Victoria Chzhan: A dog's diaries
Victoria Chzhan
“A Dog’s Diaries” is a touching narrative from Gaby, a Maltese puppy. It recounts her journey from her birth family to her adoption by a girl named Viki. Gaby shares her experiences of adjusting to her new home, bonding with her new family, and learning house rules. The story offers a unique dog’s-eye view of the world, emphasizing the deep connections between humans and their pets. A must-read for dog lovers.
A Dog’s Diaries
Every morning my big Mommy (new human Mom, big owner) wakes me and my little Bestie (human sister, sister) so we can eat and I watch my little Bestie look into her lighted metal cookie. My little Bestie calls me Gaby, but my big Mommy says I'm a Maltese puppy.
Choosing my family
I'll tell you a story how I appeared in my new family. Do you know that dogs choose their owners not owners choose their dogs?
I remember myself since I was one and a half months. There were four of us two of my brothers me and my sister. We were a big family of Maltese. One of my brothers was really fat and lazy so I call him Lazy. My other brother was always very active and he behaves a little bit weird so I call him Crazy. And I have a sister who takes care of me. She is very nice, so I call her Sister. I was the smallest one in our family, so they all called me Honey. My mother loved us a lot. She hugged and licked us. We like to sleep with her touching her warm tummy. The whole day we would play, eat and sleep.
When we were older different people would come to our house. They were staring and choosing which one of us to take away. I didn't like it at all and didn't want someone to choose me.
But one day a woman and a girl about 9 years old came to our house. The girl sat on her knees and our eyes met. She quietly said: “Hello” and smiled. And in less than a moment I realized everything that I could ever know about her. How kind and generous she is. It was like I was pushed. Without a second's hesitation, I began to make my way closer to her with all my might. I was panting, pushing my brothers and sisters away, I was very afraid: maybe she didn't see me properly? What if she likes someone else? I wanted to shout:
— Here I am! Here I am! Look at me!
But the girl saw me! She reached out and gently touched my fur, and I licked her warm palm.
That's how Vikki and I got to know each other.
Then she thought her whole life she chose me, and I always grinned to myself: I knew that I chose her!
My new home
That night I went home. We were in the car for a very long time. Vikki put me in her coat and I felt very warm, so I fell asleep. But at home, one more person was waiting for us - it was Dad.
Dad is a very tall and serious human. I saw amazement in his eyes when he looked at me. I knew that he wasn't awaiting such a surprise. Hhhmmmm... I later knew that dad was categorically against a dog in the house, A.K.A. me. Meeting me was a definite surprise for him. Mom and Vikki didn't even warn him about me!
But dad's amazement soon turned into a smile. I thought: That's better!! He picks me up in a hug. I licked his nose. I always lick somebody's nose if I want them to like me. It's my strategy. It works most of the time.
My new life
Living in the new house with my new family is very cool. The best part is the evenings when everyone is at home.
Me and dad became the best of friends. Dad, who is always against having a dog in the house, fell in love with me at first sight. Now we spend a lot of time together. I really like waking up in the morning and licking his nose again. And secretly from Mom he gives me pieces of food from the table! It happens mostly when we eat. I will come up to him, put my face on his knees, and he'll give me something very delicious straight from the table. But sometimes, I think that everybody knows our secret including Mom. She just pretends that she doesn't know, but really she knows everything.
But it's stupid to think that Mom doesn't know our secret. She ALWAYS knows what happens in the house. Mom is the special person in the house. She's very kind and caring. She takes care of everyone in the house including me. She gives us food. She likes to raise everyone in the family. When I just started living in the new home, I haven't gotten used to the fact that I have to go to a toilet. I would make little yellow puddles all over the house. At that moment mom makes a serious face and says really serious things. No one in the house likes that, because no one likes it when she goes into a temper, including me.
My best friend in my new house is a girl named Vikki. I call her Bestie because she is the best. She plays with me, hugs me, and talks to me. I follow her like a little tail.
I do everything with Vikki: lie around in bed, play, sleep, run and look at her. I like to look at her in the morning. Usually I wake up earlier than her. In the morning when she's still sleeping I could stare at her for a long time. I lie and wait, and wait, until she opens her eyes. I even hypnotize her with my look - wake up wake up! And if she'll move a little bit just a little bit, I'll jump up and start licking her face. She'll make me get off and push me out of the way but I'll still lick her face. For that Mom always calls me a live alarm clock.
My bestie goes off somewhere with a backpack every single day. She also really likes to stare at connected pieces of paper. They always smell like paper, she calls them books. While she reads her books I like to lie next to her for warmth. I'm lying, admiring Vikki and falling asleep unnoticed. These are my favorite moments, minutes of calmness and warmth.
As I said bestie sometimes goes off somewhere and most of the time I have to stay home alone. Dad always leaves the earliest and wakes up the earliest. Of course whenever everyone is gone I have some toys to play with of my own. My rubber ball my rubber bone that I can chew up. But best of all I like to chew on shoes. I think they smell really nice. I put my whole face into them. Of course I'm not allowed to do that, but when no one's there, I do that all the time.
One day Vikki came back home very sad. She forgot to hug me and I realized something was wrong. Then she threw her things and went into her room. Without even putting her hands under water! I learned that humans like to put their hands in water when they come out back from outside, because that's a hygienic thing that they do. But on her face Vikki had drops of water coming from somewhere. Where did those drops come from? Maybe she was sick? I realized that I had to do something quick. And I suddenly remembered the dried piece of bread that I have stored for later use! It brought it from my secret hide out to Vikki’s hand. And you won't believe what happened next. Her sadness slowly turned into a smile.
Something in my heart blossomed. It's a very good feeling. I think it's called pappiness, hang on no... Happiness! That minute I feel something ticklish in my tummy. It's like I want to wag my tail, jump up and lick everybody in the room!
Like right now, I'm lying next to the door. So I will hear Vikki’s footsteps right away. When I think that she'll soon come home I have a strange ticklish feeling in my tummy. I hear an elevator climbing up. Second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth. Here it is seventh, ours. I hear the bang of the elevated door. I hear the key turning in the front door lock... Here she is my bestie! My best owner! Such pappiness! I mean happiness!