The Adventures of Peppo: From a dog's life in Spain to a pooch's life in California (with a stop in Norway)

       By PetziBlogger Anna Muggiati and Ellen Kvam*

Grateful Peace:  (Photos by Petziblogger and Family Archive)

Little Peppo was found wandering in Gran Canaria, Spain, was sent to a shelter close to Oslo, Norway with 40 other puppies, and now lives safely and happily in San Jose, California. He has his own passport, travels in the cabin with his human, and is one of those dogs with a special talent to make you stop to pet him in the middle of the street. Who can resist to  his friendly looks and manners? We didn't. His human mom, jewelry designer Ellen Kvam, knows all about his magnetic powers, and was very happy to help Peppo with his interview. He is the inspiration for our special Talking Dogs new feature, where our barking buddies are special guests.

Aren't I so cute?

Ellen is crazy about her best canine friend  "He is very social, loyal and generous. Definitely not a drama person ", she says." The 3 years-old puppy also lives with Cesar, the 14 years old cat and has a long story to tell. When Ellen picked him he barely had any fur due to a skin condition, but in few weeks he was healthy and already healing.

Now those days are behind him. Peppo has a sweet life, and is surrounded by friends. And, of course, good food: Smoked salmon, sausage and smoked pig ears are his treats... But before that amazing snack,  here's Peppo's interview:

How did you meet your human mom?

 I met my human mom after a long and stressful ordeal. Someone left me and one more dog outside a shelter that is helping stray dogs get a safe home. The farm was in Gran Canaria in Spain. I was sitting outside  when the owners found us early morning. Me and my friend (he could have been my brother, I was told), were taken into this house. I remember they gave us food and water, and after few days a doctor came to the house. After a long nap, I felt a sharp pain. I woke up, I figured that something was missing: I was neutered! I waited for a while and the doctor came back again. I was given more injections and a real passport.   

         
Wow...,I was so scared. My friend disappeared, and I felt very lonely. The owners of the place were nice to me, and made sure I was no longer hungry. That was very nice. After two more days, a man I had never seen before came to the farm and put me into a box. I went on a plane. It was very scary. It was noisy, lonely and cold and I did not know anything about where I was going to go to or what was going to happen to me. 

         
When the plane landed in a place called Norway, a very nice lady named Marianne picked me up at the airport. She told me she was going to be my foster parent until she found a home for me. She brought me to a place called Solplassen, outside of Oslo. In English it would be called the "sunny place". But it was so horribly cold there! In Norway they had snow. What the.... I had never seen snow before and never even heard about it. I was freezing my paws off.

Relaxing!

Once upon a time in the snow (E.K)

         
I was sitting outside Marianne's house in the snow when Ellen and a man called Svein came to visit. They where out for a Sunday walk and stopped to look around. Ellen picked me up, and it felt sooooo good. She was so nice to me and she really wanted to hug and kiss me. I really felt that this women liked me a lot. I did not want to leave her arms. She had a big warm jacket on, and I put my nose inside her jacket to feel even more worm, and she just let me do it, even if she really did not know me to well. Marianne asked Ellen if she would like to try to have me in her house for a week or so, to see if we could get along.


To my luck - Ellen agreed and so did Svein. They where both very excited to have me there in their house, and they bought a bed for me and nice food and my very own bowl to eat from. I remember that Ellen called to the Sunny Place the very next day and told them that she did not need to think about anything for a week. Peppo is mine - she said - and I felt like the happiest dog ever. 

What's your favorite time of the day?

Yes, I do have a Passport!

I think my favorite time of the day must be early afternoon. It is not too hot outside, and I am always meeting other dogs outside to play with. It's when I have my longest walk of the day. I usually meet between 4-10 of my dogs that I have befriended in the Park, and I know them all very well. Nutella is my sweetheart girlfriend and she looks almost just like me. A bit smaller, but she must basically be the same mix, if that is at all possible. It was love at first sight. When I meet Nutella in the park, it is pure fur heaven. We are jumping, sniffing and running around and we can not get any closer to fur heaven. I am so excited that I sometimes run in huge circles around the park, just because i do not know what else to do. My little tail is waiving and I am having so much fun and letting out all my energy. And I have a lot of it. 

Co-sleeping? "In your dreams" (says Cesar the cat) (E.K)

Any special fear?

       

I can not stand fireworks. 

What's your favorite smell? 

Enjoying the ride!

My favorite smell must be the smell of my girlfriend Nutella when she has not had a bath for at least a week, or perhaps the beach home in Oslo, where there are lots of dogs, birds and people making their dinner on the beach BBQ. 

I love my mom

What is love?

Love to me is to share the fun and the sorrow and to be together and to belong together. Love to me is to belong to my Ellen and to her family and friends, and to always share with them their lives and to be a big part of everything they do as a family member naturally is. I love to love and be loved.




* Our guest blogger message: "Hei, I am a Norwegian Peppo lover and jewelry designer born north of the Arctic Circle in the wonderful city - also called the Paris of the North - Tromsø. Read all about me on my web site www.ellenkvam.com and please visit and like my face book page Ellen Kvam jewelry. Have a wonderful dog loving day! "