The dog behind the network

This is Nico.

Extraordinary dog. Ordinary days. All worth remembering.

NICO BEAR ◇ CHIEF NETWORK OFFICER ◇ VERY GOOD BOY

The archive came later.
He came first.

A highly incomplete operating history

One of the first photographs of Nico, before he was adopted — The first photographs we ever saw of him.

OriginsFile 01

THE FIRST RECORD

Life Before Canada

There was a time when Nico was just a dog in two photographs.

Little was known about him then. The meaning of his little noises was still a mystery. Breakfast had not yet become a legally protected 7:00 a.m. institution, followed by the expectation of being covered with a blanket. The leaning, the head burying, the side-eye, the careful surgery performed on the seams of stuffed toys, and just how much information could be communicated with those ears were all still to be discovered.

At the time, he was still in Mexico and still called Ringo. He had never seen the inside of his forever home, ridden in the car that would take him on countless adventures, claimed one of the chairs as his own, or walked the beaches that would later become part of his territory.

In the years that followed, those two photographs would become the beginning of a sprawling photographic record numbering in the thousands.

These were the first two.

He wasn’t home yet. But he was already on his way.

Artist reconstruction of Nico outside a small store in Mexico — Artist’s reconstruction of the early Mexico record.Not archival evidence

OriginsFile 02 · Oral history

THE CAKE AFFAIR

Mexico, Before the Archive

Before the surviving photographic record expanded, there was another story. Nico — then still called Ringo — was reportedly found in Mexico eating cake.

No direct photograph of the incident is known to survive. The precise store, the exact cake and the full circumstances of acquisition remain undocumented. The event itself, however, is accepted as part of the family record.

The image beside this record is an artist’s reconstruction of the early Mexico setting. It is included as illustration, not evidence.

On November 4, 2017, Ringo was adopted through Dog for Life. Somewhere along the way Ringo became Nico, Nico became Nico Bear, and a rescued dog became the centre of a family history that now requires its own filing system.

LOCATIONMexico

SUBJECTRingo, later Nico

ITEMCake

PHOTOGRAPHNo direct image known

“The cake incident remains the earliest confirmed example of unauthorized snack acquisition.”— The Nico Archive

Nico resting under a blanket after breakfast — Breakfast completed. Blanket services requested.

Domestic OperationsFile 03

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

A User’s Guide to Nico Bear

Breakfast is at 7:00 a.m. Dinner is at 5:00 p.m. These are not suggestions. Following breakfast, Nico commonly relocates to the bed or couch and waits for a human to complete the obvious next step: cover the dog with a blanket.

Several words possess unusual authority. Nacks. Dinner. Walk. Breakfast. Ordinary conversation can continue around him without concern, but careless deployment of one of these terms immediately activates the network.

Stuffed toys are not destroyed recklessly. Nico finds a seam and removes the stitching with his small front teeth like a technician performing warranty-voiding repair work. The distinction matters.

BREAKFAST07:00

DINNER17:00

POST-MEALBlanket required

NACKSImmediate response

Nico standing reluctantly in shallow water — The official position remains technically unchanged.

Maritime AffairsFile 04

ONGOING POLICY DISPUTE

Nico Hates Water.

This is one of the foundational facts of Nico. He hates water. Unfortunately, the photographic record now contains beaches, lakes, boats, shallow-water manoeuvres and a frankly irresponsible amount of evidence that makes the official position increasingly difficult to explain.

The distinction maintained by counsel is that Nico likes beaches — specifically sandy, smelly beaches with excellent things to investigate. The presence of an ocean nearby is incidental and, ideally, temporary.

Standing in water is not swimming. Running through water may simply be rapid standing. NicoNet will not be taking further questions.

“The ocean is permitted provided it remains mostly over there.”— Maritime Affairs

A close portrait of Nico looking directly at the camera — One extremely good face. No archival justification required.

A few things about Nico

HOW NICO SAYS I LOVE YOU

Close Is Not Close Enough

Nico does not really do distant affection. He leans. Properly leans — all twenty-five-ish kilograms of him — until supporting his body weight becomes a shared responsibility. If that still isn't close enough, he buries his head into you and stays there.

Tummy rubs are handled with similar subtlety. If a hand is within reach, Nico will hook it with a paw and drag it toward his belly, placing it roughly where the rubbing is expected to begin. This process may be repeated until the human understands the assignment.

He loves food. He loves car rides. He waits for his blanket after breakfast. He can communicate an extraordinary amount of disappointment using only the side of one eye. Fireworks are unacceptable. Sandy, smelly beaches are excellent. Begging is beneath him, although being extremely aware of nearby food is apparently different.

When he sleeps deeply enough, his feet twitch and his tail moves as though whatever he is dreaming about has just gone very well. He likes one human more. The other, he loves more. Both statements are considered settled law.

“Some dogs ask for affection. Nico applies himself directly to the problem.”— Household observation

Why there is an archive

Most of a life with a dog is made of things that don't feel important enough to call history.

Breakfast at seven. The same walks. The same couch. Car rides with a brown head appearing between the seats. Sandy paws. Blankets. Side-eye. A head buried into your chest. The full-body lean that quietly transfers responsibility for standing upright from Nico to whoever happens to be nearby.

You take a picture because something is funny, because the light is good, or because he is sitting strangely again. You don't think much about it. There will be another walk tomorrow. Another breakfast. Another ridiculous photograph.

Then the camera roll fills up. The routines become traditions. The ordinary things become the things you remember most. Years pass almost without asking permission.

The archive is ridiculous. The reason for it isn't.

NicoNet is an attempt to notice the ordinary days while they are still ordinary. Nico is still here. Breakfast is still at seven. There are still walks to take, blankets to arrange, and photographs to add to the record.

But these small things are already the story: the places he claimed, the dogs he knew, the expressions we learned to read, and the thousand tiny ways a dog can become part of the definition of home.

I don't want to forget any of it.

This is the record of my best friend.

Filed with completely unnecessary seriousness

There is, of course, more.

Years of beaches, chairs, boats, questionable outfits, distinguished colleagues and extremely important work.

Enter the collections →

Meet the network.