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Bom, a white, strong, big and fluffy Samoyed dog was always around us. He arrived to our family as a present from my cousin’s fiancé to my super-non-dog-lover grandfather.  We are a big family, 7 kids my grandparents had and all of them live on a private settlement on the outsides of Sabinas Hidalgo (a town near Monterrey City), so yes we –all grandchildren- enjoyed Bom’s presence. The white fury animal became such an important part of the family, since he was always around us. Along the years, Bom learned who was the family and friends, and never tempted to attacked anyone, he had even learn the temperament of every member of the family, he knew how to play with the little ones or respect the elder ones. But among everyone who knew him and treated him well, he was profoundly loyal to one only person: My grandfather. We used to get jealous, me and my cousins, we couldn’t understand how everyday, at the end of the day, Bom would always escort every single one of us to our houses door but always went back to sleep at the outside of my grandparents house. We played with him, we fed him and we even stroked him, my grandpa didn’t, he barely looked at the dog. But until now, I realize Bom’s loyalty to my grandfather: Liberty was the key. My grandpa gave the dog a free life, not that of a pets one. Bom never had a collar with a plaque with his name on it and an address, my grandpa thought him the way home, he never had a dog bed, he was allow to chose a spot on the garden because my grandpa trusted him not to ruin the flowers, he never used a dog leash because he learned to enjoyed a hike and waited when he was asked to. The dog was part of a family, and he cared for every member, but must of all the dog seemed to know he was gifted with an owner who gave him freedom. Sometimes, the dog would disappear for a couple of days, and everyone went nuts about his disappearance but not my grandpa, “dogs are anything but fools” he said, and of course Bom always came back.  The day Bom passed away, my grandpa and all of us buried him on the backyard, and with profound sadness he expressed that he hadn’t lost a dog but his partner and grandchildren’s responsible friend. And I get it now, the bond between the Samoyed dog and my grandfather was based in trust, loyalty and freedom. He treated his dog as another living being and therefore they weren’t dog&owner, but partners.