Two days ago, on July 31st, we celebrated National Mixed-Breed Pet Day in Brazil, and I felt inspired to come here and share my love story with my rescued mixed-breed dogs (I haven’t had a cat yet), and hopefully inspire you to adopt one of your own. ❤️
Laika
When I was five years old, my mom went on one of her regular morning walks to a park about 25 minutes from our house. As she was leaving the park to head back home, she saw a skinny dog that looked like she had been through a lot. Their eyes met, and my mom must have said something like, “Poor thing, you look so weak,” and that was enough for the dog to decide to follow her all the way home—and stay at our door.
Despite living in a house that barely had space for a dog her size (she was quite large), having two young children aged four and five, taking care of a sick husband, and living on a street that flooded badly every time it rained, my mom still decided to adopt that poor dog.
And that dog became my very first rescued mixed-breed pet. Her name was Laika. She was adopted when she was around three years old and lived a long life with us—passing away at the age of about 17.
Watching my mom adopt that worn-out dog and transform her through love and care until she became strong and beautiful taught me something profound: we have the power to change lives – human and non-human – and it feels incredibly good to do so.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of Laika with me. They’re all in the photo albums at my mom’s home in Brazil.
Pituca
(Pituca, our 2nd rescued mixed-breed dog – the first baby)
When I was a teenager and we moved to a bigger house, my mom decided it was time to adopt another dog “to protect the house.” She started asking around to see if anyone knew of a dog that needed a home.
Soon enough, we heard about a dog who had given birth to a litter of puppies in a square in a nearby neighborhood. She was still living there with her babies, under the care of a kind community security guard.
This time, I went with my mom to adopt the dog. All the puppies were tiny and adorable! I picked the one that seemed to be the sweetest, but I felt so sorry for taking her away from her family. Her mom watched as I carried her off. It broke my heart. If I could, I would’ve adopted all of them.
Pituca was our little baby her entire life. We expected her to grow into a medium-sized dog since we’d heard her father was big, but she never grew much. Still, she did her job of protecting the house very well – she was always on watch, haha.
Pituca gave us the chance to experience what it’s like to raise a dog from a very young age. She gave us so much love! And because she was small, she was always on our laps or cuddled up with us on the couch. She was also super playful and loved stealing socks. Whenever a sock went missing, we knew exactly where to find it: on Pituca’s bed.
(Pituca loved to sleep on our lap)
Our little baby Pituca lived for around 13 years, but sadly, during her last two years, she suffered a lot from cancer. She had to go through several surgeries and treatments, and I’m sure it was all very painful for her.
She became quieter and more tired during that time, but she remained as sweet, curious, and loving as ever, right up until the very end.
Tobi
(Tobi, our 3rd rescued mixed-breed dog)
A few years later, my mom and my brother found Tobi with some children who were playing with him in a low-income community not too far from our neighborhood. My mom had decided that we should adopt a third dog to help protect the house, since Laika was already very old and Pituca was too small to scare off potential thieves.
Now, by reading this, you might imagine that we lived in a large, beautiful house in need of protection, but that was far from the case. It was just a regular house in a regular neighborhood. Still, my mom was always very afraid of burglary, especially because of the stories we often heard about break-ins.
Tobi was a street dog. His fur was filthy and tangled, he smelled bad, and he was crawling with fleas. My mom told the children she would adopt him. She gave them R$10,00 and brought him home in our 1967 yellow Beetle.
The first thing my mom did when they got home was give him a good shower. I remember being shocked at how confidently she handled this adult dog she had just met. I warned her to be careful, after all, he didn’t know her yet. But she calmly said that he could feel she was taking care of him, and that he wouldn’t hurt her.
She was right. Not only did he not hurt her, but he also opened his heart to all of us immediately. Tobi was very affectionate and needy; he wanted to be close to us all the time. He became like my shadow whenever I was home. Wherever I went, he would follow.
