The dog came from Lithuania to Belarus to find the former owner!

Even the most evil dog in the world can become a true and devoted friend. This story happened not to anyone, but to our family. Although those events are more than 20 years old and, unfortunately, we do not have photos of this dog, I remember everything to the smallest detail, as if it happened yesterday.

Tibetan terrier dog. Photo: google.com

On one of the sunny summer days of my happy and carefree childhood, a dog came to the yard of my grandparents’ house. The dog was terrible: gray, terrible, with stray hair and a huge iron chain around his neck. Right away, we did not attach much importance to his arrival. We thought: a common village phenomenon – the dog broke off the chain. We offered the dog food, she refused, and we slowly escorted her out the gate. But after 15 minutes, something unimaginable happened! Grandmother’s guest, priest of the local church Ludwik Bartoshak, just flew into the yard with this terrible shaggy creature in his arms.

In the photo: Priest Ludwik Bartoshak. Photo: from the personal archive of Lyudmila Kotlobai.

Usually calm and balanced, Father Ludwik excitedly, unnaturally loudly and emotionally declared: “This is my Kundel! And he came for me from Lithuania! Here it is necessary to make a reservation: the described events took place in the Belarusian village of Golshany, in the Oshmyany district of the Grodno region. And the place is extraordinary! There is the famous Golshansky Castle, described in the novel by Vladimir Korotkevich “The Black Castle of Olshansky”. By the way, the palace and castle complex is the former residence of Prince P. Sapieha, built in the first half of the 1th century. There is also an architectural monument in Golshany – the Franciscan Church – erected in the Baroque style back in 1618. As well as the former Franciscan monastery and many other interesting things. But the story is not about that…

In the photo: Franciscan Church of St. John the Baptist. Photo: from the personal archive of Lyudmila Kotlobai.

It is important to correctly represent the period in which events unfolded. It was the time of the “thaw”, when people began to slowly return to religion. Naturally, churches and churches were in a dilapidated state. And so priest Ludwik Bartoshak was sent to Golshany. And he was given an incredibly difficult task – to revive the shrine. It so happened that for a while, while repairs were going on in the monastery and the church, the priest settled in the house of my grandparents. Prior to this, the holy father served in one of the parishes in Lithuania. And according to the laws of the Franciscan Order, priests, as a rule, do not stay in one place for a long time. Every 2-3 years they change their place of service. Now let’s get back to our uninvited guest. It turns out that monks from Tibet once gave father Ludwik a Tibetan terrier dog. For some reason, the priest called him Kundel, which in Polish means “mongrel”. Since the priest was about to move from Lithuania to the Belarusian Golshany (where he initially had nowhere to live), he could not take the dog with him. And she remained in Lithuania under the care of Ludwig’s father’s friend. 

How did the dog break the chain and why did he set off on his journey? How did Kundel overcome the distance of almost 50 km and ended up in Golshany? 

The dog walked for about 4-5 days along a road absolutely unknown to him, with a heavy iron chain around his neck. Yes, he ran after the owner, but the owner did not walk along that road at all, but went by car. And how, after all, Kundel found him, still remains a mystery to all of us. After the joy of meeting, surprise and bewilderment, the story of saving the dog began. For several days, Kundel did not eat or drink anything. And everything went and went … He had severe dehydration, and his paws were erased into blood. The dog had to be literally drunk from a pipette, fed bit by bit. The dog turned out to be a terrible angry beast that rushed at everyone and everything. Kundel terrorized the whole family, did not give anyone a pass. It was impossible to even come and feed him. And stroke and thought did not arise! A small enclosure was built for him, where he lived. A bowl of food was pushed towards him with a foot. There was no other way – he could easily bite through his hand. Our life turned into a real nightmare that lasted a year. When someone passed him, he always growled. And even just to walk around the yard in the evening, take a walk, everyone thought 20 times: is it worth it? We really didn’t know what to do. There has never been such a site as WikiPet. As, however, about the existence of the Internet in those days, the ideas were very illusory. And there was no one in the village to ask. And the dog’s madness increased, as did our fears of it. 

We all just wondered: “Why, Kundel, did you even come to us? Did you feel so bad in that Lithuania?”

 Now I understand this: the dog was in terrible stress. There was a time, she was pampered, and she slept in the house on sofas … Then suddenly she was put on a chain. And then they completely settled on the street in an aviary. She had no idea who all these people were around. The master priest was at work all the time. The solution was found somehow suddenly and by itself. Once dad took the evil Kundel with him to the forest for raspberries, and returned as if with another dog. Kundel finally calmed down and realized who his master was. In general, dad is a good fellow: every three days he took the dog with him for long walks. He rode a bicycle through the forest for a long time, and Kundel ran beside him. The dog returned tired, but still aggressive. And that time… I don’t know what happened to Kundel. Either he felt needed, or he understood who was the boss and how to behave. After joint walks and guarding dad in the forest, the dog was unrecognizable. Kundel not only calmed down, he even accepted as a friend a small puppy that his brother brought (by the way, Kundel somehow bit his hand). After some time, priest Ludwik left the village, and Kundel lived with his grandmother for another 8 years. And although there were no reasons to be afraid, we always looked in his direction with apprehension. The Tibetan Terrier has always remained mysterious and unpredictable for us. Despite the year of terror that he gave us, we all sincerely loved him and were very sad when he left. Kundel even somehow saved his master when he allegedly drowned. Similar cases are described in the literature. Our dad is an athlete, a physical education teacher. He loved to swim, especially to dive. And then one day he went into the water, dived … Kundel, apparently, decided that the owner was drowning and rushed to save him. Dad has a small bald spot on his head – there’s nothing to pull out! Kundel did not come up with anything better than to sit on his head. And it happened just at the time when dad was about to emerge and show us all what a fine fellow he was. But it didn’t work out to emerge … Then dad admitted that at that moment he was already saying goodbye to life. But everything ended well: either Kundel figured out to get off his head, or dad somehow concentrated. When dad realized what was happening, his completely joyless exclamations were heard far beyond the village. But we still praised Kundel: he saved a comrade!Our family still cannot understand how this dog could find our home and go through such a difficult path in search of its owner?

Do you know similar stories and how can this be explained?