This is Duke, the clumsiest and most amazing dog ever. He wasn’t mine—he belonged to my neighbor. But I helped take care of him from day one. I still remember the day my neighbor brought him home as a puppy; he was covered in fleas, which I picked off one by one.

I used to take him for walks every day and also gave him treats. I even let him zoom through my house, get into my couch, and do all the dog things he wanted. He was an amazing dog.

But one day my neighbor decided to move to another state far away, and with her, she took Duke, my little buddy. It was hard to get up the next morning knowing I’d have no one to play with, to take for walks, to shout, “Don’t chase the cars!” and to do belly rubs after a treat.

As far as I know, Duke is doing well. Now he lives by the beach and loves to play in the sand and to think that every stranger is his friend.

Since my house has no structure for a dog, I can’t have one, but I still take care of random dogs like this little good boy who roams through my street and to whom I give water and a bowl of cooked chicken and scrambled eggs every day.

Taking care of random street dogs was a way I found to always have a little bit of Duke with me. Once you know the pure love and affection that a dog can offer you, you feel you have to take care of all of them. They are angels with paws who are in this world to show us what unconditional love feels like.

The experience I had with Duke was the key to inspiring me to create Ringo, the pet of my book’s main character. Ringo is just a fumbled weasel, always afraid of everything.

But when Johnny takes him from under his top hat and says, “Ringo, I set you free!” the little weasel becomes a mighty winged lion willing to do anything to help and protect his little friend.

And you, do you miss a pet you once had or just took care of? Post about it in the comments below; I’d love to hear about your experience.

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