Living with Dogs
It was a mindless decision. We came home one evening and I just said we need to get that roadside puppy we played with every day on our way back from office. That’s that. There was no discussion, no argument or even a counter; we just went ahead and got that puppy, and for good measure, one more to keep her company.
The rollercoaster started almost immediately. The white dog (Scarlett, we’d decided her name before we even got her), cried her heart out the first night. She had been brought into completely new environment – a makeshift wooden crate – with another sibling, and she had no idea what to do. To make matters worse, the two numbskulls who had got her there also had no idea what to do. So, she cried and tried to climb out and onto the bed. Meanwhile, the black one (Lizzy, who then wasn’t named, and was christened hastily at the vet when she was taken for a checkup), sat in the furthest, darkest corner, absolutely quiet and offended with what had happened to her. Not only was she in a strange place, she was stuck there with a crier.
We woke up the next morning to realize that this was actually going to be a life changer. The next few days I got delayed to work, messed up an important deal and nearly got fired all because I couldn’t stop worrying about Lizzy and Scarlett, alone at home. They were streeties and came with a lot of baggage – ticks, fleas, tummy upsets and a badass attitude, all at 4 weeks old. We spent a small fortune at the vet’s clinic, driving 10 kms one way every few days for weeks to get the girls into shape.
We read almost everything that Google had to offer on taking care of puppies. But reading and living through it – poles apart. For three full months the house was full of pee and poop. All the time, everywhere. It was also summer, so Lizzy, with her thick coat got hot and enjoyed a dip in her own pools of pee every day. She also enjoyed biting away at stuff. So, all our chairs now stood on chewed legs. She polished off a razor one day, which we only realized when she pooped it out. As she grew, she discovered she could stand up on her back legs to reach hitherto unreachable items – toppling a little cactus plant that sat in a small pot in the living room, dancing in the soil and then peeing to spread it around. Scarlett, on the other hand, loved shoes, systematically chewing off buckles and bows; she also clipped off buttons from our pants (which we discovered every morning as we got dressed for work), and also grazed a lengthy chunk off our dining room wall. By the end of the third month we were pretty well educated through practical experience in all that will happen when you get two puppies.
We walked them 3 times a day, trying desperately to set a schedule so they learn to do their business outside. Finally, after an arduous three months of cleaning the corridors and lifts, the girls stopped soiling the house. We did not realize when exactly that happened, but it was a big win. Teething was managed by getting them a host of toys to chew on, only to realize that they preferred the good old couch leg and the bookcase. We gave in. I told myself that they were adding character to our house. My partner, though, was upset. She loved that furniture; all bought that year. She just did not know yet that she loved these two more.
We took them out for drives to the park almost daily, where they first met their one true friend, Oscar, or Osky as everyone called him. Scarlett loved him to bits. She whined and sang when we told her that we were going to the park to meet Osky, every day. She does that today too, even after 4 long years. Sadly, Osky passed away a couple of years back. But he still lives in Scarlett’s heart. Her eyes still light up, her ears perk up and she sings when we say his name. What would I not give to feel the innocence that comes from not understanding death!
Our lives revolved around the girls. We planned our days around them. We became cameo appearances at friends’ dinner parties, planning our errands between meal and walk times. Saddened by their kibble bowls, we started cooking more often at home – their nutrition trumped our own. We took holidays with them, which meant destinations changed from Europe trips to farmhouses within driving distance Our parents detested the idea of having dogs. They said we should be making babies instead. But we were in a world of our own. The girls were our family. The joy of having Scarlett jump up to kiss me when I got home from work, or Lizzy climbing into my lap for a nice belly rub was unparalleled. We rarely did anything without them. The bond between us grew tighter than ever. We basked in the warmth of selfless companionship.
We never trained the girls formally. We taught them what we could to make our lives easier and the rest came from our bonding. It was like they understood us, and we understood them in an obvious kind of a way. I could read Scarlett’s expressions and she could read mine. She understood most of what we spoke about. We started spelling out exciting words like f-o-o-d and p-a-r-k and c-a-r because she reacted to them every single time. Lizzy, on the other hand, never gave away what was going on in her head. She rarely apologized for stealing food from the kitchen counter or peeing on the bathmat in protest for us leaving them alone on the occasional evening. Scarlett apologized for her. We realized that Lizzy was a lone wolf, a very smart lone wolf at that. She loved us more than anything else, but she wanted her “me-time”. And she tolerated Scarlett. On most days.
Fast forward to last week – strolling in the garden one evening, talking about everything and nothing; it was then that we realised that the past 4 years had simply flown by. We were changed people, with a definite pre- and post-pet life direction. We have been blessed with an unconditional love that no one from our own species can ever offer. From the crazy days of getting to know each other to the day when we became inseparable – it was a journey we felt we had missed because we lived through it, utterly and completely. The days had flown by because our lives had been upended in the best way possible, with no time to record the moments we had soaked ourselves in. The girls had shown us what it is to be an animal, to live in the moment, to not regret because even if it hurt the experience was worth it, to eat like every meal is your last (to this day, Lizzy does a little dance for each meal), to run until the wind chases your tail, to love like no words can describe and above all, fart unabashedly.
(Lizzy & Scarlett are now four-years-old, enjoying their middle-aged lives, spending time between a farm on a river and a flat in Mumbai).