Hi There, VivBounty here,
I would like to share with you the story of adopting our dog, Pedro, the centre of our world, who brings us no end of escapades, entertainment, and most important of all, unconditional love as only man's best friend can. It is, after all, thanks to him that we are living in the country.
We went to the shelter to meet the newly arrived Husky-cross pups. I expected little fuzzy scampering balls of fluff. What I saw were long-nosed, lanky, skinny, dogs resembling fawns. These were the last two of a litter of ten still to be homed. We took Pedro and his brother, Solo, aptly named for his different colour eyes, one blue, the other brown, for a walk to get to know them. At 5 months old, these puppies were not small and we only had space for one. Although it broke our hearts to separate them, Pedro was the less confident one. He pulled less on the lead, which suited my hubby's tricky back "down to the ground", as he puts it. As he sat on a mound of dirt for a smoke break, Pedro immediately lollopped over to him and put his head on his shoulder, as if to ask, "Will you take me home and be my daddy?"
We happily took Pedro home and Solo was soon thereafter adopted as well. Almost 5 years later we can't imagine our life without him. He only ever had one small accident in the house, that first night from nerves. Once he hopped over the 4-foot garden wall, onto a road and my hubby hopped over right after him shouting for him to come back in a panic. Never having heard his daddy raise his voice, he stopped dead in his tracks, did an about-face and came right back over the wall into the garden. They are so much alike, this dog and my hubby, that I laughingly tell our friends that they could really be father and son.
Around the time we decided that we would leave Spain, I.A.T.A. ruled that pets could no longer be transported as extra baggage, and pet carriers had to meet very specific safety criteria. This drove the cost of transporting Pedro, then 75 lbs in weight across the Atlantic up 20 times the price we had estimated. Whatever! It's not like leaving him behind would ever have been a consideration in a million years!
Pedro is wonderful with toddlers, puppies, other dogs, his disabled Aunt Julie, everybody he meets and we think he can pick up satellite signals with those ears! I recently received an e-mail concluding that "within the heart of every stray lies the singular desire to be loved", and love him, we do!
Until next time, hug your pet.
Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty
VivBounty Wonderfully Natural Living
