole – and I mean the WHOLE – airport to ourselves. Why get up early when everything can be managed within a half hour? At least that is what I learned. So we certainly had no problems due to stress and Luna had trotted jauntily back and forth in front of the airport so much that on our little journey from Oulu to Helsinki she slept like a log. The stewardesses were quite impressed. At Helsinki airport she sat in a stately way, in her carrier bag, on top of the baggage car and allowed travelers to tickle her under her chin without any fuss. There was even an inquisitive group of friendly Australians who stopped and asked which breed Luna belonged to …which was, actually, a bit amusing. It was a piece of cake for Luna to “do her business” on a newspaper. I restricted  myself to the more authorized rest rooms. 
 

On our way from Helsinki to Copenhagen, Luna gave the stewardess  a quick lick on the face and passed out. She is quite the woman of the world who doesn’t allow herself to get excited about a little trip on  an airplane. When we arrived in Denmark, we were greeted by the whole family – Marius, Sofus and Deborah.  Luna was still a bit weary but she perked up after a few minutes and allowed herself to be cooed by the family. The car was, of course, parked about as far from arrivals as possible, but Luna trotted along on her leash with Marius the whole way.
 

The next stop was home to Soroe where our male dog Louis waited  with no idea of what surprise was awaiting him. He took it well, the good-natured dog that he is, and Luna gets away with a lot.  She is, after all, just a puppy. Louis is, however, quite grateful that Luna has a  playpen for dogs that we humans find convenient to put her in for short periods of time, so we can all get just a little bit of sleep.
 

Soroe May 2008
 

Translation:Deborah Sommer

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