A Dog's Life and Love

Having a dog is like having a baby. A lot of people don’t realize this and get a dog on a whim or fancy for having a cute little puppy. The puppy grows into a dog and like having a child – it goes without saying – it is a hell of a lot of work.

Food, water, exercise, health needs, hygiene, attention, interaction, emotional and social connections, communication and education are all a part of a dog’s life as much as humans.

A puppy leaves its mommy at a very young age and looks for that “family” from a very young age. They become attached and fit into a family’s hierarchy. Despite arguments, dogs are very intelligent, and they study us and our ways as much as we study animal behavior. We are distracted and pay so much attention to them, however, like children they observe our every move, and need as much as attention as children need, in their full growth (full – mental, emotional, physical).

I have had doggies in my life since I was 5… they have grown with me, as a brother, friends, guide, teacher would. I have fought with them, played, learned, adventured, had giggly moments of pure silliness, and moments when I would get a look from my furry buddy “boy, you humans are dumb!” I have had doggies from puppyhood, rescued doggies who were abused, and cast away, doggies that belonged to friends but have touched my life with a look, a nudge, or even a protective growl. No matter what relationship I have had with these doggies, all of them have the most amazing hearts.

Chips – he wandered into our lives. Actually he was chased by a bull into our house, and the watchman rescued him. He was our little puppy until my little sister tried to ride him, and he bit her leg! She was a child and the puppy was defending himself. Anyway he grew up and he became the watchman’s dog, cause we weren’t ready for a puppy (as indicated by my sister’s actions ;-) ).

Butch- we got him in 1990 maybe, for Christmas, Danny brought him home. He was a “Golden Retriever” but grew up to look like an Irish setter.  Yes very Irish, mixed with something. Silly breeders, however he was lovely! The first few nights he cried, so my parents let him sleep in their room. Finally he moved outdoors, and he would retrieve all sorts of creatures every morning – lizards, squirrels, etc.  My father and Butch would go every morning for a walk at AC Tech College, or IIT Madras Campus. There he would let Butch go, and he would chase the deer. Sometimes the deer would chase him and my father to the blue maruti van. Butch was highly protective over my sister and I, however he would not take too much annoyance from us, when he had enough he would growl and snap at us “that’s enough, behave yourselves”. Otherwise he would let us do the weirdest things to him, example we once dressed him up in our pink dresses, dressed him in a sari, tried to make him wear our father’s shoes. He must have thought “why can’t these girls just throw a ball?” He had friends Zico and Dora (Doberman), who for some reason kind of became more of the ferocious kind. Dora left, however Zico stayed and one day attacked Butch. He was traumatized and in such bad condition. It was such a scary moment, everyone was screaming, and finally someone had the presence of mind to throw water on the dogs who were entangled through the wrought iron gates. Butch’s paw was ripped open, the skin on his skull was just flapping around, and his muzzle was ripped. My cousin, a neurosurgeon, was present and decided to sew Butch up. The watch man driver and I held Butch down, as he worked on Butch. Butch growled the whole time. Later the vet came and re-stitched him, and gave him the necessary shots. The vet was the biggest wimp. A lot of vets seemed that way, except Dr. Radhika, she was the best. Ever since that attack, Butch was never the same, and became more temperamental and aggressive, only being friendly to family. He had trust issues, and second guessed everyone’s intentions. There was one person he feared, my father. He did attack a few people Neha Nayar and Joyeeta. They were very badly injured. Sandeep always would try to pet Butch, and could be brave enough to hang out with Butch. Royston had a way with Butch, one day he did Reiki on Butch, and he slowly changed. Also by then he had mated and had puppies. We got to keep one of the puppies – Brooklyn. Brooklyn had a short but very jovial life. It was great to see the father and son enjoying time together. Butch would play with Brooklyn, and wrestle and teach him lessons, much like Mufasa and Simba, without the evil uncle Scar. One day Brooklyn puppy for some reason jumped off a balcony, and he only fell one floor, and he was so young, his bones were fine, but he was a little traumatized. This doggie although lucky the first time wouldn’t be the second: That day came when Brooklyn slipped out the gates and ran head long into traffic, where he was hit by a bus, he lives for a few days, and then died on my sister’s lap. Butch understood what happened and wanted to protect his son, when Brooklyn puppy passed, Butch was very depressed. 

