I've always loved animals
Well,not all animals,just the flully and furry ones,because lizards,snakes and the like give me the creeps.
Anyways,ever since I can remember myself as a kid,I would do two things:
a.Beg,beg,beg my mum to let me have a dog and
b.Pick up all the stray kittens and puppies I could find and then bring them home and beg,beg,beg my mum to let me keep them all or just one,please?
The answer was always no,because my mum didn't like animals,she prefered her flowers and she did not believe in the idea of pets in general anyway.
So each time I cried.Hard and inconsolably.And I would try to find new homes for the strays which should have stayed with me,because I had found them first,right?
Sometimes I would try to hide them in secret locations around the neighbourhood,abandoned houses and derelict buildings, feeding them and petting them as often as I could escape notice and run away from home.I became an expert at breaking out of our house through a small hallway window so that nobody would try to stop me.
But that didn't work either.Sooner or later one of my brothers would follow me there or my mum would extract a confession from me.And then they would get rid of the strays.And I would cry.Hard and inconsolably.And look for new strays to adopt in secret and in hiding.
Then I grew up and met my future husband.One of the first things I found out about him was that he didn't like animals,he prefered kids and he didn't believe in the idea of pets in general anyway.
By the time I realised this it was too late for me to leave him,because I've already fallen in love with him.So I married him,had four kids and resigned to the fact that I would remain petless for the rest of my life.
Enter Fido
He was just a tiny puppy less than a month old.
He spent the next two months and a half of his puppy life caged in a small box of plexiglass overlooking the windowshop of the petshop.He did his business in the box right next to his bowl of food because there was no place else to go.He couldn't run or play because the box was too small.And he was all alone in there.
He spent most of his time sleeping curled up or looking uninterested at passers by.Unlike other puppies in the same place he wouldn't try to interact with anyone coming close to the shopwindow and trying to catch their attention.He would only stare at you.He seemed depressed.
He was.He was also suffering from a severe case of pneumonia which was left untreated for so long that it was questionable whether he could live or die.
He had stayed in that window box far longer than any other puppy because
a. he was too expensive for the likes of my neighbourhood so he couldn't be sold
b. he is of a breed not at all known in this town
c. he is mostly black and Greeks in general do not like black pets
d. he wasn't playful like other puppies because he was sick
The pet owner explained to me all the above.
Exept he failed to mention pneumonia.Probably because he didn't even know about it.Or care.
Each day I would pass by the shopwindow and look at Fido's pathetic little figure at exactly the same place I've left him the day before.I would pray that someone might buy him the next day.But no,he was always there,day after day.
Then one morning I looked at him through the glass and for the first time he stared at me back for a very,very,very long time.Now,all pet owners know that dogs hate and avoid looking at humans straight in the eye for more than a few seconds.I don't know why,they just hate it.
"You know what?I 'm not gonna make it.And it's probably better this way".
That day I went into that petshop and bought him as a present to my kids,to me and to life.But first I bargained real hard with the owner.I'm good at that.Once I decide it's worth bargaining,that is :)
So Fido became part of our family.He was treated(for a very long time) for pneumonia and grew into the highly intelligent and wonderful dog that we adore.
How we persuaded my husband to keep him is a very very long story and probably subject of another post.Suffice to say that we had to give him away for a couple of times,we even lost him once and found him again by offering a reward.
We picked Lucy specifically to be a companion for Fido.
She is a Cavalier too.Her real name is Lucinda. She is now almost 1 years old.
I didn't want to breed them,I just chose a female because I knew he would get on better with one.And he does.They are crazy about each other.
She grew up with him thinking he was some kind of a father figure to her.
I chose her from a breeder in Athens through the Internet.
She had to travel for many hours on her own in a crater as a small puppy to come to us,but even though she was tired and scared when she arrived she took to Fido and us like a house on fire straight away!
Fido and Lucy make the perfect couple.
He is mellow,serious,strong,intelligent and means business.And he barks a lot.
She is playful,frisky,affectionate and naughty.And she has a sweet way of whining when she sees us leave home without her
Both dogs are scared shitless of this guy,the robotic dinosaur.He does look scary,you have to admit that,especially if you happen to be his size and eye level with him.. Plus he makes all those horrible dinosaur noises whenever he detects any movement.
Pets are a wonderful way to teach kids responsibility and respect for all God's creatures.And they also enrich kids'lives with happy memories and lots of cuddly love and affection.
