{"id":471,"date":"2026-06-25T12:53:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T12:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/?page_id=471"},"modified":"2026-06-25T12:53:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T12:53:32","slug":"song-of-the-dog","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/?page_id=471","title":{"rendered":"SONG OF THE DOG"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am big, fluffy, kind \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

born from a mix of breeds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I haven’t known tenderness in a long time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve met only sticks and stones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once, a small child came \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

with kind eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I offered my back for a gentle touch \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and he kicked me in the head with his foot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is wrong with you people? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where does so much cruelty come from? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What bad thing did I, a dog, ever do? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am a soul of God too! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At home, eight of my children sit hungry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their father \u2014 a mutt like me \u2014 was killed in the river by some boys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am a mother. I am alive. I am tender. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frozen. Not having eaten for so long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My puppies \u2014 half-dead \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

living in a cold house \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

wait for their mother in an abandoned basement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s damp there. And so frightening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I believe that somewhere in this city \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

there is one kind Soul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will meet her by chance \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

one frosty morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She will buy a whole pile of sausages, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

feed me, pet me, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and say: \u00abCome on, dear \u2014 let’s go feed your children!\u00bb <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I woke up one gentle morning \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

to the first rays of sun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I opened my eyes. I sniffed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All eight of my fluffy babies \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

lying beside me \u2014 curled up and warm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kind Soul had come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stroked my face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looked into my eyes with tenderness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Held me tight in her embrace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And whispered into my ear: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abGood morning, sweetheart.\u00bb <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Tashkent Region, January 2025*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am big, fluffy, kind \u2014  born from a mix of breeds.  I haven’t known tenderness in a long time.  I’ve met only sticks and stones.  Once, a small child came \u2014  with kind eyes.  I offered my back for a gentle touch \u2014  and he kicked me in the head with his foot.  What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-471","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":472,"href":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/471\/revisions\/472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/daviddolganov.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}