Gedenkseite von Lakis

Lakis, Divine Companion from Crete It might as well have been some olympian god who placed the newborn in a bin on the island of Crete to be saved by a German girl and her Greek boyfriend. Indeed Greek myths are full of stories of abandoned noble progeny (except the German girl part, of course). The young pair raised the puppy by hand and named him Lakis, which is not a only a practical short form for a whole bunch of Greek names but also means „light“. And a bright shine in our lives he became. But first he bursted into our home like a whirlwind. We had expected a clumsy soft puppy and got a restless wiry little thing, that we had to catch before cuddling. Yet from the beginning he possessed a strong sense for strategically important places, so as we went to sleep his jumps tirelessly aimed for the bed until we finally gave in. It was winter, he wasn’t potty trained, we weren’t too keen on that many icy dogwalks and mishaps occured. He simply disappeared quickly under a desk or into the bathroom. It wasn’t perfect, but we appreciated the effort. During his stay in the rubbish bin, he had caught mites and was constantly scratching himself, but this did not diminish his energy and zest for life in the slightest. Even though the cause should have been easy to identify, the vets first treated him for allergies, which led to an eccentric diet. Perhaps that is why voraciousness was never his thing. He became an emotional eater who only liked his food when he was in a good mood. Over time we came up with a few ideas for this, so that we filled his stomach by way through his heart. One of those first days I had a belly ache and just grabed him to warm myself up a bit. He collapsed in my lap in total relaxation. That moment sealed it. The son as well would quickly bond with Lakis enjoying his eager playfulness. They never tired of inventing new games. Lakis would fetch any ball instinctively. Once when the boy was kicking around with some friends, the dog came onto the pitch and, far from disrupting the game, tried to join in. We almost felt a little embarassed to strictly train him, as he just understood by himself, mostly. Admittedly, fetching the toys by name was a bit over the top and didn't always work, but the boy and the dog were still enthusiastic about their attempts. Outdoors he was fearless without being frivolous and would climb steep slopes like a wildcat. He ran alongside the son's bicycle until his paws were bloody, and he loved it anyway. He regularly found other dogs' long-lost toys and loved to proudly carry them home as precious booty. His own soft toys lasted for ever, even though he liked to throw them around he took care not to tear them. We weren't sure whether he would exercise the same caution with the pugs that he often barked at on our walks, which is why we preferred to generally avoid other males. Socialising with dogs wasn’t his strong suit. As a result our dog walking companions were limited to some very nice owners of bitches. Indoors he used to position himself so that he could oversee what was happening. He wouldn’t whine or beg for anything. He went more like „It’s time for a treat, don’t you think“ or „Let’s go for a walk, that’s going to be fun“. He just felt entitled to have his will, and made us feel so too. He enjoyed closeness, but cuddling made him yawn. When I occasionally cried, he instantly left the room. Whether out of discretion or because he just wasn't one to comfort people, I never knew. Perhaps just a man thing. Meanwhile he had turned out a particularly beautiful dog. His proportions were slim and slender, his gait was elegant like that of a thoroughbred horse. But what made almost everybody smile was his intelligent, attentive and highly motivated gaze when doing his dog things like sniffing around the park or strolling confidently along the street (only a few grumpy people took offence at him being too busy to avoid them). Later in his life he resided in two households that he both considered his realms. He developed different routines for the two places and their surroundings as well as nuanced attitudes towards the three most important persons in his live. When driving in the car with the man he used to insist on the front passenger seat and placed his paw on the driver's arm as if to show him where to go (he also took the lead when they weren’t driving). I was more regarded the one in charge, he hated me leaving the scene, but didn’t let it show when I came back. The grown up boy stayed the beloved brother, who always was up for a new playful challenge. Lakis managed perfectly to tune in with all three of us who disagreed with each other often, but shared a unifying, deep and true love for our canine companion. After 15 years we recently lost our delicate, strong and clever soulmate. Heartbroken I imagine he was taken back to some heavenly place on Olympus, where he belongs.