Often on the way to the park we are stopped by passing strangers who want to say hello to us. Today we wanted to share a sweet message from a man who stopped us on our walk.

He was a gentle old man and we trotted over, wagged our tails, did some beard-rubbing on his leg all so he could understand that we were delighted he had stopped to say hola!

My way of saying hello is very unique and Scottish. Not many dogs do beard-rubs on legs as a ritual but this is exactly what I do when I say hello and I’m teaching Leo to do the same as right now Leo will jump up on people and lick their faces, which is far too ‘dog’. He needs to be more Scottie. In time he will learn.

The man’s greeting was a massive breath of fresh air for the Boss after we endured many weeks of insults on our walks here in Barcelona. We are not sure why but many people have grown angry about dogs being present in parks, roads, squares – well anywhere in the city. They even shout down from their balconies, complaining about barking or just dogs being too close to their homes.

This is very sad when most of the time dogs bring great love to the moment.

My Boss asked herself what she loves about meeting a dog on the street and she realised it’s a form of relief, of connection – knowing that love is still very present even when the city feels heavy with intolerance.

She personally gets all excited when she meets another dog’s eye and always ends up talking to the dog. She knows it’s not weird because we are always being spoken to by humans whilst the Boss stands there and allows the brief encounter to take place.

We don’t judge and we love to meet strangers!

How do dogs make you feel?

The message from this passing old man to our Boss was; ‘Make sure you look after these two, they are very sweet and I prefer dogs to people!’

She smiled uncontrollably with gratitude at the passing stranger. He probably has no idea how much his words and greeting meant to her, but we are grateful that he reminded her what is important in life. Love is important and so are you!

Love

Charlie

(Leo says Hola!)