He lived with us for a good 14 or 15 years, and since he was already an adult when we adopted him, I believe he lived for a total of 18 years.
Tobi passed away due to a tooth infection that spread to his heart through his bloodstream. We first noticed something was wrong when he started coughing a lot. By the time we took him to the vet, it was too late. His heart couldn’t take it anymore and it stopped beating.
(Tobi resting his head on my feet on top of my husband’s feet – it was a cold winter day)
Lua
When Laika passed away, it left an empty space in our home. We had gotten used to having three dogs around, and we were open to adopting another one. But we didn’t even have to look — she was brought to us.
(Lua, our shy princess)
One day, a cousin of mine saw someone hitting an adult dog with a broom on a street near his house and rushed to rescue her. He took her in, but he couldn’t keep her when he moved back to his mom’s house, right next to our house.
Needless to say, we decided to adopt her. We simply opened the door that connected the two houses and called Lua to come. She came right away and became ours.❤️
She came to us with the name my cousin had given her: Lua. Lua is a very friendly dog, and she quickly became friends with Pituca and Tobi. But Lua has a different personality. While Tobi and Pituca were very playful, Lua has always been more serious – a bit like Laika – and also quite shy. She likes to stay close to us, quietly watching and enjoying to be petted every now and then. But if you look too deeply into her eyes… she’ll avoid your gaze, haha.
Lua also doesn’t like loud voices. I think she assumes we’re fighting. You see, we’re a loud family of three – my mom, my brother, and me – and our conversations often get louder as we get excited about whatever we’re discussing. When that happens, Lua starts barking at us, as if to say, “Stop fighting!”
We all freeze and look at her, and of course, she turns her head away, avoiding eye contact again. And if we dare raise our voices a second time? She barks again to scold us. 😆
Lua has been with us since I was 16 or 17 years old. I’m 34 now, so she’s been with us for about 17 years! Wow, I’m only realizing now how long it’s been. She’s an old lady now and can’t walk much anymore, but she’s still strong, healthy, sweet… and still making sure we don’t “fight”.
Neka
(Neka, the sweetest and most sensitive of all)
In 2019, it was finally my turn to decide to adopt a dog. Up until then, it had always been my mom’s idea. I first saw Neka when I went to open the door for one of my aunts, and she showed me a skinny dog watching us from a few feet away. She said the dog had been following her for about ten minutes.
The moment I saw her, it was love at first sight. I needed her. I grabbed some food and water, set it down on the sidewalk for her, and ran to ask my mom if I could adopt her. My mom said yes right away. I tried to get Neka to come inside, but she was too scared and ran off.
A few hours later, on my way to the bakery, I saw her again in the same area where she had first spotted my aunt. This time, she was following one of my neighbors, who was trying to get her to stop. I froze. I turned around and ran home to ask my mom to come with me by car so we could try to bring her home.
Yes, I could have just called my mom, but I didn’t have my phone. Of course things had to be harder. 😅
When we returned, she was nowhere to be found. It took a while, but eventually, we spotted her hiding behind the garbage bags next to a building. It was garbage collection day. I walked over and gently tied a piece of twine, which I had gotten from a fruit stand vendor, around her neck. First step: done!
But getting her to the car? Not so easy.
She didn’t want to move, and I was afraid to pick her up. You know how scared dogs might bite to protect themselves. I had to win her over slowly. Bit by bit, with food and water, I gained enough of her trust for her to walk a little with me. But she still wouldn’t get into the car.
So I told my mom to drive back home and I’d walk with her. But since loose dogs show up in our neighborhood from time to time because their owners let them loose sometimes for them to walk a little – which pisses me off – we were worried we might run into one. For that reason, my mom decided to drive beside us the whole way home to keep us safe.
My mom is the best mom in the world! ❤️
Neka’s rescue wasn’t easy, but once she stepped into our house, she began to feel safe and, soon enough, she opened her heart to us. And what a heart she has! She turned out to be the sweetest dog we’ve ever had. She’s incredibly gentle with us, always so delicate and kind.
