“He’s able to make a bad day better and make a good one!” This is how her family sees our today’s protagonist, Lola (Málaga 2021). Lola arrived at a delicate time and helped people overcome a loss. Her friendliness and her way of being make up the essence of a character that has contributed to the personal growth of her inseparable Rocío Camacho (Higuera de Calatrava 1994).
With almost a million followers on Instagram alone, Rocío is a born entrepreneur who, as she says on that platform, “I am not everything you see here, but I do show what I am.” The ‘influencer’, in love with animals and, of course, with Lola, has also just founded her new wine brand, “Como Dios”.
Lola, Rocío… Welcome…
Thanks a lot! I love that the order, in this case, is Lola first and then me. We like.
Who are they when they are together?
Well look, we are a pack. My friends always say that it is the most beautiful dependent relationship they have ever seen, and I think it is a perfect description of what my life with Lola is like. I have always had animals, but although she is a dog, it is true that we have a similar connection to the one we would have if she were a person. It is very different from what I have had with the rest of the animals because, basically, we live together. If I make a plan with my friends, they know that we are a pack. If I go on trips, as long as work allows it, it comes with me. At home, she is the absolute protagonist, the most cared for, the most pampered… I am always me plus one in absolutely everything and a part that complements everything that I am.
Lola arrived at a difficult time for you… You were in mourning.
Totally true. Well, like I tell you, I’ve had animals my whole life. In fact, right now, I have three dogs, but only Lola lives with me, and she is the one I have as if she were my daughter. Pitu was my previous dog and he’s basically the one I grew up with. Lola arrived when she was still grieving for my deceased 15-year-old dog. Furthermore, the outcome was quite complicated because I lived in Madrid and I didn’t have her there… For a time I had to make a lot of trips and she, suddenly, developed cancer. My parents called me to see if we should operate on her or not and told me: ‘You are the owner of her, you decide’, so we opted to undergo one last operation.
They told us that it was difficult for him to survive because he was very old, but even so, the vet told me that there was a 5% chance that he would. I clung to that five percent, she entered the operating room and I remember that, when she left, the veterinarian told me that she had passed that surgery, she could be happy. That she still had to go through the postoperative period. It was in that postoperative period where she had a heart attack and she died. They were six very emotionally complicated months in which I remember repeating to my friends and family that I was never going to have a dog again. That feeling, over time, changed. It is logical, when you overcome a grief, in the end, you feel that you have more love to give. It’s like when you break up with a partner that, initially, you have that stage of anger, but then you open up to people again.
This was like that. While I was letting my friends know that I was thinking about having a dog again, suddenly, they showed up at my house with Lola wrapped in a pink blanket. That’s how it came. Since that moment we have never been separated. All of us who have had a pet, and are animal lovers, know and know what it is like to suffer the grief of an animal because, in the end, although there are people who try to downplay its importance, it is still a mourning.
How do you remember that first moment with Lola?
That was right after they put her in my arms with the pink blanket. When my friends left, I said to myself: ‘Wow, this is for life’, which, although she had it in her head, was already a reality. That night I tried to give her all the necessary care and have her super pampered on the edge of the bed, and, even though I tried to get her not to sleep with me, in the end, she ended up doing so. That night I didn’t sleep at all, and I remember that, the next day, I couldn’t separate myself from her.
Rocío… You have always had pets… Yako, Pitu, with whom you shared 15 years, and Lola… What has each one given you?
Well, I think that depends on the character of each animal. For example, Lola; I had never experienced what it was like to be able to travel and live a life beyond my house with a dog. I was used to my previous dogs being, as I say, more “pet-like.” Let me explain: You arrive home, they greet you, he is another member of the family, you take them down, you take them up to the house and that’s it. For me, Lola is another member of my own family and an extension of myself because I live with her and because she is super good at traveling. With Pitu, or Yako, she had more of a pet relationship. They weren’t as integrated into my life as Lola is.
