Reading a post on a Portuguese weblog about having to give away a dog reminded me deeply of my dog. Well truth be said she’s more my mum’s dog. But it’s my dog too. Although she lives with my mum she still obeys me more.

Everyone who knows me knows my passion for dogs and how sad I am not to be able to have one. And how sad I am to have left mine. I miss her loads!

Her name is Becky. She’s a bad-tempered, highly energetic dog and very very clever. She always wants to be the centre of attention and is completely addicted to fetching. Balls, sticks, toys, anything. She’s also very attached to us. Very sweet, when she finally decides to calm down.

She was the reason of the only time I cried when saying goodbye before I came back, last Easter.

I went to my mum’s to say goodbye to her and Becky acted as usual: Happy to see me, barking, asking my attention, kissing, jumping, asking me to hold her. She went to get her toys. And then she realised I was going away. Maybe by the way I hugged my mum. If I leave to go for a walk or something, she know I’ll be back so she’s ok with it. But that time she knew I was going away for ages again. He expression changed. Ear bent backwards, a sad, desperate expression in her eyes, she started pulling me with her paws and looking at me as if to say: don’t go! I controlled myself until I left the house (didn’t want to make my mum cry as well) and I bursted into tears.

It’s a horrible feeling. It’s hard enough to say goodbye to you friends and family but animals… Animals don’t know you’re going away to do a PhD. They can’t talk to you on the phone or Internet. All they know is you are not there. You abandoned them. And that is very difficult for me to cope…

I will be in Portugal net week and I will see her again. I just hope saying goodbye this time is not as difficult…