The nomination "Our Brothers": The mongrel was picked up by bicycle traveler Daniil Tolstikov and named a Sausage.
The fact that the Siberian sheltered a mongrel picked up on the road and found a true and devoted friend was told by the journalists of "Dobro. The press". In the spring of 2025, Daniil Tolstikov, a 22-year-old Irkutsk resident, set off alone by bicycle from Irkutsk to the northern capital of Russia. On the way from Gorno-Altaysk, Daniil stopped in Kazakhstan.
"I stayed at a hotel in Sarykol. In the morning, as I was getting ready to leave, a dog ran up to me in the backyard. She was so small, and she immediately started cajoling. We played for a while, and I went to have breakfast. I come back and see her sitting and waiting. I bought her a sausage stick; I think she went crazy with happiness. And he went. But Sausage had other plans, she ran after me. And so, I ran, ran, ran for a very long time. I stopped and gave her a drink, and I think she's going to let go now. But that was not the case. She got a second wind," Daniil Tolstikov said.
At first, the dog just ran after the bike traveller, and wherever Daniel went, the Sausage went. Towards nightfall, when Daniel settled down for the night and laid out his sleeping bag, Sausage just came to sleep with him. As if it was meant to be. The very next day, the guy realized that now he was definitely not alone. He took the mongrel to the vet, did all the vaccinations, completed the paperwork, took him to grooming and gave his friend a name. The Sausage is in honor of the sausage that started their acquaintance.
"I had big backpacks on the front wheel, and there was a hollow in the middle, and that's where I put her. At first it was very funny and even surreal to ride with a dog like that. Moreover, she also has an unusual mutation, with six toes on her hind legs. I'm driving and I think I've picked up such a mutant," Daniel continues.
Sausage turned out to be a surprisingly smart and very well-trained dog. She quickly learned the commands on how to run along the road behind my bike when I need to step to the side of the road so as not to get run over by a car. Moreover, the Sausage made a significant part of the way on its own – running next to a friend. On average, a dog ran a little more than 50 kilometres a day. When the tailed one got tired, Daniel took her to his bike, and they set off again.
"This dog saved me in every way. If it wasn't for the Sausage, I wouldn't have finished my journey, it's very difficult emotionally to go alone, to be honest. And she helped me out, and I can talk to her and hug her. She woke me up more than once, drove away stray dogs at night. And once we fought off a pack of badgers at night. She was with me in the hail, in the downpour, and in the abnormal heat, she never ran away, she endured everything very steadfastly. This is a true friend," says Daniel.
According to Daniil Tolstikov, it was thanks to the Sausage that his blog about Eco-travel became very popular. After all, initially Daniil set off on a journey in order not just to get to St. Petersburg, but to talk about environmental problems and collect garbage along the way.
"I'm just eternally grateful to God for having the Sausage, for sending it to me. She became my guardian angel to some extent. No matter what, she is my guardian angel, because there were so many situations in which she showed me the way, which road was better to go, what was better to do. And she changed me a lot as a person," the traveler continues.
It turns out that the Sausage used to be called Barsik, she lived at one of the gas stations 10 kilometers from the Kazakh hotel. The gas station staff fed the mongrel and even tried to find it when it ran away. But when they found out about such an unusual fate of the mongrel, they were even happy. Now in Kazakhstan, the Barsik- Sausage is a local celebrity.
And for the Tolstikov family, this is a new member of the family. When the long journey to Northern Palmyra was over, Daniel went home to Irkutsk. And now the Sausage has deservedly received its corner in the warm house of the owner.
Photos from Daniil Tolstikov's personal archive.