Alma and Anna

My smooth-coated fox terrier and I constantly met on the paddock with a Labrador. 

  One day the owner of a Labrador said she wanted to put the dog to sleep. To my bewilderment, she answered that the Labrador smells bad in the apartment. At that very moment, I realized that this was my dog, and I simply took the leash from the owner. “Why do you need to put the dog to sleep,” I said, “it’s better to give it to me!” The owner tried to argue, but in the end the dog ended up with me.

However, from the first day it became clear that not everything is so simple. The Labrador was covered in allergy spots, and as it turned out later, the unfortunate creature had once had broken (and not plastered) paws. The former owner explained that the dog was slammed in the door, but the injuries indicated that it was not a door, but a car.

 Thus began the path of my polynomial Alma. At home they call her Alya, Alyushka, Luchik, and when she messes up really, really badly – Mare.

We were treated for a long time. The treatment took about a year, and how much money was spent, I’m even afraid to remember. But not for a moment did I doubt that it was worth it. Alma and I have been walking side by side for more than 6 years. She became a 10-year-old old woman, in which I do not have a soul. There are health problems, we are on a diet. Alma’s paws often hurt, and then she comes to me and puts her paws in me so that I can massage.  

If I need to leave (for example, on a business trip), the dog goes on a hunger strike and starts eating again only after talking with me on Skype or on the phone. 

I don’t know how her and my fate would have turned out if Alma hadn’t come to me, but the fact that I have her is a great happiness. Despite all the experiences, I enjoy every minute spent with her.

And for her the greatest happiness was the appearance of a child in our family. When my daughter was born, Alma decided that she had a human baby of her own, for which she was solely responsible. Until now, she goes to bed under a children’s sofa, so that if the baby, God forbid, falls at night, she will expose her soft back to her. They put on tutus and beads, play ballerinas and are completely happy. I am convinced that my dog ​​has a decent old age.

The photos were taken by Tatyana Prokopchik especially for the project “Two legs, four paws, one heart”.