In between we had many guest puppies- Rocky (Dalmatian), Rocky (Daschund), Jovi (boxer/Doberman), etc. One day my father decided to up the house security and got two boxer puppies – a brindle with white socks, and lovely markings and an odd albino with one brindle eye: Draco and Orion, respectively. I named them after stars, because, all dogs go to heaven. Butch accepted them slowly. We moved to Calcutta, and Draco went off to go into show dog stuff, his dad was Jumping Jack flash Rocket something… some ridiculous lineage of great show dogs. Orion/ or Ory also had some fancy lineage, but that resulted in his albino ness and other issues.

Orion – He smelt like milk all over, except his brown patch on his eye which smelt like doggie. Ever noticed, dog paws smell the sweetest? So butch and Orion moved to Calcutta. Butch had mellowed down a lot since his angry days. Hold up! Before Butch and Julie created Brooklyn, he attacked me. Gave me a good scar on my right hand: He actually was going for my throat, and I blocked with my arm (human reflex is to protect head and throat). Then he grabbed my arm (with Dog Jaw pressure which is like 300 times human jaw pressure) and began shaking it around like a dead rabbit. Someone was screaming and suddenly het let go and ran to a corner. He realized his mistake. My arm was throbbing, and I was dizzy with adrenalin and all sorts of flight and fight chemicals in my blood stream. My little arm was ripped open. Lovely flesh could be seen. So those two girls weren’t the only ones he had attacked. I refused to get stitches, and slowly Butch and I reconciled. Orion and none of our other dogs ever had such temper issues. Orion was lovely, happy guy. He would sleep on top of Butch in the cool Calcutta Winter nights. Ory would always let Butch eat first. They were both bulky well-built dogs at some point. In Cal, everyone loved Orion, but Butch was growing old now, and wasn’t as fun. He mostly lay around, and it was nice because he would let me put my head on him. He slowly had issues of Hematoma in his ear, which began rotting, which attracted flies, which led to him becoming a zombie dog. I took care of him to the end, cleaning his ear, and finally we decided to put him out of his misery and he died on my lap. I miss him so much. Ory was sad, but he got used to it. There may have been a puppy or two, or kitten or two, that passed by, and gave Ory company, but we just found strays and found them homes. Ory slowly developed health issues: flies laid eggs in his rectum, and the eggs hatched. The maggots began feeding on his flesh. Someone had to clean it daily. We did not have disposable gloves then, and there. I did it, barehanded, smelly, but I did it for him. I realized it would be tough for me to be a doctor, because blood etc., made me light headed. It took a lot of inner strength from me. Orion became better, and died in 2002 in Durgapur from a dog bite.

Twinkie – She was our school dog at The School KFI, a Pomeranian mixed with something. Loved her so much, would follow her around school. She was the caretaker of the school and she knew she had to take care of all the children. She was friendly, no nonsense, and loved the students dearly. She was an awesome person to see at school every day, she knew the rules, and she was just a good girl. When other school dogs joined us, she accepted, and showed them their place and behavior.  Her home was the library, and that is where she died. Oh my, that was such a sad sad day. I remember we helped bury her by the well, near the mango tree in the games field. I remember seeing her the days before, and carrying her to BlueCross (the veterinary center across from our school), at some point I just couldn’t see her like that anymore. Losing Twinkie was devastating, I was in shock, but classes went on. Life went on. I just didn’t understand (I was very young) how could we have a day off for people who had died years ago, but not have the same respect for animals. I think it was about then I became vegetarian. She was an unofficial teacher to me and so many other kids.

