How Bowie and I met?
Well, he was brought home by a friend who had found him and two little brothers walking on a provincial road. The two little brothers had been adopted. And this one, the shyest of them all, was all alone in this world. My friend told me to help out until she would find a long-term accommodation. I said yes, sure – no idea was I was getting into. Because from there, from my house, he never left again. We called him Bowie. His generic, as a pharmacist it’s all about generics, would be the Malinoi spepherd. 

Bowie is the most intelligent and intuitive dog in the world! No kidding. Bowie really is extraordinary for his intelligence and his intuition.

Our relationship is a special one for me because he changed my life. He changed it because I have never had animals. My parents didn’t like animals, they were even afraid of animals. I could never even think of having one at home, or, like now, wanting another one! Bowie changed my sensitivity towards not only the animal world but also made me understand many other things. It’s a relationship of gratitude, no less than that. At least on my part. Maybe even on his part because if he hadn’t met me who knows if he’d still be alive. I’ll always be grateful for having added something special to my life, for increasing my sensitivity.

His passions? Well, unlike other dogs of his size he doesn’t care much about food. He loves to roam freely, run on the beach, not be on a leash.

We don’t have a special language, for sure not a stereotyped one since he’s never been trained. It depends a lot on the situation. What I usually do is try to make myself respected at least in the most important issues. And he respects that. Anyway: A sausage is always a valid reason to make him do what I want!

If he were a person he would certainly be my third child who arrives perhaps late in life, unexpectedly. And for this reason the mother has a particular eye on him.

We love Bowie for many reasons! Because he is patient, whatever we do to him, pet him all over, kiss his ears, things that perhaps shouldn’t be done with dogs. But he would sit there waiting, patiently, and accepting our perhaps excessive effusions.

Bowie never did anything strange but one thing he did made us laugh a lot. It was eating a half-frozen fish that I had put on the stove and waiting to come back in the evening to cook it and I received a phone call from my daughter who said, “but Mom, did you forget to defrost the fish?” In reality Bowie had made it disappear. Very discreetly, really, without even moving the plate where I had placed the fish an inch.

Bowie never made it easy for me to interact with other people, because he is so afraid when we are around other people. He often barks when he sees an individual dressed in black with a hood. It’s an outfit, a certain kind of person, that scares him a lot and therefore I have to try to physically place myself between this person and him to reassure him. With me as a filter he remains calm. Otherwise, since he is afraid, he would try to defend me from what agitates him.

When I have to leave I usually take him to Giusi Luperto (3299212222) who is a certified dog trainer. Giusi is very good with dogs of any kind and her dog made friends with Bowie over the years. But when I go to pick him up he pretends to be angry. He is thrilled when he sees me but as soon as he gets into the car he turns the other way and doesn’t even give me a glance. I do know that he is happy there, Giusy always sends me videos of him playing with other dogs. And it is good for him to socialize with others of his kind. But he has to make me feel that something wasn’t right. Every single time.

Let’s just say he doesn’t do anything that bothers me. I’m sorry that he has this controversial relationship with the surrounding world when we go for a walk. But it was my responsibility not having accustomed him from an early age to socialize with the outside world. I always kept him at home a lot, he used to play in the garden and never became familiar with the outside world.

What we love to do together is go out where he can be free, where there is no one, on the beaches when there are no people, countryside. I would like to let him have many more of these experiences, in places where he can be free for whole days and wander around without having to be on a leash.

Bowie as I already said, is my third child, as well as the third brother of my children. Of course he sleeps on the bed, on a sheet that I put there for him. In fact what he does is move up and down all night, according to his needs.

Advice? It’s actually not what everyone says: Think carefully about getting a dog, etc. etc. Even though it is true that a dog is a responsibility and therefore we need to think about it. But it’s also true that if I had had to make the decision to keep him rationally, I would never have accepted him. So without knowing it I would have given up one of the most beautiful things that happened to me in life. Sometimes decisions made on impulse are the best. Because they make you discover a world of affection, sweetness, wealth that I would otherwise never have known.

PS: Marcella’s pharmacy is located in Lecce, Casciaro pharmacy. She also sells veterinary drugs.

* Together with a handful of other swimmer friends Marcella created the Association “SwimilSalento”, with the intention to surround the heel of the boot. 222 km in the open sea, swimming freestyle, in the summer as well as in the winter.

You lost one dog and got two to overcome the pain. How did that come about?
That’s true. To cut a long story short: I lost my beloved dog Hilde in an accident and felt very guilty afterwards. And even though I’m sure she’s living a better life now – because she deserves it – I had to rescue another dog, at least one. I kind of owed it to her since she changed my life. It had to be a „special dog“ with very little hope to get adopted. This way I wanted to make peace with my loss. Searching the internet and asking around I came about an organization near Munich that was collaborating with a spanish shelter. On their homepage I found a small black mixed breed, very shy, but I fell in love immediately. How scared she was! No one was allowed to touch her. And it took me weeks to convince the organization to give it a try.
I was sure I’d be able to handle her. That was when Helga came into my life. I took her home from the station and first thing she does is bite my finger. Nothing much changed in the following weeks and even though I started to feed her from my hands she needed months to actually build trust. She has been with me for 12 years now and still has her moments. But: She loves travelling by car, jumps in as soon as a door opens. And her favourite thing is sitting in a bar and watching the people passing by. Knowing that earlier, everything would have been a lot easier!

Yet you weren’t put off enough to take in another dog?
Well no. I was actually very grateful how everything had turned out. So I offered myself to foster another stray dog from Spain. The fostering makes it easier for the organizations to find a “final” family for the dog beacause it’s already used to certain things, educated a bit, so much easier to visit. That’s how Wilma joined us. As a guest, we said, it wouldn’t be forever. But: Wilma liked us so much that she denied to try anyone else. She simply ignored all those who made an effort getting to know her, she wouldn’t go out for a walks, refused to accept treats etc. So I surrendered and ended up with two dogs. Helga, called “Maeusi” (“topolina”) is now 15, Wilma 12 years old.

What’s so amazing about your dogs?
Helga is still shy,  she doesn’t like to be touched by other people, but is very curious. And she is smart! I´m sure if had found her as a puppy, she would be one of those dogs who are doing the childrens´ homework and then driving them to their friends (lol). Wilma is not shy, but not very interested in other people. She may not be the most intelligent dog in the world but she is very loyal. Simple things make her happy, just being in the same room with me can be enough. We used to walk a lot, but getting older she gets tired more easily.

How would you describe your relationship? 
Very different with both of them, but they have one thing in common: Big love. It’s as simple as that.

Do you know about their secret passions? 
Helga? Sitting in a bar and watching people around her. In those moments she is totally at ease with herself and the world.
Wilma? Sleeping in my bed, preferably on my pillow! 

What makes them pay attention to you no matter what? 
The sound of a fridge door opening. 

If your dogs were humans – who would they be? 
Helga? Princess Diana.
Wilma: Rambo. Very robust but with a good heart. 

Do your dogs ever bring you closer to other people?
Helga does. Everybody seems to love her when they see her lying on her blanket in a bar and looking like the boss in charge.

Any dreams you’d like to come true with your dog?
A long life and many more years with them!

So a big Yes to life with dogs?
Yes, because they change your life for the better! You’ll have to give up on a couple of things you used to like, for sure. But you’ll get so many things in return! You will find dogs’ hair in the most unbelievable places and you’ll have to organize everything around them. But: Living with dogs means a completely different, a more beautiful, more intense life. Small things become more important, you’ll cherish the little moments more. No other animal connects so closely with us humans.