Not so long ago, our beloved Marwík tragically passed away, and I wrote about him on the blog. We thought about him every day and just couldn’t come to terms with the loss. It was a truly sad time, and I didn’t want another dog right away. I told myself I would wait three, maybe four months. I would find some newborn puppies, wait until they were ready to leave their mother—and then the time would be right.
But people make plans and fate changes them. And in the end, everything turned out completely differently.
When Your Daughter Puts Money on the Table
We keep our horses at our friend Verča’s place in Hostěnice, so we go there regularly. One day during the week, my youngest daughter Lili called me together with Peťa. She was crying on the phone, and I had no idea what was going on. She told me she desperately wanted a “doggie”—simply a dog. She was really upset about it.
That afternoon, she came to me holding some money she had taken from somewhere in her room. She put it on the table in front of me and said: “Daddy, doggie.”
That was the first impulse that struck me right in the heart.
Coincidence or Fate?
The very next day, we had a training session at Verča’s ranch—Leia rides our mare Frostynka. And in passing, Verča mentioned that she had seen on Facebook that day that her friend Inka, who owns our Marwík’s father—a dog named Dandy—had a new litter of puppies, with just two remaining.
One was named Bernie, a white-and-black puppy, and the other was Bronko—white and brown. Unfortunately, Bernie had already been reserved, but Bronko was still available.
That evening, I calmly looked through the photos and videos at home. And Bronko, the white-and-brown boy, immediately caught my attention. Verča also told me that Bronko had originally been chosen for a friend who wanted him for dog shows—apparently, he was one of the best puppies in the entire litter. But for some reason, her friend ultimately couldn’t take him, so Inka offered him to someone else.
I didn’t hesitate. I immediately wrote to Inka that we wanted to reserve Bronko and would come on Saturday.
The Journey Beyond Ostrava
Inka lives beyond Ostrava, near the Polish border—roughly a two-hour drive from Rousínov. Before we arrived, she wrote to ask whether we wanted to see Dandy, Marwík’s father. She cautiously asked whether she should hide him instead so that we wouldn’t feel sad. I told her definitely not—we wanted to see him because he was Marwík’s father, and meeting him would be a beautiful memory for us.
We drove there without stopping. And as soon as we arrived, it was Dandy himself who greeted us in the kennel. Inka didn’t even have to tell me who he was—I recognized him immediately. A beautiful dog, essentially an older version of our Marwík, only white and brown. Marwell had inherited his black coloring from his grandfather on the side of his mother, Inna, who is still at Verča’s ranch.
By the way, we discovered that Inna’s father can jump onto a horse and probably ride it too.
Love at First Sight
Inka showed us the outdoor pen where the mother was with her last two puppies. Bernie, who had already been reserved, and our Bronko.
Then she took him inside, where she had prepared a playpen in a room. The girls climbed in with him, and he immediately pounced on them. He licked them, jumped all over them, played—and was absolutely delighted. We spent about an hour there cuddling and playing with him while also sorting out the paperwork.
I think we all fell in love with him in the very first second.
The Journey Home (and the Chewed Gear Lever)
We headed home, and of course Bronko immediately began chewing everything in the car that he could get his teeth into. He didn’t even spare the automatic gear lever—so now we have a permanent reminder of his first car ride.
We stopped along the way so that he could eat, drink, and pee, and then we continued home. Bronko was thrilled by his new surroundings—he sniffed everything, explored, and was beside himself with excitement. He truly has plenty of freedom here: a large house, a large garden, and he can go back and forth whenever he likes.
Surprisingly Quick to Learn
What really surprised me was that I started taking him out into the garden on his very first day and teaching him the command to pee. And I succeeded within the first twenty-four hours. Whenever we go outside, I say “pee,” and he responds. We have no accidents at home at all—he doesn’t pee or poop indoors; that only happened on the very first day when we brought him home. Then we cleared things up, and he learned to use the pet door to go outside. At night, the doors to the veranda are left slightly open so that he can get into the garden by himself from either side of the house. He handles it perfectly.
Australian Shepherds are known for their above-average intelligence—they regularly rank very highly on various lists of the smartest dog breeds. So it is no surprise that Bronko understood the basic household rules almost immediately.
Marwík’s Treasures
A funny episode from the first few days: Marwell had buried bones around the yard and the house, which of course we knew nothing about. We suspected that he was carrying things around, but we had no idea exactly where he was putting them. Bronko solved that beautifully—he used his nose to dig up absolutely everything and gradually brought it all back. So now at least we know where Marwík had hidden everything.
