The Day We Met Markus

Markus lying on his new blanket and bed on his first night in Vancouver

What a whirlwind. It's been several days since we adopted Markus and while the experience has been new and rewarding, it's also been a bit of a blur. Before we forget everything, we wanted to share with you our story about the adoption day when we went to the airport to pick up Markus. Then later this week, we also have plans to share our first week's experience with you. For now, let's talk about the day we met Markus.

At Sea-Tac Airport

Markus came to us from Korea - that's where the rescue organization was. The flight from Korea was scheduled to arrive in Seattle at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport just past noon. We wanted to stay someplace close to the airport, so we had booked a hotel for the night before. To drive out that morning would've made for a long day and we wanted to have a good night's rest before picking up our new dog and driving back to Vancouver.

We had arrived and were already waiting at SEATAC in anticipation for the arrival and unloading of the airplane well before the plane was supposed to arrive. While we were waiting, we met someone who was picking up a dog named Winter who was travelling with Markus. This lady was here to pick up and transport Winter, who had also been adopted and was on her way to her new owners.

For the pickup, we didn't bring much with us. We had a collar (a Martingale, which I'll explain in a second), a leash, a blanket and some treats (a dog pepperoni stick treat and another peanut butter flavoured cookie treat) and some wet wipes. Markus was going to arrive in a crate too, so aside from those items, we figured that'd be enough for the trip home.

The Escape Artist

Markus wasn't used to walking on a leash because he lived on the streets and then was in the shelter for most of his life so far. When the rescue organization had collared and leashed Markus up in preparation of the adoption, apparently he had slipped out of the collar they placed him in and tried to make a daring escape. 

Because of this, we were recommended to bring a Martingale collar in case he tried to pull away. We were also recommended slip collars or a full harness, but since they weren't sure if we'd be able to get Markus into a harness quickly, they told us that collars were the way to go until he adjusted to walking on a leash.

Volunteer Sponsors for the Delivery

We had a sign to pick up Solar & Winter at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

The flight was late but it eventually arrived and people started to stream out into the baggage carousel area to pick up their luggages. The baggage carousel became fairly busy and then it wasn't. I remember the feeling of anticipation as we looked around to see who would spot the dogs first. 

We had a sign for Markus and Winter. The funny thing about adopting overseas is that we didn't know who we were waiting for - just the dogs. We didn't know who was going to deliver them, so we were hoping they'd spot us and our little sign instead.

A lady eventually came by and introduced herself as the volunteer from Korea who brought Markus and Winter over. She couldn't speak English very well, but she pretty much just handed over a bunch of paperwork for each dog and left. We watched as she swiftly said goodbye, exited the airport and flagged a cab down. I remember thinking wait, what?

I've since learned that the lady was one of the many volunteers who bring dogs over from Korea to North America. Whenever volunteers had flights scheduled to the US from Korea, many of them will offer up their extra luggage space to these rescue organizations, which helps them keep the cost down. The cost flying a dog from overseas is the cost of the extra baggage.

These volunteers don't necessarily have an association with the organization or the dogs, but this is their way of volunteering and helping with the adoption. I thought this was incredibly neat and it's a great way to support the rescue organizations. If you happen to be in the Korea area and are flying to this part of the world, you can do this too!

This was also the reason why the dates of arrival were so few and far in between. The organization can only schedule deliveries around people who are already planning to fly over and my guess is their list isn't very long. For us, though, we only had to had about two weeks for the delivery, which we were fine with.

This is Winter and Markus in their crates on a trolley at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Meeting Markus

Back at the airport, we were still waiting at the baggage carousel, when I got a tap on the shoulder. We turned around and there they were. Markus and Winter had been rolled up in their crates on a trolley behind us and none of us noticed! That moment of surprise and bending down to look into the crate to see Markus for the first time happened so quickly and it was such a blur. Out of all that, I do remember thinking one thing: Wow. He looks just like the pictures.

We also got to meet Winter and we were quickly on our way. We were eager to get Markus home and there was a long drive ahead of us. The worker at the airport helped us roll the trolley all the way to our car in the parking lot and left us on our own after that. For the first time, we were alone as a family and we took some time to give Markus some water and treats through the bars of the crate.

