On today’s Dog Mom Talk, we’re traveling to Costa Rica with the lovely Ana Beatriz Bravo and her adorable rescue, Macarena (a.k.a. Miss Maca) !

Ana is a freelance photographer and graphic designer who specializes in UI/UX design. She adopted Miss Maca after one of her friends found her abandoned, barely 3 months old.  It was love at first sight, and with the help of her friends and family, Ana took Maca in and they have become inseparable ever since! 

Their relationship is just so adorable and heartwarming. In this week’s jam-packed Dog Mom Talk, Ana shares with us the impact that Maca has had on her life, her favorite dog-friendly spots in Costa Rica, some tips for working from home with a dog and loads more!

Let’s have a Dog Mom Talk!

What is your favorite characteristic about Maca and why?

Maca loves to be around people and other dogs! She is very sociable, to the point where EVERYONE in our neighbourhood knows her. She NEEDS to visit all her friends. (We live in a popular neighborhood with cafes and restaurants so she loves to visit all our friends from here). She has a very strong but happy personality, which makes everyone fall in love with her. I love how she sparks joy in everyone and enjoys life.

Does Maca do anything funny for food? Does she know any tricks?

She does! I teach her tricks and reward her with treats, so when we’re playing/practicing, and she wants more she starts doing all the tricks she knows at once! It’s hilarious. Also I started using puzzles for her every once in a while, and now she NEEDS to have one of her daily meals in a puzzle.

Fun fact, she’ll do anything for peanut butter, and her kibble needs to be topped with honey.  (oh and not just any honey, but an organic one from the local Costa Rica brand Pollen Keepers. She’ll even take me to their store on our walks!)

Have you ever thrown Maca a birthday party? Was there a theme? How did you plan it?

I did! We kind of defined an appromixate birthday for her. We love picnics and our neighborhood, so I planned a picnic in one of Maca’s favorite nearby parks and invited our close friends, who helped us a lot during our 1st year together. We chose a spring theme with lemonade napkins, daisy-shaped and leaf-shaped plates, we hung paper flowers on a big tree, we made cookies Maca’s face on them for the humans and paw-cakes for the doggies.

Do you work from home? How do you manage with your dog around?

I work from home, so I had to teach Maca that there are times to play with me and times that she can be by herself. I clearly defined my spaces and hers, so although we are together all day, we both have our spaces and time. She sleeps in her own bed, and has her food stations and another bed in the living room where she can lay.

A typical day for us starts at 6am. I go to her and hug her and stay there for a few minutes. It’s our quiet time before starting the day. Then we go out for a 40-minute walk. When we get back, she waits for me on her bed while I get ready.

Then, I prepare breakfast for both of us and we eat at the same time. I start working at 8am and every 2 hours, I take a 10-minute break to play with her. At noon, I have lunch and we go out for a 10-minute walk or play something inside the house if it’s raining.

I’ll continue working until 4:30 pm, when we go out again for a one-hour walk. For this walk, I let her go at her own pace. I give her dinner when we get back, have a little play time, watch some TV and eat my own dinner. To end the day, I put some lavender oil in the diffuser and quiet music, so we both can go to sleep.

What’s the story behind Miss Maca’s Instagram & her blog?

I’m a big fan of Instagram so some friends made a bet: they said that I wasn’t able to wait a week before starting an account for Maca. I did, and a week later, her account was launched. People I know began to ask for it, and if you get to know her, you’ll see she really is very friendly. She was born for it!

I started thinking about the account name, I wanted something that fit her personality and my brother came up with “Miss Maca”. It’s SOOO her! At the beginning I just started posting cute photos of her, which wasn’t that hard because she poses. Several people began asking me for advice when thinking about getting a dog, food, what to wear and other things I would post on her account. That’s when I decided I wanted to do more with the account and her brand.