Before we said that the worst part is in the loss… It can be understood that someone says ‘Enough. I don’t want to go through this again’…
Yes, totally. In the end, it is just another duel. I remember the first days when Yako, my first dog, died. They poisoned him. I was 11 years old and I couldn’t stop crying… Also, there were people who said ‘Poor girl… Don’t worry, they’ll give you another one.’ I didn’t see any logic in it and I felt that it was wrong. My father, who loves animals as much as I do, understood me and supported me at all times. With Pitu, I had a terrible time because of the feeling of guilt that he had, as I told you, for living it from a distance and because of the eternal doubt of having done, or not, enough. I have a very bitter memory of saying goodbye to him at that distance. In the end, in life, everything is stages and learning. If you can’t take the responsibility of sharing your life with an animal, you might as well not have it, right?”
You always say that you are inseparable… To what extent?
To the point that Lola has more spaces in my bed than my own boyfriend. For example, in the mornings. Although my partner is not a big early riser on the weekends, as soon as I see Lola’s legs, even if it’s seven in the morning, she wakes up everyone and nothing happens.
What annoys you most that you can’t do with her?
Well look, long trips. When I went to New York in September last year, or now that I’ve gone to the Philippines, I think I would love to do these kinds of trips with her. I think I would enjoy it very much, but at the same time, I am aware that an animal cannot spend so many hours on a plane. Then there is the issue of restaurants, which is also something that makes me angry. In Madrid, there is a great variety of restaurants and I think that more and more of them are open to bringing pets, but in other cities it is very difficult for me. It’s very annoying because you have to travel an entire city to be able to eat when you have an animal. But hey, other people’s points of view are also respectable, of course.
In terms of travel… What do you think should be improved in relation to animals?
I have always had small dogs, but, for example, I think what can be improved is the issue of large dogs. My heart breaks when I see a dog traveling in the hold of an airplane. How they put them in, how they get them out and the suffering to which they are subjected, away from their owners, which is the only place of safety they have. My dog ??is at the limit right now because with the carrier and everything he is eight kilos. It seems unfair to me because I believe that all dogs should go with their owners and, as long as they are polite and don’t give anyone problems, well, hey, why not?
Another pending issue is to allow them access to most museums, restaurants, shops… Have you been left without seeing or eating somewhere because of this problem?
Yes, many times without eating and, sometimes, without being able to enter shopping centers. I am very lucky with Lola because, since she is black, I often carry her in a bag that is also black and goes completely unnoticed. Many times I do it directly like this.
Traveling, I know you travel together although, Lola, on planes, goes incognito…
Rocío starts laughing remembering what she is going to say.
He goes incognito, yes, yes. When I was little, I was basically a ball of fur. It has black eyes, a black snout and there is absolutely nothing that stands out. If you don’t see her on a white background, you don’t realize she’s there. When she was a puppy, she was very bold and I had a bag of the same color that I carried her in and she was practically indistinguishable. I had to take a plane, I don’t remember if to Mallorca, Ibiza or Barcelona. At the airport they did not ask me for any documentation for the dog, something that surprised me. I told them “I’m traveling with a puppy, with an animal, a Pomeranian,” to which the girl tells me “okay.” I went with Lola’s documentation in hand, as always, so they could see that everything is in order, that the carrier complies with the measurements, etc. They didn’t tell me anything! and I thought the rules had changed.
I continue boarding and warn the flight attendants about the same thing, “hey, I’m going with a dog and they haven’t told me anything.” The same; They look at me strangely and tell me to keep going. Well, nothing, I pass my ticket and that’s it. It was when I was already sitting on the plane with the dog, that I opened the bag and you could even see the pink blanket that they gave her to me with, that they asked me why I hadn’t warned them, to which I told them, But I haven’t! stopped doing it!
It is very fun to imagine the image of that moment. Above all, the previous moments when Rocío tried to warn her and no one paid attention… What must they think she was referring to when she said that she had a dog in her bag?
