Little Josh grew up healthy, occasionally gnawing shoes, watering lawns where dark green circles appeared first and turned to yellow afterwards. His intense interest in recumbent bushes made them nearly disappear (latest news: after two years of regeneration bushes are well, contrary to lawns). He dug two holes only but systematically deepened them in spite of being attracted by various toys to distract his attention. With great skill he removed all (!) crocus bulbs planted on the lawn (deep under the grass roots).

According to recommendations the dog could not run up and down the stairs there were plenty of around the house, it had to be carried by us. When one day I nearly lost my sight due to excessive effort Jasiek had to continue with the task on his own. There was nothing wrong with his eyes but he started having problems with his back instead. The 25-kilo dog began to move on his own then and was eagerly getting acquainted with bushes growing on the slope. Not only with bushes. Cat’s “visiting cards” I was not quick enough to remove on time started to disappear. Some brown chocolate appeared on Josh’s sharp teeth, but it smelt strange…

When we came back from holiday the dog turned out to be too big to spend time in his favourite place under the kitchen table. He could not come to turns with it for a while until he found a new place by the door.

And then there came that ghastly August. We did not sleep for nearly three weeks, we sat in turns watching drips, doctor M. used to come and take blood samples. I remember that the Olympic Games started then and by the end of them we already knew that Josh would live. He lost about five kilos but it did not interfere with the teeth replacement. He used to wear a special cover on his head for a long time, bumping into walls and our legs – we all had original bruises on them.

The dog had a good appetite and began to resemble a panda soon. Not necessarily due to its colour.

When in late autumn we met Holly and Poker (Josh’s brother) it was for the first time that we came upon the “show debut” notion. It did not sound more realistic to us than an offer to perform on the Sopot Festival. But since Ms Grażyna was planning to go and Ewelina and Jarek (the young people from the Kennel Club) were to go to Oświęcim via Rzeszów (going some two hundred kilometres out of their way) and be our guides, why not to take Josh then? You feel more comfortable if you have company.

An this is how it all began…