ANDROULLA Ierokipioti adored Kouki, her two-year-old Cyprus poodle terrier cross, but the pair’s happy relationship resulted in great sadness after Androulla began full time work in a restaurant.
Her pet soon began to miss her company. “I would come home late at night and Kouki would stand at the top of the stairs, so whenever she heard my car draw up she got very excited and started to bark.
“My neighbour complained that he’d be woken up and that’s when things started to turn very nasty.
“He went to the police and the municipality and he threatened both me and Kouki, so I was very frightened for my dog’s safety. The only way I could keep her safe was to give her away to friends to look after.
“I was broken-hearted as I love my Kouki very much, but it had to be done.
“I drove her from my home in Kato Paphos to Koloni, and left her with friends, said goodbye and drove home crying all the way at having to lose my pet.”
Kouki, however, was having none of that: she jumped the fence and walked back home from the outskirts of Yeroskipou to Paphos, arriving back at her old front door at 3am the next morning.
Another phone call was made to relatives in Polis, asking if they would give Kouki a good home. Androulla then made yet another sad journey with Kouki sitting beside her, the dog no doubt believing she was being given a special treat of a nice long ride in the car.
Another tearful farewell and it was back home to Paphos for Androulla. The next day, there was Kouki sitting at the door, tail thumping joyously, waiting for yet another reunion with her owner.
“I was so shocked to see her there and could not imagine how she managed to get back home yet again, but of course I was both glad and sad to see her, very sad really as I knew she would have to go back to Polis and this time make sure my family kept her safely indoors.”
But the second trip to Polis turned out exactly the same, as 24 hours later the indomitable Kouki was back again at Androulla’s front door.
“By then I just didn’t know where to turn, so went down to see Christine Panayiotou at the Paphiakos animal welfare. I was crying all the time as I loved my dog and didn’t want to have her go anywhere except with me, but, I didn’t know what to do to save her from my bad neighbour.”
Christine said she would care for Kouki and try and find her a good home, and this is where the happy ending comes in.
The very next day, a kind English couple walked into the offices of the animal welfare, asking if they could adopt a dog. Christine, knowing the story of Kouki, explained to Mr and Mrs Bee how devoted the dog was to its previous owner and how Kouki now deserved a permanent home where she could be well looked after, and, most importantly, kept in a place where escape was not possible.
The couple went off to think about the challenge of owning such an adventurous dog. The next day they returned, and, with Androulla’s blessing, Kouki is now a permanent resident of Peyia in a safe loving home environment. A few weeks on, and it seems she has settled down with no obvious urges to collect any more ‘paw miles’.
The sad part is that Androulla still desperately misses her dog, but at least knows she is in good place. “I just wish neighbours were more understanding. Kouki was my lovely companion and she only barked when I came home, yet we have dogs tied up in fields near houses who bark all night. My Kouki is now safe, but I do miss her very much and I cry every day when I remember her as I had got her when she was just a puppy.”
Dogged determination
KOUKI travelled an estimated 100km in the space of a few days.
Humans are limited by their senses, and some sounds are well beyond our limited range. Dogs, however, can hear these sounds and they can also detect odours that we cannot smell.
Theories abound as to how dogs are able to orientate themselves in order to return home, but no one yet has come up with a scientific answer.
Studies of authenticated cases of animals that have travelled more than 40km found that this homing instinct could only be explained by Extrasensory perception or ESP.
In all the cases studied, the animals had been transported from one place to another and consequently could not rely on memory or sense of smell to guide them back home.
One famous case concerned a collie that had become lost in Indiana USA and arrived back in Oregon the following year. He had travelled more than 2,000 miles to return to his master.
Moon, a two-year-old Siberian husky, ran off in pursuit of a rabbit while on a road trip with his master. She then made a 180km journey across Nevada’s high desert and two mountain ranges to return home one week later. She was no worse for wear, with the exception of stinking to high heaven after apparently being sprayed by a skunk.
Todd the black Labrador fell overboard from a yacht, his master searched the choppy seas for him but after four hours gave up hope of finding him.
But Todd had started swimming to shore across a busy shipping lane and against strong offshore winds, which would have kept pushing him in the wrong direction. He reached an outcrop of land and from there walked 14km to his home, arriving there six hours later, tired and wet but otherwise happy to be reunited with his family.
Remi a two-year-old Jack Russell got separated from his owner while walking with him on the Yorkshire moors. His owner travelled 500 miles putting up posters and talking to locals, but he had no luck. Four days later Remi turned up at his owner’s shop. Sightings of Remi suggested her trek was at least 35 miles, some feat for such a small dog.
