In 2003, a dog came into my life. Not just any dog, but one who would go on to influence it far beyond anything I could have expected. I often think he must have been “the chosen one”.
He was a working gundog, an HPR — Hunt, Point, Retrieve. His name was Dedito di primavera of Weimar’s Joy. Dedito means “one who is focused on something and will not let go until his knowledge is satisfied.” And boy, did that name suit him perfectly. Primavera was chosen because he arrived in the spring, and Of Weimar’s Joy is the prefix of the breeder.
We called him Dodi. As Dodi was an HPR working dog, I decided to gather as much knowledge as I possibly could about the breed and HPRs in general. I travelled to Scotland and across the UK to train (and be trained) on the moors, so I could do as much work as possible with him.
It was Dodi who brought me to North Yorkshire, introduced me to wonderful people, and the rest, as they say, is history.
While I was in North Yorkshire (UK), helping out on different moors and working my dog, I was asked if I knew the Diotto brand of outdoor boots from Italy. At the time, I wasn’t very familiar with the brand, so I did some research and discovered that Diotto were a small but high-quality manufacturer of quality, handcrafted leather boots, produced for many generations in the north of Italy, near Venice.
As I am Italian, people soon started asking if I could import some boots for them. I contacted the factory, and as it turned out we even spoke the same regional dialect — which immediately helped to establish a connection.
