larisa’s tale
Mine is probably the most complex and the longest because I’ve been here for quite some time. However, it can really be summarised in a few short paragraphs, which I will certainly try to do. This is, after all, a blog about dogs, so telling a story about a human beats the purpose of it, right? Well, not really. Because behind each dog there is usually a human or two. And our lives are intertwined more than we humans can actually grasp.
My love for dogs started in my early childhood. My first dog was a cocker spaniel called Lola. She came to us when I was in my early teens and lived to be twelve years old and died of pyometra. That was a very long time ago and the vet care where we lived at the time was on a very low level. After several months we welcomed Pikula, a boxer. Piki had all the problems a brachycephalic dog can have and tragically died at a bit shy of three years old due to heat stroke. His death was the most tragic and traumatising event in my early life. I started suffering from depression, anxiety and panic attacks and it took me two years of medication and therapy to get better. At the time, I did not even know what caused Pikula’s death. The vet I took him to was also clueless and he did not provide the right treatment and care. If we knew what was going on, he may have lived. I carried guilt with me for many many years.
I decided I would never ever have another dog and went on with that decision for over 25 years.
Then something changed and I started missing a dog at home. And I started looking for one. And I found Lola. The breeder named her Lola, and I felt that was a sign my old Lola is sending me from heavens. And this Lola was a Frenchie, so I thought Piki has forgiven me and I am getting a second chance. It all clicked together and in a few weeks she was home. I still remember the first night we cuddled together in my bed. I was whole again. How could I have ever deprived myself of that feeling?
But, as usual, along the good came the bad too. Lola had a very bumpy start and I was determined to do everything in my power to change the course of events this time. I thought that the vet care progressed so much since the time I lost Lola and Piki and that, if something goes wrong, the vets and the science and technology will have my back. Right…. After a couple of vet visits it became evident that science and technology may have gone far, but vet’s minds and spirits certainly did not follow. Three years later, we welcomed Lili, my mirror soul. In the course of seven years since I got Lola the frenchie, I tried 8 vet clinics in Hungary, one in Slovenia and one in Croatia. My dogs were handled by approximately 15 vets and countless vet technicians. Out of all those, there are actually only two people I would willingly go back to. One of them is our current conventional vet and the other one is a TCVM acupuncturist. Out of those 15 vets, 5 treated me as a partner in the care of my dogs and actually listened to what I had to say. All the rest treated me like an ignorant half wit who is plainly putting her dogs in danger and not having their best interests in mind.
I felt desperately alone in my efforts to keep my dogs healthy. I spent countless hours researching the internet and trying to learn and understand hows and whys. I spent days in the kitchen cooking dog food, supplementing, making own treats, obsessing over AAFCO standards. I spent thousands of euros on food and supplements, toys and supplies that eventually proved useless and went to trash. I took courses, I bought books, I googled stuff at 3 a.m. I thought, I analysed, I tracked, I eliminated, I added, I subtracted, I hoped, I despaired, I cried, I prayed, I cursed…. But I never gave up. There were wins, there were losses, some things became clear, some did not. I paid a huge price in my energy, mental health and wellbeing, trying to juggle a full time job, two dogs, an elderly parent, two houses two gardens, all the shopping, cooking and cleaning all by myself. After seven years of all that, I was mentally and emotionally half dead, overweight, menopausal, and depressed. I pushed through the chores from early morning to late night and then forward, trying to sleep through hot flashes or provide my support if someone was restless, hurting, or had to poop or puke during the night. There was no life, only suffering. Small wins, good paid job, nice house, good car, all the beauty of life and nature around me went unnoticed. I was focused only on problems and losses, desperately trying to reach a point where everybody will be healthy and I will be at peace and happy.
Until I could not go on any longer. I realised that I am losing the battle with time. No matter how well I planned, and how much I worked, I could never achieve what I planned to achieve. I was stuck in a well paid corporate job in a company with toxic culture, doing work that had no meaning and dealing with people I did not like. I realised that I am getting older and that there is no time to waste on things that are meaningless to me. I was desperately stuck and did not know how to get out of the mess I created for myself. Sometime in the end of 2024 I listened to Brendon Burchard on Audible.com reading his book Hight Performance Habits. I started listening and it changed my life.
I enrolled in GrowthDay, Brendon’s personal development app and community in January 2025. I quit my toxic job in April 2025 and started consulting business. In February 2026 I enrolled in Brendon’s High Performance Challenge program, got a personal life coach and in as little as two weeks a veil lifted. I clearly realised, among other things, that I am wasting my time doing work I am not passionate about and decided that I will start to work on something that has more meaning for me. And what was my passion and my life purpose? It was to serve and to advocate for the dogs and their guardians. That lead me to starting this web site and enrolling in the Holistic Pet Health Coach training program in May 2026.
And here I am: I want to share my story of how I care about my dogs and myself. I want to help other pet parents who are going through the same challenges I went through. I want to change the world, one anxious, worried and sleep deprived pet parent at a time.