Snoop- a rescued Dalmatian, we got him in2003. There was a craze for Dalmatians; right after that movie came out (101 Dalmatians). Yep they don’t talk, and they don’t produce 101 puppies. The puppies grow up, and need a lot of exercise, etc. They were sent to the pound, eventually a group was formed for Dalmatian rescues. That’s where we got him from; they interviewed us first, to see if we were suitable. Being previous dog owners, we were. I was against getting a dog, especially after Butch and all the others. My sister, mom and dad insisted. So I found myself going to a ladies house, far far away one winter, and we went into the house, and there were so many Dalmatians running around. I sat down because I was overwhelmed, and I was nervous a little (Always wary after Butch bit me). A Dalmatian came up to me and put his head on my lap; I let him sniff my hand, and petted him. We were there to pick up Snoop, yet he picked us. He was quiet the first few days. Just sat in a corner, and watched us and learnt his daily routine, then I don’t know when but he began sleeping in my room, then in my bed. In winter, he would often push me out of bed, and take all the covers. Turns out he was a Labrador-Dalmatian mix, so he was big! He also was very silly, but we had lots of fun playing together. Turns out though rescue dogs in general have a “bolting” issue, otherwise he was perfect. We had him till 2005 when we found out he had grand mal seizures due to hypo/hyper thyroid. However the doctor was giving him strong medication, which would affect his liver/kidneys and he would eventually die. He needed 24/7 monitoring, and medicine every 4 hours or so. Which was tough since we all had jobs;  so we gave him away to a lady who took care of doggies that had special needs and shortly after that he passed… I dream about him every so often, except I am him and running to find me.

Piko – my uncle’s doggie. He was fierce, alpha male, and he had the biggest heart, literally. He was solid, and amazing till the day he was put to sleep. Miss him. He was my cousin, my bestie and also got protective over me eventually. Sulta, his sister did not like me as much, but slowly that love grows. Love you both.

Cricket – I love you Cricket. I was never fond of small dogs. All the dogs I ever had were male. So here was Cricket, and her girlie ways, intruding into my life. Yet again, I did not want a dog, especially after Snoop! It is so hard seeing a dog having a grand mal seizure. So scary, so painful, and traumatizing, one of those memories I blocked out. My sister convinced my mom to bring Cricket home, or else they would have put her down (Medina Pound). So here she was. Now as my sister has left her here, and when my parents travel away I take care of her, she is annoying, but have grown to understand her. She is difficult, because she barks a lot, and she bolts! Another rescue dog: The thing about rescues is, you never know what their history was. Just like adopting children – you don’t know who their parents were, or what they have already been through, but here they are: needing love, family and care. Acceptance. It is the same with these dogs. Humans can communicate, although at times difficult, they speak the same language. Dogs don’t. It takes much patience, calmness, learning each other, trust, acceptance, dedication, time, determination and unwavering, unconditional love to make this work (almost like a relationship). Now my parents have decided to give her away, because they plan to travel, and it is just a lot of work.

 Not only am I heart broken, but her tiny heart will be. Because she trusts us, loves us, and depends on us. She has learnt us and become our family. It’s not fair. Life is not fair. Beware the betrayal.

Warning: Please do not get a dog, unless and until you know the amount of work that goes into having this special relationship. Unless and until you can give him/her all that time, attention and all the other basic needs. A dog is not just a toy, he/she has feelings, and is person too (despite arguments). He/she is there for you no matter what, and will never judge you. So don’t just delete him/her from your life like that person on facebook. If you can’t make it work out, DON’T GET A DOG! It's like having kids! If you can't deal with a kid now, and think having a pet dog is easier than a kid... A dog lives, grows, ages and dies in your life times. Be prepared to take of him when he is old and can not walk, see or hear. If you can dedicate yourself to a dog and his/her needs throughout their changing life then I know they will give you a life time of companionship, loyalty, love, and laughter! Remember they need you.

 The doggie above lives with the poor people on the streets in India... she was very loving!

This is a very old picture of my sis Butch and I. It was on my grandparent's closet, it is a picture of a picture. We had very few pictures of Butch.

This dog is Mani. He is the watch dog for Inventa. He is a very good dog. sleeps in the day (see how he is lazy), and guards at night. He gets to eat Biryani, idly, rice, everyday!