When we become parents is the moment we understand exactly what unconditional love means. It is a kind of love that comes from the gut and is difficult to explain. Although this type of love does not only occur between parents and children, it can also occur in interspecies, such as the story of Hachiko, a dog who loved his owner above all things.
It is a true story so tender that it has been brought to the screen with the movie “Always by your side”. An example that shows unconditional love as everyone should know. You may already know this story because it is very popular, but if not, you need to keep reading because it will make your heart flutter.
Hachiko: the loyal dog
The film tells the story of a university professor who adopts an abandoned dog and a deep friendship develops between them… where unconditional love and fidelity become the main story of their lives. But the story breaks anyone’s heart…
Every day, the dog would meet his master at the Shibuya railway station in Tokyo. When he returned from work, this man found his dog waiting for him so they could go home together.
One day, the teacher never came back to the station because he died. But the dog kept waiting for him every day for the rest of his life. Until his own death came in the spring of 1934.
The dog never left the place, faithfully waiting for his master to return to his side one day. It is a wonderful display of interspecies loyalty and unconditional love. The locals fed him and kept him company because they knew his owner would never be by his side again.
The movie
The original version of the film is called: “Hachi: a Dog’s Tale” and its script was written by Stephen P. Lindsey. The film that shows us this beautiful story was directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Richard Gere.
In the case of the interpretation of the dog, it was recreated by three specimens of the Akita breed, showing each different stage of Hachiko’s life, until his old age when, he had not yet stopped waiting for his master, but death came to him. .
The film had very good reviews since it is undoubtedly a great film where that unconditional love is felt in an integral way.
What it teaches us about unconditional love
It is a way of surrendering your pet out of unconditional love to its master… a person who also loved him very much but who, due to the arrival of death, could not be with his dog again, nor say goodbye to him.
When the animal accompanies you every morning and waits for you when you return, it is a clear sign of dedication. Hachiko was an abandoned dog that shows his total gratitude towards a person who picked him up from the street and gave him all his love while he was alive.
The affective bond in any species, happens from loyalty, mutual admiration, affection and dedication without asking for anything in return. Friends are the people that we, the people, choose. But this love also occurs in the family, working the link between parents, children and relatives.
This will make it so that even when we are not present due to the circumstances of life, others will remember us and we will continue to be alive in their hearts… that they feel towards us that same unconditional love that existed while life united us.
Furthermore, Hachiko’s story also reminds us that animals, in this case dogs, also feel intense emotions. It is a great movie to watch as a family and to work on the value of care and love towards pets.
Dogs are also part of our family, as well as any pet we have. From the moment they enter the house and we accept them as one more member, we must be consistent with that decision and maintain responsibility towards their physical and emotional well-being… because they also feel and suffer, they are living beings with a lot of love to give away!