It is actually a lovely symbol—as if Marwík were still sending us greetings through Bronko.
Socialization at the Ranch
Because we go to Verča’s ranch almost every day, or at least several times a week, it was absolutely crucial for Bronko to become friends with the dogs there—Inna and Miška. Inna is Marwík and Miška’s mother, and Miška is actually Marwík’s sister. If they didn’t get along, we would have to keep them separated every time, and we didn’t want that.
We told ourselves we would simply take the risk.
When we arrived at the ranch, both girls naturally started barking right away. I gradually brought Bronko up to the fence, gave them treats, and things began to improve. Inna stopped making a fuss about him fairly quickly. Miška kept barking, but it was more like whining—as if she wanted to play but still wasn’t sure what she actually wanted—ah, a typical woman 🙂.
I let Bronko pee all over the ranch so that the girls would have his scent there. I showed him the horses—I picked him up, and he sniffed Frostynka, Bizonka, Bullerka, and Bribonek. He stared at the horses wide-eyed because he had probably never seen any before in his life.
At Marwík’s Grave
Then Verča suggested that we take all the dogs for a walk because I wanted to go to Marwík’s grave and lay some flowers there. We put on their leashes and set off.
Within two hundred meters, Inna no longer cared at all, and Miška was whining because she wanted to play. We let them sniff one another, and in the end, they wanted to play and were absolutely wonderful together.
I brought Bronko to the grave, we put down the flowers, and he curiously sniffed everything. I told Marwík that we had a new dog now, and I showed Bronko to him.
On the way back, Bronko and Miška were already sniffing and jumping all over each other. Miška is a bit of a loose cannon, so I was careful—after all, he is still tiny. But they played together, and Miška is delighted with him, and he is delighted with her too. The first round of socialization went much better than we expected. We’ll go there another two or three times, and it will be great. Bronko will need a few months to grow stronger so that he can keep up with her physically, but the foundation has been laid beautifully.
A Water Lover Like Marwík
And one more wonderful thing—Bronko loves water, just like Marwell did. When the girls had filled the bathtub in the bathroom, he immediately started jumping around and going crazy. He simply had to get into the bathtub with them. And when I spilled something on the tiled floor today, he immediately rolled around in it.
After all, this is nothing unusual for Australian Shepherds. Although they are primarily herding dogs, many of them have a very close affinity for water. Perhaps it is because they originally worked on vast American ranches, where they naturally encountered streams and rivers.
A Little-Known Fact About Australian Shepherds
Many people think that the Australian Shepherd comes from Australia—but the opposite is true. The breed was developed in the western United States around the turn of the 20th century. It probably acquired the name “Australian” because of Basque shepherds who reached America via Australia and brought their herding dogs with them.
Bronko has red merle coloring—which means that he has reddish-brown patches on a beige to white background. This color is one of the Australian Shepherd’s four basic colors (alongside blue merle, black tricolor, and red tricolor), and it is truly beautiful. Australian Shepherds can also have eyes of different colors—blue, brown, amber, or even one eye of each color, which is rare in other breeds.
Another important point worth mentioning is that care must be taken not to put too much strain on the joints of Australian Shepherd puppies. No long walks or jumping until they are fully grown. That is why we are not taking Bronko on any big trips yet, but we take him everywhere with us—to preschool, the ranch, and in the car—so that he can experience as many new situations, people, and animals as possible. Proper socialization during the first few months of life is absolutely essential for this breed.
Lenka’s Photos and Videos
That evening, Lenka recorded a beautiful video of herself playing with Bronko, took photos and videos of him, and sent them to me on WhatsApp. I had to laugh because she captured his typical expression—that curious look he gives you as if he is wondering what on earth you are doing and whether he should help you with it.
Life with Him Is Going to Be Wonderful
Bronko has only been with us for a few days, but it feels as though he has always been here. We all fell in love with him immediately—the whole family, the girls, the dogs at the ranch, and even the horses. He is smart, curious, loves water, and is incredibly affectionate, and he has to be everywhere with us.
I know he will never replace Marwík—and we don’t want him to. But I feel that Bronko came to us at exactly the moment when we needed him. Sometimes fate simply knows better than we do when the time is right.
And that chewed gear lever? It will remind me every time I get into one of our cars.
