Not a manual. A life.
This is not about commands. It is about holidays you change, suitcases and leashes, a thought that never leaves you, and a hundred-pound dog who sleeps in front of the door until you come home. It is about what living together is really like.
"Don't you dare leave me."
Read Darko's story Chapter 1, free
The book
A red ribbon to tell him apart among a dozen puppies. A fence cut through on the very first day. A broken bone at three months and two months of recovery behind the counter of a café. Two balls, because he never gives the first one back. A bidet instead of a water bowl. A seven-hour flight to Dubai, and a corner turned at the airport without saying goodbye.
Darko is a hundred-pound Alsatian German Shepherd, oversized, with a strong character and one rule: first he comes to you, then you may go to him. Patrizia is his mom. In these pages she tells nine years together: the dogs who came before, the house in the Castelli Romani near Rome, her children, a grief that does not go away, the move to Dubai, and a dog growing old "just a little slower".
It is not a manual. It is a true story. At the end of every chapter, three questions for you and your dog; at the back, a notebook to write your own.
About 110 pages, with Darko's photos, the "And you?" questions and My Dog's Notebook.
5.99 €
Buy the ebook — 5.99 €Secure payment by card, PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay. The file arrives right away, with a receipt by email.
The series
Short books, one per theme, about life with a dog you love. They do not explain how to train him: they tell what living together is like, and what I learned in nine years with an oversized Alsatian German Shepherd. Each diary: a story, the practical part, "my list", and three questions for you.
Only where he can come too: how I look for a place, the traps of "pets allowed", what to pack, when to give up.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursIf I go out, if I leave, if it is hot, if he will not eat. Organizing life around him without erasing yourself.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursLiving with a dog who protects: guests, children, other dogs, the rules of the house.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursChanging the pace, not asking him to be the dog he was, and enjoying him.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursThe honest questions to ask first. And one possible answer to abandonment: it does not exist.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursFood, bowl, rules and the dog who begs. What I give him, what I do not, and why.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursCheck-ups, fears, decisions and the courage to ask. How I learned not to panic.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursGrowing up together, house rules, trust. An oversized German Shepherd and the children around him.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursEncounters, leash, character and respect. Darko cannot stand other dogs: how we live with it.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursGetting ready, staying, and what remains. The diary I did not want to write.
4.99 €
Available in a few hoursInvisible Bonds and the whole series. Everything I wrote about him, in one go.
33.90 € 55.89 €
Available in a few hoursSecure payment by card, PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay. You get the files right away (ePub, readable on phone, tablet, Kindle and computer) and a receipt by email.
Darko
Name: Darko, from "dark", for his coat. Made a little more Italian.
Age: nine. Weight: about a hundred pounds, two inches taller than average.
Born: in the Castelli Romani, in a litter of twelve. Recognizable by the red ribbon.
Lives: between Rome and Dubai. Where she is, he is.
Drinks: only running water, from the bidet. The bowl has no charm.
Plays: with two balls, because he never gives the first one back.
Hates: the vacuum cleaner, thunderstorms, fireworks, other dogs.
Loves: the garden hose, the broom, children (he takes them into custody), the word "amore".
Rule: for the first five minutes, ignore him. First he comes to you, then you may go to him.
Pack leader: Chicco. To be protected: mom.
Maybe for Darko home is not an address. Maybe home is simply the place where he knows he has not been left behind.— Invisible Bonds, chapter 11
Tell us about your dog
At the end of every chapter there are three questions. They are the same ones you find here. Answer the ones you like, in your own words: the best stories get published on this site, with your dog's name (and yours, if you want).
You don't need to write well. You need to write true.
If you are wondering whether your dog loves you, the answer is in the way he waits for you.— Patrizia
Readers
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