Alleine unter Hunden - Alone among dogs

The art of the story

„Alone among dogs“

The story of

Klaus Wallat

I grew up in Hesse. And yes, for two years, I have had my first apartment. Before that, I was homeless. For almost 30 years. And for two years, I have had a permanent apartment. Since then, I have been in Hamburg. Permanently. For eight years.

Not every day, but once a week, I go out. Twice a week, because I live in Harburg. My fixed point is in Horn, and that’s quite a distance. And now there is a train replacement service anyway, and that is always difficult. And in the city centre, everything is occupied, so I don’t go there either, and otherwise, everything goes like this.

I don’t take drugs anymore, either. That used to be my big problem. It changes your character. Not your character, but your appearance and everything. You lose everything. I don’t drink alcohol anymore, either. That’s over, too. Hinz&Kunzt supports me wherever possible. I’ve never had such a nice life as I did before.

Well, I’m mostly always just alone with my dogs. I don’t have a lot of contacts. And I am just the way I am. I let live and let live, so I say.

The dogs are always with me, no matter where I go. Even when I go to work. And we’ve never had anything else. They’ve always been with me. That’s why I couldn’t leave them at home. After half an hour, they tear the place apart.

We had a farm. A big, big property. Since then, dogs have been my thing. All the dogs running around, and when they see me, they all come running. Yeah, that’s right. The dogs notice that – who’s good and who’s not, dogs notice that.

It’s a good feeling when you have an apartment all of a sudden. And you can lock up. You don’t have to be afraid that the police will chase you away or that someone will mug you. It’s happened to me before. It’s happened to everyone. No need to even discuss it. They usually come at night when people are asleep. They kick you and take everything they find. By the time the police arrive, they’re gone. Germans, too, not just foreigners, so it’s everyone. It’s best to go out of town. You’ll have more peace and quiet.

A dog sleeping out there with one eye is completely normal. A little watchdog, as small as she is, she is structured. She has a stubborn head and is not afraid of anything. It’s funny. I don’t worry about fear. If something happens, it happens. And then I can’t do anything about it.

I have a tent for four people with dogs. I’ve been around a lot. In Europe, I’ve been almost everywhere. Yes. Except over the Atlantic Ocean, I haven’t been there or been to Algeria. I haven’t been to war zones. I’ve been to Spain. I’ve been as far as the Moroccan border. And that’s where people met – punks and all kinds of people who travelled around for the festival. We were 6-7 people and three or four times as many dogs. Back then, it was still possible. We could still take the train. No one cared that much about it. But today, everything is connected with punishment and so on. It is useless. It is no fun anymore.

I got older, and I wanted to have more peace and quiet. It became more and more stressful. I can’t live with people for long. We can travel together for a bit, but really beyond – not a chance. I’m not only fixated [on dogs], but they’re just my thing.