The red button principle
2) Lou, or the Red Button Principle
Since I still lacked my own service dog and Stela dutifully wandered back to the comfort of her family couch at the end of every shift, I set out on a search with the help of my boss. After countless depressing attempts at animal shelters and some rather bizarre initial encounters at dog training grounds – including a German Shepherd named “Blondi” (no joke) – I finally ended up on eBay Classifieds, the classic route.
There she was, waiting for me: a 15-month-old Belgian Malinois female. We “pros” just call them Mali for short. So please, don’t pronounce it like the African country “Mah-li.” I drove there alone to check her out. Dutch working line. Translated for non-dog people: that’s a Porsche tuned into a Ferrari, including a nitrous oxide system and absolutely no brakes. But I didn’t know that back then. I was simply head over heels in love. However, after consulting with my boss and the experts at the dog training ground, my dream burst pretty quickly. The verdict was crystal clear: “A Mali from a Dutch line as your first dog? You won’t manage that in a million years. Do not, under any circumstances, go and get this dog!”
And with that, the red button had been pushed.
The next day, I drove right back and signed the purchase contract. And that is exactly how the journey began.....
