How My Pups Inspired a Side Quest

Some time ago, we lost our senior dogs Nina & Matthias. They were already in their double digits by the time they came into our lives.

They'd spent five years in a concrete shelter because they were a bonded pair. Though people had reached out to adopt pretty, sociable Nina, Matthias's standoffishness and fearful aggression made him hard to place, and they refused to be separated. In fact, when the shelter tried to separate them, Matthias broke his own teeth fighting his way through the bars of his enclosure to get back to her.

When we adopted them, he continued to protect Nina. When thunderstorms rolled through and sent her whimpering into corners, he destroyed everything looking for the enemy. He would've fought god with his aching old bones. Eventually, he came to trust that not all the world was a threat to him and to Nina, and he got to rest with us.

I posted about their story on TikTok, and people fell in love with our old pups. I wasn't expecting it to pick up traction, but half a million views later, I've had hundreds of comments asking for a children's book version of Matthias's story.

I love the idea of telling a story from the "aggressive" dog's perspective—fear and love and protectiveness for someone he cares about coming out as behavior that other people don't understand and even punish. But ultimately, he's still a good boy and deserving of love!

So I've started hand-painting the illustrations for a children's book about Matthias. I'm excited to branch out into something new!