A story

When we move to Nafplio we are going to do a good deed. Whom it is good for I am not entirely sure!

Let me tell you a story. The story of Rex!

Last summer, when all the family (we live in a family building where we all live upstairs and downstairs from each other) returned from our various vacations, we found this guy had moved into the back yard (sorry about the quality of the picture but he isn't exactly used to posing).


At first we were a bit alarmed but we soon discovered that he is a total sweetheart and also a good guard dog. He was extremely scruffy with that distinct dog smell!

We tried to find out if he was lost and printed posters and stuck them up around the neighborhood. No one called. We asked at the vet. No one knew anything. Meanwhile, many of neighbours had taken pity on him and started feeding him. It's funny really, because we have never given him anything other than a dog biscuit here and there (since we know the others are feeding him), but he seems to love us most of all. It must be the kids. When we go for a walk to the play ground he follows us and does circles around the perimeter all the time we are there. He followed Alex on the motorbike in the mornings when he took my boy to school!

After a while, one of the neighbours managed to persuade an animal protection agency to pick him up (Filozoiki). There were a lot of tears from the kids when they realized he was gone. But I convinced them that it was better for him because they would clean him up and feed him up and try to find him a nice new home where the people would love him very much.

A few weeks later we arrived home one night fairly late and, as we parked the car in the drive way and got out, we noticed in the dark a hairy bundle galloping excitedly towards us. It was Rex (we had decided we needed to call him something, so when my mother called him Rex one day it sort of stuck, all the neighbors picked up the name, too, so it's official). He looked a lot sleeker and less like a street dog.

The lady across the street who was there when they brought him back, explained that the Filozoiki don't re-home animals and, since they knew he had been managing fine on the street, they fixed him up and brought him back! My boy burst into tears with happiness! I think Rex might have done the same if that's how dogs expressed emotion.

So there we have it. I am sure you know where the story goes next. Rex is moving house soon. That's our good deed. I am certain it will be good for him. It will also be good for the kids. I am just not sure how good it will be for me! Usually it's the Mammy who ends up taking care of the pets! He is not a very young dog, so I don't know how long we will have him with us, but it will be nice for him to live out his golden years with love and fresh air!

Liz