In the end, they even took photos with her because, in addition, there were two stewardesses who were my followers.
You say that you have a healthy emotional dependence… How do you deal with it when you have to separate?
The first days were terrible. If we are separated for two or three days, nothing happens because she stays with my parents, I know they are tremendously happy when they have her. On the other hand, when it is a trip like this last one to the Philippines, in which I have been away for almost 20 days, I have a very bad time. When I said goodbye to her I did it with a tear on my face. The first days after separating are very strange. In that sense, as I said, I am lucky that my parents are animal lovers and are delighted to host her during those days. Then the problem is getting it back to me! They always say that she just asked for a transfer to stay with them but no, she is not going to pass. While I’m away from her, they send me photos of her, videos of her and we constantly make video calls, something that helps me cope with that separation.
Your secret place?
Our secret and favorite place is my parents’ country house. There are also Tini and Blanquita, who are the other two dogs we have, with whom Lola is tremendously happy playing in total freedom.
How well do you know each other?
Lola and me? To the maximum. For example, when I get up, she knows perfectly well if she has done something wrong and her way of asking me for forgiveness is hers. She puts her ears back, climbs on top of her and starts licking me. There I already know that she has done one of her own, she never fails! I know that when she does that it is because she has done something and her face is a true poem.
Rocío imitates the face that Lola makes like “Am I going to win her over?
Each dog has its character and, in the end, by spending so many days and hours together, you end up getting to know each other. It is unavoidable. She also knows me perfectly because, in the moments when I am down, and my friends who also have pets agree on this, she understands perfectly that I am wrong.
In the summer we had a complicated situation at home, I had a very bad time, and she didn’t leave me for a moment. She felt, and she told my parents, that she understands me and that she knows that inside I am bad, it is amazing. It is a bond that is created even without speaking the same language.
She apologizes to you and you to her?
I guess I haven’t apologized, but on days when you’re stressed, when you’re on the computer, it’s like: ‘Please don’t stress me out anymore because I have a lot on my mind.’ I imagine that for those things I would be the one who would have to apologize.
Sometimes you comment that whenever plans are made with you they are 1… Do people find it difficult to see you without them?
Yes Yes! In fact, with my friends here in Madrid, we make the plan at my house. We assume that Lola is always there and they come here. On other occasions, when we go for beers, my friends Laura or Ángeles ask me ‘You bring Lola, right?’ We are always Rocío plus one. They are delighted because she is a dog that has such a good character that it is a pleasure to take her anywhere. What’s more, when I go on a trip, if my parents can’t keep it, my friends raffle it off.
Are you afraid of Lola?
Rocío’s face changes radically…
Yes, in fact, I always say that. I don’t know what it’s like to have a child because I’m not a mother, but I do know what it’s like to be a pet owner. When it gets bad, which fortunately has been rarely, I suffer a lot. Now that I have to sterilize her, I’m prolonging the process because I’m having a very, very, very, very bad time. I always think that something could happen to her and, since she can’t talk to me, I suffer a lot.
Lola is, as you say, the perfect pet. She doesn’t bark, she’s super good, she loves sitting with people, but do you remember that day when she messed up with you and you had to run?
There have been several times that I have gotten into trouble, especially as a puppy. Many times, in fact. Not now because, over the years, she has become more dependent on humans, and when I let her go at the Retiro, or anywhere, she chases me and doesn’t leave me. But when I was little, it was just taking off the leash and running away.
I remember one time, in the Retiro, when she still didn’t understand what it was to play, that a dog much bigger than her approached her. Lola started to play, attacking, biting, and look, she’s a small thing, she’s tiny, but, of course, she was teasing a Labrador who, although they are very, very good, ended up getting serious… Of course, the owner gave me a shout. anger like ‘Let this be the last time you let her out in the park because you’ll end up being left without an animal!’ Phew… I had a terrible time. Spooky!