Loading the Car and the ride home

When we moved the crate to the back of the car, we realized that the back hatch won't close. The crate was too big! We didn't have the biggest car (a two-door sedan), but it still didn't occur to us that we might have trouble fitting the crate in. We eventually realized that the crate would fit in if we turned it sideways. There was just the small problem that Markus was still in there and we weren't planning on letting this little escape artist out until we got home.

Remember, we're first-time owners and we only had a collar and a leash with us. We didn't want our first memory with Markus to be chasing him down in an airport parking lot.

The first thing we needed to do was to break him out of the crate since it was fully zap strapped shut. We had to use our keys as mini saws to get the crate door open. Now with the crate in the back of the car and with the hatch still open, we proceeded to bait Markus with some treats to get him step out into the car. He must've been really hungry because he came out pretty easily and ate all of the treats that we offered him.

Actually wait, he didn't eat all the treats. Markus ate all of the meat treats. Even though he was probably hungry, we wouldn't eat the peanut butter cookie treats that we got him and that's the first thing we learned about Markus.

With Markus having followed the treats and stepped out of the crate, we were able to turn the crate sideways, close the back hatch, and get back on the road to Vancouver.

Markus sleeping on his new blanket in the car on the way home to Vancouver

On the car ride back, Markus was evidently tired from the flight over. Once we were on the highway, he was sleeping most of the time and had only gotten up the one time and that at the border.

We really weren't sure what to expect at the border's. It seems like people have had varying experiences, so we were as prepared as we could be with all the paperwork in hand. Surprisingly, the crossing was very straightforward with no hiccups. We answers all the questions, provided the paperwork that came with Markus and we were good to go.

During the car ride, we did learn a second thing about Markus: He's not familiar with technology. On the ride back, we were playing some Michael Bublé (how Canadian of us, eh) and it was extremely confusing to him. Markus' head was turning back and forth from speaker to speaker wondering where the sound was coming from. Eventually and overwhelmed by the fatigue, he'd fall back asleep.

Look at that. Markus likes to sleep to Michael Bublé.

Markus Arrives at His Fur-ever Home

Markus still a little timid after coming out of the crate on his first night in Vancouver

We finally arrived home after the last hour leg. We had to turn the crate back upright and convince Markus to go in. From there, we carried the crate into the house where we slowly integrated Markus to his new home. 

We didn't want to rush this process because it's such unfamiliar territory, so we brought the crate to an open area, opened the door, left a few treats outside and walked away. We wanted him to come out of the crate on his own terms and he would come out a little bit and then go back into the crate. He did this a couple of times, but eventually came out completely. 

The one thing that struck me was his curiosity. Markus explored the house. He sniffed everything - the couch, the chairs, the floors, etc. His curiosity to explore the space was greater than his fear of an unfamiliar space and of us. We brought the blanket that he had been sleeping on in the car and put it on top of his dog bed to indicate that it was his.

Also around this time, we removed the crate from the house and put the collar on him. The crate was massive, so we weren't going to have it in the house permanently. We also realized that he probably needed to go to the bathroom, so we led him outside to the backyard and he absolutely unloaded within a minute.

This was the third thing that we learned about him that day and probably the best one yet: Markus has really good control of his bladder and won't go potty indoors - whether in the car or in the house.

We've read that this trait is typical of Jindos and they're known to be a clean breed for that reason. From the flight, to the car ride and the time he spent (which was maybe 20-30 minutes) at home until we brought him outside, Markus never relieved himself. Within a minute of being outside, he fully emptied. Since that time, we've had more days with Markus and we can confirm that he's fully potty trained and will only go outdoors. Woohoo!

Knowing Markus had an eventful 24 to 48 hours and must have been exhausted, we called that a night so he could get some rest. He settled into his bed and blanket and we called it a day. I can't believe that was all just in a day. The time was a whirlwind for us, but we learned that day that Markus was a warrior. It was the beginning of what we knew was going to be an amazing time together.

We’re so grateful for your support of The Markus Project. We mostly choose our locations through searching and word of mouth. If you know of a park, trail or location you think we should check out, please share it with us. We’d love to know!