Before I opened the door to introduce him to our dogs I told him that the girls are not necessarily the nicest pups around and that they might bark the sh*** out of him, won’t walk if anyone other than me holds the leash and might snap if he tries to touch them. “That’s alright! I love dogs” and I fake smiled thinking “yeah… wait till you see them!” I let the dogs out and they ran towards that guy who was sitting on the floor, still smoking his cigarette and started giving him KISSES. What?! He casually took one of the leashes and before I had the chance to say something he hooked it to grumpy Kitana’s harness and started walking with her. Yes, she actually walked with him. All the way. 

My sister and I were almost in shock how well that went so we asked him to come back the next day and join us on a walk again.

He came… almost one hour late. Again, his Vespa broke down but also again, the girls showered him with kisses and followed him on our walk. A few days in, he was still late every single time (the excuses were either his Vespa had a flat tire or he didn’t hear his alarm) but despite that he was able to take them ALL for a walk to the beach and arrive at ours without losing one of them. Despite his questionable sense of punctuality, he was hired! The dogs adored Zoli and that was the most important thing. Grumpy Kitana started waiting in front of the door, waiting for the noise of a Vespa exhaust every morning. But she wasn’t alone. The other girls sat with her and started waggling their entire body once the sound came closer and closer.

Ever since Zoli became not only the Girls best friend but also our friend. He is there whenever the dogs or we need him. Him and his wife Bianca helped us with so many rescue missions in the middle of the night, he searched for Dobby for 9 days from morning to evening, he sat by Kitana’s side the entire night when she was fighting for her life in the clinic, we cried together over Lilo’s sudden death, he rushed Kiki to the clinic when she ate poison and he was the last person Kiara was waiting for before her little heart stopped beating. 

Besides walking my girls at home, Zoli also has a full time job in the puppy house, is our dog trainer and trains each dog individual. He does leash training, trains them to sit them on the bike, basic commands and whatever they are struggling with.

We are so lucky that this dread locked guy who eventually got himself an alarm clock came into not only the dogs but our lives.