Since childhood, I have always had dogs. We have never bought them:
We found strays on the street or adopted them at a shelter. We have almost always had several dogs at once.
One dog that was found by my mother and brother on the street of Kyiv at the age of about a year and a half, I have brought to Belgium. Here Frosya lived with us until she dies at the age of almost 22 years old!
Another one, who also moved from Kyiv, nicknamed TEFFI (as a television award), lived with us for almost 18 years…
Now (2024) we have three dogs:
ZHUZHA
During the pandemic, we only had FROSYA left, she began to grow old and fade sharply. I found information on Facebook about a dog that was found in Ukraine. I contacted these people and agreed that they would help prepare documents for export.
The documents took quite a long time to complete, and a week before she moved to Belgium, I was informed that…she was pregnant and was due to give birth soon.
They asked me if I was giving up on it?
Of course not! This is already my dog!
Having moved to Belgium, ZHUZHA gave birth to 5 puppies.
NIKA
One of the puppies died at birth, I automatically performed artificial respiration and screamed at her… Suddenly, she began to breathe. We decided to keep her and named her NIKA – which in ancient Greek mythology means the goddess of victory. She conquered death!
NOTA
Adopted this dog from a shelter in Liege. She was surrendered due to the fact that – as previous owners wrote – she is aggressive, rushes at people and especially children. She weighed 13 kg.
When she arrived at our house, she was incredibly afraid of everything, she didn’t know that she could walk on the street (she kept trying to jump out into the garden for a minute). She officially has a different name, but when I brought her to our home, I called her NOTA – as in music. She is a very kind and smart dog.
Every day the dogs sit next to me when I play the piano, and in the evening – in the office when I work. If I work late and go to the guest room to sleep, they always go to bed next to me. If I have the strength to go up to the bedroom, they sadly go down to their places…
I love dogs so much! Having accepted a dog into your home, you must come to terms with the fact that you will not have sterile cleanliness either in your home or in your car, that you must spend a certain amount on various additional treats and toys, that you must think first of all where you will go for a walk with the dog, where will the dog first of all it will be good, not for you… But in return you will receive: Devotion and Love. For this I am ready to sacrifice purity and my plans!
FLOWERS
I love flowers. The most favorite ones are peonies, irises and roses.
I am very lucky that I have a mother who takes care of the garden. It’s beautiful here almost all year round!
HOBBY
I have two hobbies:
Shooting and cycling.
I am a member of a sports shooting club and train almost weekly.
I love cycling very much, I’ll ride it as soon as possible.
I also absolutely love the sea, it recharges me.
A few days at sea are enough for me to fully recover.
I have NO free time; I work all the time. Due to the fact that I love concerts, I simply plan in advance and make sure to attend various concerts several times a month.