“You need to choose another puppy, this one isn’t going to make it…” That hurt so much. “But he is still here, so I am going to stick with my Fred…” The boy turned out to be a survivor.

“They aren’t going to live together peacefully…” was another thought said out loud when talking about Fred and Coop during their first week together. The two now sleep next to each, walk together and discuss how to develop tricks to get more treats out of me…

“I’ve never thought he’d be handsome…” These words, even though I didn’t care at all about their meaning, still pinch the “love string” inside my heart. “Well, he’s my boy, he’d be handsome, always, at least, for me…” I replied, still feeling a little numb. He turned into the picture-perfect dog…

“Oh, is he a real cocker spaniel?…” was another question back when Fred, my little miracle pup, was barely a kilo at almost 8 weeks of age… “Of course, he is!” I responded with pride, brimming of joy of having this little guy in our lives. Now he looks so unmistakably cocker that one would have to be completely oblivious not to notice the ears and the walk and the beautiful head…

“Uhm, he looks so wild… Won’t be easy to train…” someone else kindly told me. “F$ck it,” – barked Fred back and grew to be the smartest little devil I’ve ever had.

I admit, our journey together has been emotional and bumpy, at times. But that’s life. We are getting through it with an occasional “F” word (who am I kidding, those are frequent!… Sorry if it hurts your eyes and ears…), a ton of cuddles and the most wonderful “sleepy times” when Fred pushes his entire little body into me making sure that he is hugged, and falls into the state of sweet serenity…

And I cry even thinking of all these moments because he is my baby. And this is why I will stick by him no matter what the rest of the world says, thinks or does. There have been so few people who loved him to the point of bursting and even fewer who believed that this little puppy is a good egg. We didn’t want to prove anyone wrong. Because I didn’t not care what they thought – I didn’t think of them at all! But I’ve always believed in my boy – and that’s what made all the difference.

So if you find yourself in a situation when somebody is judging your dog or have no faith in both of you – walk away and keep on living your life. Train your pup, love your pup and just be…

Believe in Dog. And eventually everything will fall into place in the most harmonious way…

Photo credit: by me, from personal archive