Geff & Esta
ph. Amedeo Abello
As a child, Geff had animals - gerbils, guinea pigs, a mouse or a goldfish,... which he loved but cared for little. Geff's relationship with Esta, a friendly black poodle, contradicts his friends' predictions.
On trial
“All my friends thought I couldn't handle a dog, that it would be a disaster. When I was a child, I was never allowed to have one for the same reason; and in fact, even when I had a mouse, it was my mother who took care of it...
One day, a friend of mine who I used to crash at went on holiday for a month. He had picked up Esta from a pet shop after walking past it every day, feeling sick to his stomach at the sight of this unhappy-looking little dog. He said, "I'm leaving Esta with you for a month. If, when I come back, you haven't looked after him properly, I'll take him back. Every day I sent videos, pictures to show how I was doing with Esta; I was taking care of him, I was walking him 36,000 times a day, he was spending all his time with me and you could clearly see that he was happy!”
Growing up together
“So for the last three years, Esta has been living with me. Sometimes I leave him with my mother - he adores my mother, he loves her more than me, that's for sure: he gains 3 kilos when he goes to her house - but I spend as much time as possible with him. From the start, having Esta has changed my rhythm and my life. I have adapted to him: I make sure I don't stay outside for too long when I'm not with him because even though he is very well behaved and kind, he hates being alone. I have become more careful, it has made me mature: I have the responsibility for a life! The first time I was afraid for my dog's life, I understood that I have no right to make a mistake.”
Responsible dreaming
“In fact, I dream about Esta all the time! I had the same dream for a long time: I'm going for a ride on my rollerblades and, when I turn around, I see that Esta is not following. As I start to look for him, I see a bunch of black poodles, exactly like him, everywhere: everyone has a black poodle. As I approach each one, I realise that it's not him - horrible. Finally, when I find him, I realise that something is wrong. Or the last time I dreamt of Esta, he was jumping into the water, from a cliff (he really doesn't like water; he would never do that). In the dream, I follow him and jump too because I'm worried but I see that everything is fine. And when I wake up, there he is!”
