Three years have passed since we welcomed that little white furry cute Maltese Puppy in our lives.

How did we decide to have a Maltese ? My kids insisted on picking one, because they had memories of their grandma's adorable Maltese that had the whole family enslaved. I believe we'd make the same choice over and over again.

Hardly noticeable inside a plastic container, I saw one of the cutest "babies" I had ever seen in my life. Fearless and social, the little newcomer seemed determined to impose his character on us instead of being submissive and intimidated. I must admit though, that potty-training our Maltese was not as easy as I thought, mainly because kids and I failed to follow a certain pattern and stick to it. But all the fuss of cleaning and disinfecting the house over and over again didn't make me love our little dog less. How could I?

Although the vet had stressed that we should avoid feeding him with our leftovers, and stick with a dietary formula he recommended, we soon realized that Ozi â€â€Å" our furry treasure- had his very own preferences and also his way to show them to us.

We discovered that there were certain dog-food brands Ozi would rather leave untouched in his plate, while his enthusiasm was easily reaching the edge of addiction to others, and in particular certain flavors, not just any type. We even tried the homemade recipes option for him, but it was not always easy to put the time necessary, especially on heavy-schedule days.

Peeing around quite often didn't make Ozi the tidiest Maltese Puppy in the world, but nobody can accuse him for not enjoying to be bathed and cleaned and pampered. Unlike most human-toddlers, Ozi loved his bath-time and ran to the bathroom waiting to be taken care of and sometimes when he grew up, he even brought his towel to show us that he'd rather have some fun in the tub.

During the months we stayed at my mother's Ozi, kids and I experienced a lot of hardships we'll never forget. Grandma was very strict on her terms and one of them we all should comply with, was NEVER TO LET OZI INSIDE. So, our spoiled little doggy-prince had to settle for a wire-fenced space on the concrete basement, which was open to countryside’s nature, with the hen practicing their monotonous tones all day, wild cats passing by and eating most of his dog food, birds stealing sips of his water, and soon a long chain preventing him from violating the fence’s weak niches.

Kids and I couldn’t stand this situation, so we made a secret oath, to take him upstairs with us every night, and I was getting up early at 6am every morning, to place Ozi back to his chain and fenced space before grandpa was there working in the garden.

For months Ozi was spending the nights with us, and the mornings in his ugly prison.

One day, as we arrived home, we noticed Ozi's absence. Our suspicion that grandma had found out about our conspiracy fell flat on the ground. She had no idea. Grandpa hadn’t seen him either. We never found out how our little prince had managed to escape from his prison, breaking his chain and violating the fence. Nor could we imagine a senario of him jumping over. But he had set himself free.

Our quest had just started. With eyes full of tears, kids and I scanned the area, calling him, practicing our eyes to spot a white fur-ball, and trying to convince ourselves that he was OK and would soon be back. Thanks to a very kind old lady, who was sitting at her balcony, having her female Terrier with her, we got the information that Ozi, in the form of a modern Doggish "Don Juan" version, had repeatedly passed under her balcony wooing her dog, and also promising passionate moments to other female dogs of the neighborhood. Late that afternoon, the fugitive was back -not very enthusiastic with the idea of staying chained in his place again- so we asked Grandma's permission to keep him upstairs for a few days.

Ozi has taught us the value of innocent unconditional love, the kind of silent acceptance. His presence in our lives has been very fulfilling. I often see in him an "emotions' sponge". He absorbs negativity from around us and lets only positive feelings float in the air.

Now that Ozi has grown up, we can't imagine our day without him. He has a unique way to wake up the kids jumping on their beds, licking their hands and crawling under their bedcovers.