Can dogs fall in love? I never really saw doggy devotion until I observed these 2 semi-street dogs from my balcony. Semi-street dogs meaning that they belonged to someone but they were not considered to be a real part of the family.
They slept in front of their owner’s door and were fed but not really an integral part of the family. They had the typical street dog look. Skinny and lanky, short-haired non-breed dogs.
The main boss dog was the lady. I thought for the longest time that her name was Latrina and could not understand why someone would call his dog the name of an outhouse. Thank goodness that her name turned out to be Ladrina. I never knew the name of the man in Ladrinas’ life.
They were always together. She was much more presentable than he. She would go into the Colmado for a treat and he would wait outside. She would walk the street and he would follow close behind her. Anywhere you saw Ladrina her man was close behind.
Once the man-dog was hit in the street. My guess is he was sleeping under someone’s car and his leg got damaged. Someone put a few sticks on his leg and tied them with a cloth. That was his splint. He hobbled around as best he could. But mostly he just lay around in the park. Ladrina was never far from his side. His leg healed up and his walking returned to almost normal. He had a little limp-drag-swagger to his gait but he did just fine.
At night when Cezar, the burger man, was cooking the doggie lovers were nearby but never interfered with the cooking. They were even very discriminating on what they ate. My dog, Sniffy, ate anything. She loved pan de auga (the bread) and she would even eat rice. But these thin dogs of the street were never caught eating these things. Only once did Ladrina eat some bread and that is because she saw my dog eating some and she had to give it a try. One would think that they would scarf up anything they came across but this was not the case.
One day Ladrina was alone. Lying in front of her feeder-humans door. Alone. She looked sad, sort of lost. Very rarely was she ever alone without her man-dog. She walked the park alone. She went to the Colmado alone. She lost the spring in her walk.
Other dogs in the area started coming around her but she would chase them away, which she never did to her man. She looked so lost and sad. Where did her love go?
Finally, after about a month Ladrina disappeared. No one saw her. She, along with her man, had just stopped existing.
I wonder, Did she die from a broken heart? Did they join each other in Doggie Heaven? Did she wander off in search of a new love?
After seeing Ladrina and her man I do believe in doggie love and true doggy devotion.
