My name is Lillo. Once, I had another name, but I do not like to remember it.
I never told anyone how I suddenly found myself wandering around homeless; it’s not nice to talk about a car which drops you off and drives away...
It is hard to be alone, to have to get used to people calling you "stray dog". I was so sad and every night I dreamt of having a home . Slowly I had to adapt to my new life, pretending to be a carefree vagabond. But the truth was different, no one loved me and I lived a hard life, scavenging for scraps of food in garbage bins.

I dream …

During the summer, I suffered a lot with the heat, it was difficult to find something to drink. I was always looking for fresh, clean places to rest ...To find a refuge in winter was even more difficult, it was always raining, I was wet and chilled. Sometimes it was snowing; in those days I suffered from hunger and pain in the bones ...
I often think that anyone who has suffered hunger and cold would never be able to forget it.

One day…

One day, I came across something that made me happy. It was afternoon, and a man came and gave me something to eat. I tried to follow him, but he drove me away. I was devastated !
BUT - the next day he came back and brought me pasta with meat sauce. I will never forget how delicious it was! This time, I did not try to follow him... I knew I had to be patient and just wait for him ...

Day after day ...

Day after day he came back and gave me wonderful meals, which had the taste of home and I started to feel the joy of waiting for someone. He would come towards me and I would run to meet him, wagging my tail.
Then it rained for days and the ground was covered with icy puddles.
He did not come and I stood for hours, waiting for him in my hiding place.
One morning the weather finally calmed down and the sun came out. I went into the street to look for him, but it was too early... But I caught a trace of his scent, so I followed it, and finally, in front of a gate, the scent was so strong that I knew: he lived there!

Almond eyes!

When he came out, he was very surprised to see me outside his house. He did not drive me away, yet he did not let me in. This did not bother me. I had not been this happy for a long time. I knew I didn’t need to wander any more; instead, I spent all my time around his house and the house next door where a lady with almond eyes was living.

Play with me!

Actually she is Chinese and we became friends straight away. She stroked me, and gave me delicious food and rubber toys to play with. Soon I fell in love with her, but I didn’t have the courage to come into her garden because I was afraid of her Husky, a very jealous guy. So, I waited for her outside the house, where she and her neighbor used to bring me lunch and dinner, but she always gave me a special biscuit at night, then I went happily to sleep under some bushes.

Put a dog down ...

Everything seemed to be going well, but one day something terrible happened. I was unable to stand up, crying in pain; I could not feel my back legs and could not understand why. I did not remember what had happened ... The Chinese lady was very worried when she didn’t see me around and came to look for me. When she found me crying on the ground, she carried me home in her arms and immediately took me by car to the veterinary clinic. The doctor did an x-ray, and said the damage was serious and could not be cured. But the Chinese lady did not give up. She took me to a distant place where I was put in a giant machine. I heard that they called it "tomography".
The doctors were discussing the photographs made by the machine... They told the Chinese lady that my spine was severely damaged; the bone inside was crushed and most probably I would not be able to stand up and walk again. They also explained the problems that I would face every day, and said that it would be nearly impossible to live in this condition… they suggested that she should put me down so that I didn’t suffer ...But I heard the Chinese lady respond: "Life is a great gift from God. He has to decide; we can only follow and comply with His Will. Taking life does not depend on us; we cannot decide in advance who should stay and who shall go ... I will do my best, I do not give up hope." So, she decided to treat me with Shiatsu, alone, and adopted me. She turned a corner of her porch into a cozy home only for me, where I could stay safe and warm, and where she practiced the therapy for me.

I love her!

At last the miracle: I had a house where a loving lady was looking after me and little by little, I felt the strength coming back into my legs. A few days later I was back on my feet and I could walk a few steps.
The therapy caused me pain but I did not rebel because I knew it was for my own good. Now I'm a happy and spoiled dog. I like to sit next to my owner while she is working. She does a lot of wonderful things: cooks, plays piano and writes books. Often when she cooks in the kitchen she tells me about her ideas, and I listen and tell her what I think. Once she told me that she has already written 40 books and still wants to write many more. God, I'll need to help her so much!
Now we are working on several books on dogs, this is my favourite project ! We have already done some, but we still have so many ideas ...

I did it!

The most beautiful thing, which I always remember, is that she never treated me as handicapped and this is also why I succeeded!

I'm so happy, I want to run!