Chcę opowiedzieć o moim Stefanku, psie którego adoptowałam 4 lata temu.

I want to tell you about Stefanek – the dog I adopted four years ago.

He’s my fourth dog.

My first was a little female puppy I found in a park. I took her home… and later found out another puppy from the same litter had been left in the same spot the very next day.

She stayed with me for 17 years.

Adopting a dog was a conscious decision for me.

Just as conscious was my choice to adopt an adult dog, not a puppy.

When Stefanek came into my life, he was about three years old.

I didn’t want to buy a dog.

I didn’t want a purebred.

I love mixed-breed dogs – for their mystery, their unpredictability.

You never quite know what traits they’ll have.

They’re like a beautiful riddle.

The hardest part about adoption?

Choosing which dog to give a second chance.

I had planned on a small, shaggy female.

And then I saw Stefanek.

Not small. Not shaggy. And… a boy.

But it was love at first sight – at least from my side.

One walk, and I knew.

He was the one.

A high-energy, ADHD dog who needed constant movement and mental stimulation.

He was intelligent, eager to learn, and hungry for the world.

The first three nights were rough.

He cried. Ran around the apartment. Searched for a way out.

He knocked flower pots off the windowsill.

But things slowly got better.

A month in, I decided to let him off-leash for the first time.

I’ll never forget that moment for the rest of my life.

This dog, bursting with stored-up energy, ran and ran for ten minutes straight.

He disappeared from sight.

Didn’t come back.

And I cried – terrified I had lost him.

But he came back.

Tired. Happy. Free.

And I was happy too – because he came back to me.

I love him for his brilliance. For his boundless energy.

I love that I can take him anywhere – to cafes, to friends’ houses, on trips.

Nothing stresses him out – as long as we’re together.

He’s calm around aggressive dogs.

He breaks up dog fights.

He’s never aggressive, always wise.

I love him for all that.

And yes – for his ADHD, too.

Stefanek made me an advocate for adoption.

I now support multiple animal foundations.

I collect supplies from friends and donate them to shelters and rescues.

I want Stefanek by my side for as long as possible.

But when the day comes that he crosses the rainbow bridge…

After grieving, I will adopt again.

Because I may not be able to change the world for every dog in a shelter –

but I can change the world for one of them.

I adopted Stefanek in August 2012, when he was about 3 years old.

Today he’s around 7, and came from the Animalia Foundation for Animals in Poznań: www.fdz-animalia.pl

And he’s still changing my life, every single day.