We found Tapko on the street almost 16 years ago. He was neglected, dirty and full of flees. The eyes though and the energy were unaffected by the hardship of the external circumstances. He was the liveliest, most delightful little being. We often called him "our beautiful little weirdo". He was always on the go in his young years, always exploring, running around, chasing what we could see as well as what we couldn't see. He adored all sorts of food and when he was young, he interestingly did not enjoy meat at all. He only ate carrots, apples, turnips, and other fruits and vegetables that were crunchy. He was short, with a stocky sturdy body, all black with little white paws. That's why we called him "little paw", which is what Tapko means in Slovak. He hated the phone for some reason and whenever it ran he would bark so hard at it, nobody could hear anything. It seems to stress him very much and as a way to ease his stress he dashed to the pantry and always gacked a potato or whatever fell on the floor and ran back to the phone where one of his owners was sitting, chatting, and he would only be quiet if he would chew on whatever he gacked in the pantry. The second most funny thing about Tapko was how much he loved going out for walks. Whenever he would see signs of going for a walk, like us putting coats on or shoes on, he would wail and yelp and jump up and down like a ball in excitement. Later on in life, my husband would always carry an iPod with him when going for walks and would always put on the headset before going out the house. Consequently, the headset or any long cord for that matter would become a sign for Tapko that it's time to go out and it would bring him to a total joy frenzy. 



Another favorite thing of Tapko's was escaping from the garden without his owners and going for walks by himself. We always worried about him when we saw he escaped again and always went to look for him, he was never very far, fortunately. However, when he was out and about on a walk by himself, he pretended like he didn't know who we were. They always gave us a big laugh. When he decided it's time to go home, which he always did, he all of a sudden recognized us and wagged his tail very happily.



Tapko, overall, had the kindest, most gentle nature, never fought with any dogs and was very friendly with everyone. He was very squirmy though so if you wanted to pet him, good luck with that because he was always on the go. When he got older he loved to chew on his blanket and made the cutest snorting sound when he was doing that. He also loved bread rolls which were not good for him but hey, we all love, what is not good for us.



Tapko had a very good, very long life. He was extremely loved and he loved us incredibly. He would not let me or my husband out of his sight and even if we went out for a minute to take out trash, when we got back he was so happy to see us, like we were gone forever. Tapko got slowly sick over the past year, his hearing went, his sight went, the hipsies found it harder and harder to support his sweet ample butt. Finally, his heart, which was already weakened in the past two years, gave out and Tapko left quietly, held in our arms, onto the next life.



It has only been a few days since you left, sweetie, and the house seems very quiet, very empty, and somehow lifeless without you. We miss you incredibly. We are so grateful and feel very blessed to have such a loving, sweet, gentle and quirky companion. Thank you for giving us so much joy. You were our gift.



We will always miss you, sweetness, always love you. You chase those nargles hard where you are and until we meet again, may your next life be full of joy and freedom and unlimited supply of bread rolls:-)

Always yours, always loving you, your parents Danka and Mike