Have You Ever Lost Your Best Friend?

When I was six years old, after begging my parents for a sibling, I was gifted with Lari, a sweet English Cocker Spaniel. My mom got her from a showdog club breeder. The breeder was so thorough that she made my mother go through a six-month course on care and nutrition before she would approve her to get a puppy. (Don’t worry, we aren’t going to make you go through a six-month course 😉).

After over nine months of waiting we were finally able to bring Lari home and I finally got my best friend.

After being with us a few short months, a neighbor came by with their dog. The dogs were playing together in the woods across from our building when the neighbor mentioned his dog has just recovered from parvo. In Eastern Europe, where I grew up, the parvo vaccine was just making its debut and was not readily available, nor standard vaccination protocol yet.

It was already too late. Lari had been exposed and had no immunity. Within a few days she came down with symptoms and I was sent away to my grandmother’s. A few days passed and despite all my mother’s efforts to save her, Lari had passed. We buried her in the woods where she loved to run.

Through not only my own process of grief, but that of my mother’s, I saw the bond humans and dogs can share. How dogs can be there for us, no matter if we showered, if we’re in a good mood, or if we just got a speeding ticket, they still love us. They live for that time together with us. I saw how Lari filled a hole in my mother’s heart.

I have always revered the gift a dog brings to their family. As a breeder, my goal is to breed the dog that can make your heart full.