My first dog and friend When I was a kid I had three dogs and two cats. All of them were rescued from the street, my family never bought an animal. My house was always full of hair, marks on the floor and pets all around. And joy. There is a sweet picture of my mother still pregnant, carrying a puppy. That puppy was my first dog and friend, Vicente. He lived a long life and died at the age of 15. I cried like a week when he passed away. Vicente was a huge but cute dog. A "german shepherd" with a big mouth, heavy chest and strong feet, but with the sweetest nature. He loved to play with kids and puppies, sleep on the bed, and going for walking. He had a lot of cubs, sometimes with our own female dog and sometimes not. All the puppies are still living with friends and neighbours. Our dog was kind of hero in my town. One day, a little girl and her family were having a good time on the river coast . Apparently the girl got curious about something and got separated from her parents. A man saw her alone and tried to take her away, but Vicente, who was there, jumped on him and bit his arm. The man escaped, and the dog protected the girl until her parents were there. The people of my town still remember that episode. After that, the little girl - a teenager on this days - used to visit Vicente and they played together for hours. She owns a son of our dog, and she loves him very much. I think that our dog was a beautiful part of my childhood, and I hope that all the kids know what having a pet feels like.