It’s funny, but whenever we talk to small breed families, they talk to us about how bold they are. I remember when Miriam Alegría told me: ‘Mojito is a bit lazy’, and Carlos Chamarro: ‘Denzel picks on dogs that are over a meter tall’…
Two of the scourges of today are animal abandonment and abuse. In your case, you have even campaigned against it… How can you contribute to generating social awareness in this area?
First of all, knowing that an animal, be it a dog or a cat, any type of pet, is a responsibility and is not a toy or a whim. We must stop sending the message that a dog is a gift or that a cat heals when you are in a bad moment. I know people who have been given a dog because of heartbreak, loss or whatever; They have it for three months and then they give it away. Because? Because they don’t really want a dog. What they are looking for is something to replace the pain they feel, and obviously, neither a dog nor any person can cover that.
That is why it is very important to send the message that an animal cannot be bought, an animal cannot be sold and that it entails a great responsibility. You have to have two brains to have one. That is a key message. For this reason, we campaigned against both abandonment and abuse. I went to several kennels in Madrid to record and I was devastated seeing the number of abandoned animals and the number of people who, due to their psychological problems or whatever, mistreat them.
In this way, we contribute to creating social awareness and, surely, another formula is to toughen penalties for people who mistreat animals…
At this point, we take a brief break from the “formal” talk to make clear our absolute coincidence of criteria regarding not leaving any animal abuse unpunished.
Totally, totally. Prison sentences should be increased and toughened. Not a single mistreatment should be overlooked.
In your life… What are those moments that are exclusively between the two of you?… What you only do with each other.
The morning walks, without a doubt. Go down at 08:30 with my headphones, go through the Retiro and take our little walk. That is sacred. When we are at my house or at my parents’ house, in the countryside, we also have breakfast, coffee… She sitting in her chair, I in mine.
It strikes me to know that in your life there has been a before and after… Before Lola arrived, you were embarrassed, for example, to go to breakfast alone… Has her arrival helped you grow on a personal level?
Very much! Going out to breakfast was something she envied about others. When she saw people, she thought: ‘How cool that this girl is having breakfast alone. Tomorrow I’ll do it,’ and when she was going to do it, she thought that people would think how ridiculous she looked for having breakfast alone. That she had no one to go with.
I don’t know exactly where that fear came from, but I had it and it is a reality. Since Lola is here, that is one of my favorite plans. I love that on a Sunday, when I can be alone at home, I suddenly grab Lola and we go to have breakfast together in the cafeteria downstairs, to watch life go by, like two wonderful ladies. It’s a great plan.
What do you have the worst?… What you don’t like at all…
Let there be other dogs at home. Does not like anything. I also have Tini and Blanquita, two dogs adopted by my parents and me, and since Lola is used to being the center of attention with everyone, it is terrible to share space with them during the first days, she growls, she gets angry …
Rocío, hundreds of thousands of followers on social networks, you just launched “Como Dios”, your new wine brand, you are a born entrepreneur… How much of all this success belongs to Lola?
Phew! Man, many of my Instagram followers correspond to him. When I decided to get a dog, just like I have had throughout my life, you didn’t do it precisely thinking about followers, you did it thinking about your life and your happiness.
But it is true that, at this moment, Lola has a huge number of people who write to me, daily, asking things about her!… What do I think you give her? What food? How do you do it when you separate from her?… In the end, people who have dogs create a community. It’s like people who do CrossFit, who create a kind of sect, because the same thing happens with animals.
A secret exclusive to both of us?
When Guille is not there, we sleep together in my bed. It is something that I have always denied, before my parents and before him, because especially in summer and at Christmas, his hair falls out a lot like the good Pomeranian that he is. But if I’m alone in my house, I can’t help but sleep with my dog ??because I feel like she’s always with me.
We stayed a while longer talking about Lola and Rocío’s recent entry into the world of wine with “Como Dios”. It is not something that is easy, on the contrary, given the competition that exists, it seems very complicated to me. Even so, we can rest assured because she is surrounded by her family who knows that world perfectly, but well… That’s another story.