My Dad was a Vet. He's was a friend of leaves, kids and dogs. My brothers and I grew up having dogs around. There was always a dog.
Mum said, as a baby, she will leave me with dogs as she rushes to the nearby market to buy stuff.
Those tail wagging, tongue hanging, continuously panting creatures won't let even an ant come close to me.
I was their responsibility and they did their job well. Except for non-consensual kisses once in a while.
My brothers and I can easily train a dog to be as athletic, responsive and aggressive as we choose. As kids we watched Dad do all that. My Dad loved dogs, he could do for them what he would do for no one.
He would cook a whole pot of chicken for dogs alone. We would salivate, peep, and sit in silence cause we couldn't complain. But damn, sometimes, sometimes, we wished we were Tuner or Lioness.
I won't mention that Favour was the only one who had the guts in our early days to eat the dog food.
We reported. Dad just stared in shock and did nothing else.
He transferred the love and adoration for dogs to us. Had books with dogs pictures, so when we sneak into his room to pick something, we flip the pages and smile at our favourite dogs.
German Shepard, my favorite. Maybe, it's because of the head. Cause now as an adult I know I like head 😂
Amongst my earliest poems was one called "Father's other children", it was about dogs. He loved them.
I hope he is in a better place now 😇, bathing his favourite dogs, dressing them up and talking them for a walk.
And these pictures are my shout-out to anyone who had dogs as a major part of their childhood.
Shout-out to my brothers - Favour and Miracle.