She listens to us and obeys us 100%. She’s always watching us, checking if we approve of what she’s doing and making sure we’re okay. And when she looks at us, it feels like we’re being showered with love and adoration. It’s impossible not to melt under her gaze.
Let me tell you something curious: Neka doesn’t like my brother. Every time she sees him walk into the house, she barks at him angrily. I think it’s because he’s a loud guy, and that scares her. Maybe he reminds her of someone who was aggressive with her in the past.
But once he sits down and starts talking to her, she slowly begins to accept him. Sometimes they even seem like friends. The problem is, the next day it’s the same all over again. And the day after that, and the next…
I always tell my brother it’s his fault. He doesn’t try hard enough to win her heart. He never plays with her or even pets her. And he always walks in yelling “Mom!”, which scares poor Neka every single time. I guess there’s no fixing their rocky relationship — it’s just how it is! 😂
Kika
(Kika, the latest addition to our family)
In 2020, already married and living with my husband in a house literally next to my mom’s and brother’s houses, I had the chance to change the life of another doggy: Kika.
One morning, as I was hanging the laundry in the yard, I overheard some neighbors talking about a poor dog that had been on our street since the night before. Someone mentioned seeing a man stop his car there with the dog inside and then drive off leaving her behind. Yes, she had clearly been abandoned.
I hadn’t seen her yet, but just hearing that broke my heart. When I opened the door and saw her, it was love at first sight again! Haha. I knew I wanted her.
Was it easy to get her into the house this time? Unfortunately, no… haha.
After many failed attempts to make her come inside with food and water, I asked my brother for help. And he – with zero drama – just picked her up in his arms and brought her inside in a matter of seconds. That was it. Right then and there, she became Kika, our 6th baby.
Kika is a little rascal. She’s super playful and adventurous. She barks at anything that moves on the street or in the neighbors’ houses, and her bark is very annoying. When she gets too noisy, we usually have to bring her inside and close the doors.
She doesn’t know how to go on walks properly either. She pulls so much that she ends up breathless. And she once gave us the biggest scare: she jumped from our second-floor balcony straight to the street! Yes, that’s true. But she landed on her feet and didn’t break a single bone. If we hadn’t caught it on camera, I wouldn’t have believed it myself.
When Kika is sleepy, she always comes looking for us. She wants to be held and loves being showered with kisses and strokes. She’s our little rascal love.
I recently read an article on a government website (click here to check it out) that there are around 30 million abandoned pets in Brazil. Thirty million!
Just thinking about so many babies—just like my own—suffering on the streets of our country because they’re mixed-breed breaks my heart.
Many others have been rescued and now live in cramped shelters, waiting for someone to choose them as part of their family. Some spend years – if not their entire lives – in these shelters. It’s incredibly sad.
At the same time, purebred dogs continue to be extremely popular in Brazil. People often choose to pay large sums of money to breeders for purebred puppies, while countless sweet, abandoned pets wait as if they were invisible, hoping for someone to see them with love and decide to adopt them.
I believe many people who buy purebred pets don’t really realize the consequences of their choice. It’s only because there are buyers willing to pay high prices that breeders continue exploiting animals. How many times have you seen news reports about breeding kennels raided by the police for animal abuse? I’ve seen it far too many times.
Yes, purebred pets can be absolutely beautiful! But do you really need to pay someone to “create” a purebred for you, when there are millions of equally cute, sweet, intelligent, and loving pets waiting for your love in shelters or on the streets? I don’t think so.
Open your heart to a mixed-breed, and you’ll be filled with love, showered with gratitude, and experience the incredible joy of knowing you’re making a real difference in this world.
With love,
Eliana Capiotto
Você já viu o meu penúltimo artigo sobre a indústria da beleza? Não? Então clica aqui e vem praticar o seu inglês mais um pouco com ele. 😉