Why it is 'Another Home' and not a 'Pet Hotel'

What I want to create is not a pet hotel. It is 'another home'.

The catalyst was not some noble philosophy. It was Schna's poop.

## The preparations were perfect (or so I thought)

Trimming. Daycare. One night. I got him used to it step by step. That's why I thought two nights would be fine. I even remember telling the staff when I dropped him off, 'My dog is quite social.' I actually said it.

On the morning of the second day, I got a LINE message.

Schna was covered in diarrhea. The staff had found him, cleaned him up, and were asking if it was okay to give him a shampoo for an extra fee.

I was on the train station platform. I cried.

It wasn't about the fee. Was his stomach hurting? Did that clean-freak of a dog spend the whole morning with a dirty body? At home, he has barely ever stepped in his own poop.

My reply was just 'Please do.' I didn't know what else to write.

The staff did nothing wrong. The one at fault was me, for believing that taking steps would eliminate stress.

Even if you take steps, there is still stress. It never reaches zero. I learned that the hard way that morning.

## The third morning, eating food in 'resignation'

Let me tell you about a relative's dog. Let's call him V.

When V's owner had to be away from home for a while, V was left at a relative's house. It wasn't his first time there. It was a house he often visited with his owner. He knew the smells and the people.

Even so, V wouldn't eat.

He waited at the entrance. Every time the door opened, he would lift his head, and when he realized it was someone else, he would lie back down on the floor. He did that for two full days.

On the morning of the third day, he finally ate his food.

I don't think it was because he was hungry. To me, it looked like he had given up.

After hearing this story, my way of thinking changed. For a dog, the place they are left at might not be about whether it is an 'unknown place' or a 'known place.' It might be about whether it is a 'place I can return to' or a 'place I cannot return to.' Even in a house he knew, as long as he couldn't return home, V sat at the entrance.

## Who can guarantee that the owner will always be healthy?

The reasons an owner leaves home aren't just for travel. Accidents and illnesses don't check our schedules. Whether you live alone or with family, it's the same. I don't think there is any owner who can say for sure, 'My dog will be absolutely fine.' I can't say it either.

After this realization, I booked a health checkup. Even though I had been putting off my own health for years, once I thought it was for the sake of my dog, I was able to sign up in ten minutes.

I eat vegetables for my dog. I sleep for my dog. I cut back on alcohol for my dog. I now believe that managing the owner's health is not just the owner's problem. Even so, people can collapse suddenly one day. That is why it is scary.

## I want to create a place they can come back to

That is why I need a place they can come back to, not just a place to leave them.

Not a box that costs so much per night, but a place where, at some point in their life, they can think, 'This was also my home.' A place where a dog doesn't have to give up on the third day. A place that continues even if something happens to the owner.

I want to create that. I don't have the qualifications, the property, or the experience yet. So, for now, I am laying the foundation. I will write down everything here—what I've researched, what I've struggled with, and even the numbers that made me turn pale when I calculated them.

I still open that LINE chat screen from that day sometimes. I feel like I want to add something after 'Please do,' so I open it, and then I close it.

Regarding the part about why I started posting on note, I summarized it for my entry into the Bungeishunju contest.