Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from “You Really Love Him”) It was to the outside world an improbable event when I let down my guard, put aside my rational being, and let my heart act with the impulsivity of a man who had bonded deeply with his dog. It was perhaps all the more…
“You Really Love Him”
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from The Ball Warrior) It wasn’t long into Ben’s life with us that we began our search for a Polish vet – one who could speak English. It had been a long day of teaching for me and for Ben a longer day of not getting any attention. With…
The Ball Warrior
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from Tooth-Fairy) The dark boughs of the chestnut trees were almost empty. The desiccated and thorny outer shells of the fruit lay decomposing everywhere and their large leaves littered the large park where Ben and I played a few times a day. By the middle of the month, the…
Tooth-Fairy
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from Ben the Foody) By November, Ben had settled into our expanded life that now included him. Routines were being rewritten … and so were my values. For the first time in my life, I now had to think of “someone” else’s needs – another living creature was now…
Ben the Foody
(Benjamin: continued from What’s in a Name) In 1996, the world was only seven years removed from the Berlin wall coming down and the country was still navigating its dynamic and very rapid transition from a “socialist” post-Soviet bloc nation into whatever it imagined it wanted to become. As such, the pet food industry was non-existent in Poland,…
What’s in a Name?
(Benjamin: continued from Ben Trains Us) What’s in a name? What do you name a creature that comes crashing into your life and bites you within an hour of knowing you? What to name a dog that quickly evidences himself a supremely smart little dog? (I hadn’t finished my first 12 hours with him before…
Ben Trains Us …
(Benjamin: continued from Three Strikes, I’m Yours) The first night, Ben trained us. Apparently a throbbing and punctured finger wasn’t going to deter me from the delusion that I could become the alpha in our burgeoning relationship. I knew from what little firsthand “adult” experience I had with dogs (most of which came via my…
Three Strikes, I’m Yours
(Benjamin: continued from Irish-Terrier Cross) After Magda had left my office earlier in the afternoon, she herself had phoned Andrea. It wasn’t long after that they then met up at the train station with an old dog collar, leash, and a blanket. Together they coaxed him near, put the collar on him, and led him…
Irish Terrier-Cross
(Benjamin: continued from previous post) I had been living overseas for two years and had just finished what was my first year in Poland when my then-wife and I began discussing the idea of getting a dog. We had returned from a summer vacation that brought us back to Canada for a visit. While it…
April: The Month of Benjamin
As Easter Sunday arrives, it is befitting that my thoughts should go to Benjamin, my dog. Easter is the most important holiday in Poland which is where Ben(jamin) was rescued. In Poland, it is a time for not only the observance of what is arguably the most important Christian event on their calendar, but it…