It kept barking, sometimes coming closer, sometimes backing away, as if it wanted to show us something. I was starting to get irritated by the endless barking, which echoed in my ears and made it hard to talk calmly.

Suddenly, the dog came closer and put its front paws on my knees. I jumped and got scared. I asked my boyfriend to move it away, but as soon as he tried, the dog jumped back, barked again, and started circling around us.

We exchanged a glance – there was something strange about its behavior. It didn’t look aggressive, but it was clearly trying to communicate something. It would sit down, then get up, take a few steps forward, look at us, and bark again.

And at that moment, the unexpected happened – the dog suddenly grabbed my handbag, which was lying next to us on the bench, and took off running.