Pia Bernardino & Bruno, Bini, and Bogo

Who is in the photo at right?

I am Pia Bernardino. I am a blogger working on my very first novel, I love to read books and watch movies what better way than to have a blog that contains my insights on the latest books or movies I’ve read or seen. In addition, it is always awesome to connect with fellow bloggers like yourself so I’m always game in doing cross blogs.

My husband Bong and I have three dogs:

Bruno, an Ori Pei (male)

Bini, [in the photo with me at right] a Corgi mix (female)

Bogo, [in the photo with Bong, below left] Chihuahua (male)

They are all 5 years old.

What's the occasion for Coffee with a Canine?

All five of us go on a Saturday walk in the Park and then have a coffee and donut at Starbucks.

What's brewing?

Skinny Caramel Latte.

Any treat for you and your dogs on this occasion?

Cheese Danish for me and a small piece of Danish for them.

How were you and your dogs united?

Here’s the entire story:

Imagine a cute, innocent and tiny 5-year-old girl (my mom said I was cute). Back then, my bestfriend was Bernice and as what friends did, we visited each other. On a day that I would always remember as the day a monstrous beast attacked me, believe me something close to that happened. At Bernice's home a large and ferociously terrifying dog ran toward me. The dog was growling as it approached its next meal - me. I was trembling and felt like no one was there to help, so I ran; since their condo unit was quite small, I ran in circles. The dog caught the edge of my skirt and while biting he continued to growl. At that point, I was in shock and above all was I was traumatized.

If you are wondering what dog attacked me, it was a pekingese. Yes, I am aware of their size and cuteness factor now, but, if you were as tiny as me when I was 5, you too would identify with my fear.

Because of that, I grew up believing that all dogs were my enemy. Bong on the other hand loves dogs, in fact he grew up in a home with fifteen dogs and in Jersey, he had a white samoyed, Blanchie, who said goodbye to him and the world at 12. I was thankful that Bong never pushed the issue about me and dogs.

My fear prevailed until we moved to Seattle and something changed within me, initially maybe it was curiosity. One day, I asked Bong if we could visit the pet store nearby. There was this fawn colored tiny little girl (like I once was) that caught my attention, she was so cute that right then and there I named her Bini. To prove that I would love, care for and be good to the dog and because Bong was so patient with me, we went to the store every day for two weeks and spent at least two hours playing with Bini. Because of our frequent visits and aside from getting to know the owners, Bong noticed this wrinkly designer breed, and another dog caught our hearts, he was barely a pound and was being bullied by his sister/litter mate.

On September 1, 2006, our lives changed - we brought Bini, Bruno (the wrinkly masculine dog) and Bogo (our mini Chihuahua) home. By the way, Bini is not tiny anymore; let's put it this way-- she now waddles. They are now part of our family. My trauma transformed into love for our three loyal dogs.

How did your dogs get their names? Any aliases?

Hubby chose the name Bruno as it is such a good fit for him, very masculine (well, just don’t relate it to the movie with Sasha Cohen Baron).

I named Bini (bini) which means lady in Tagalog.

We both named Bogo (buy one, get one).

Cat, rabbit, postman...?

Anyone!

Is there a dog in your novel-in-progress?

There is still a long way to go with my novel; I don’t think that on my very first one there will be.

Tennis ball, squeaky-toy, stick...?

Yes to all. All three dogs love toys. Bogo loves whatever Bruno has.

Where is your dogs' favorite place for an outing?

We just like walking in the park or on a trail nearby. Actually, all three love to help us as we do our landscaping work on our backyard.

If your dogs could change one thing about you, what would it be?

Maybe Bogo would tell me to stop calling him my Princess because he is a boy (he’s 3 lbs!)

What is each dog's proudest moment? Most embarrassing?

For Bruno, it was when he was barely 1 and was still a very tiny. We lived on the second floor and Bong and I were downstairs calling on Bruno who was on at the very top of the steps. At first he was apprehensive to go down, but after several calls he braved the stairs. When Bruno sets him mind on something, he does it.

Visit Pia Bernardino's "So Many Books, Here's Mine" blog.

--Marshal Zeringue