Dukie Bulletin Board- 2

Waiting for lunch!

"If you think dogs cant count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them."~ Phil Pastoret

Hi! I'm back and so is Dukie... I left you rather abruptly at the end of my last article but being a homemaker is no easy job! I had forgotten a chore and had to rush to complete it before Arvind came home...

Well, lets pick up where we left, Dukie and Dhruvi. Two of the cutest babies, one four legged and the other two legged. They did give us a lot of laughs and it was nice to watch them together. As much as I would like to tell you about how they grew up together but that would hardly be the truth... Dukie started growing at a rate we really really wanted to alter. Pups are so cute, why the hurry to grow up??? And Dhruv's parents got transferred out around that time.

By now Dukie was now almost three months old and looked like an awkward teenager with his head to body proportions a little skewed. His head remained a little too big for his body until he got out of being a pup (Officially 18 months), so we had this slightly funny looking doggy who had a big head and plump, rounded smaller body, boy did he look sweet or what :)

His antics continued and kept us busy and flustered... He had already fallen in love with his adoptive mom and made up his mind to show his affections for her by using the age old technique of wooing any woman, getting her gifts :) The only problem was the type of gifts he picked up (Quite literally...). One day he brought her this really really long stick he had picked up on his evening walk. He had barely managed to hold onto it and then encountered a serious delivery problem when the stick would not get through the door. It was so long that it was getting caught at the door. And as Dukie was holding it in his jaws, it was parallel to the ground and was too long to go through the door width. He tried tilting his head in both directions but to no avail, the stick was too long for such manipulations as well. So this poor guy just sat down outside with the stick still in his mouth and waited for mamma to come out to greet him. Dont ask why none of us helped him, I mean, why would we help him bring a long stick into the house that he would use to then demolish our belongings with? Anyways, he waited patiently for ma to come too the door and when she did, he wagged his tail as fast as it could without falling off and laid the stick at her feet. She was less than thrilled with the gift but her maternal instinct did not let her ignore her son's efforts, so she patted him on the head and said 'good boy'. Bad move ma!

In a few days she started getting 'better' gifts... He once returned with something in his mouth that was quite small and he managed it to hide it between his jaws. He came running into the house and laid his gift at mamma's feet. We got to know of his 'offering' by the scream we heard! We all rushed to where mamma was and saw this dead, half rotten bird carcass that Dukie had picked up for her! Told you, bad move ma... Ma was too sickened to react and Dukie sat there with a hurt expression on his face, he did search a lot before closing on this particular gift. Well. no problems, he decided to get her another gift that he had not liked as much but then maybe ma would like that better. I mean, who really understood women, right? So Dukie goes back and returns with a dead frog :) Lol! Just a matter of perspective, I guess...

We started being more careful about leaving the door open so this idiot would not run away on excursions again, so the only outing he had were the pee and poop walks we took him on... And we had special instructions from ma not to let him out of sight or to let him do any 'shopping' for her :)

He was now put on a leash (You bet he did not like it, but it was more a necessity than a choice...) and he quickly learned how to overcome the restrictions imposed by a leash. Brute force. He would just pull us along wherever he wanted to go. He was strong and we would end up trailing him, our typical position- heels dug into the ground and from that point upwards, our body formed a backward slash, I mean we were constantly in this position \ as we tried to fight him pulling at the leash. And that was the position we were to be found in while walking him for the next few years...

Duke got bigger and we realized he knew no 'doggie tricks'. Well, he should at least know how to shake hands and sit and stuff right? So, we started on our next phase with him- Training. Easier said than done :/ He wasnt going to make this any easier for us, that he had decided on...

So we would sit for ages trying to teach him how to shake hands and he would just look the other way, not understanding why we were acting so silly, extending our hands and grabbing his foot and saying good boy and patting him each time we grabbed his foot. But we were family, so he just let us continue but did not bother participating.

Then papa came up with the idea of using treats (Biscuits and chew sticks) and now some piggy was all ears for what we had to say! He was most attentive and soon learned to sit, and give a right as well as a left hand shake. The only problem now was that he wouldnt do any of it until he knew he was getting a treat afterwards. If you tried a 'shakehand' empty handed, a dirty look, a growl (If you are persistent) and a bite (If you dont know to back down on a growl...) was all you received.

So we started on the stage two of his training. Getting him to do tricks without expecting treats. Well, you do know he's a lab, right? So you might as well know that we failed, quite miserably. The only times he would do tricks is if he felt like it or if ma asked him to. Otherwise the treats were his regular motivation... Pa did not give up and soon Duke started doing tricks for pa just so he would stop bothering him :)

He grew up, nice and strong and we were happy. He was not quite what we expected, but then who said life is fair right ;)

Soon, it was time for me to head to college and wait for vacation time to experience 'Dukie- madness' but I was always kept updated on his 'activities' regularly. This was when Dukie realized what the function of a telephone is. It was a device that ma and pa held against his ear and he got to hear some one baby talk him from the other end. Stupid but he managed to humor us all :) He patiently 'listened' as I went on 'talking to him' on the other end...

One continually worrying point for us was Dukie's peeing pattern. I mean, he was almost a year old and he still insisted on peeing like a girl doggy, with his hind legs all stretched out, he was supposed to have started lifting his hind leg when he was a few months old and here he was still behaving like he was a baby. We had just got sick of people asking us what 'her' name was... And then one day, he was at it again when he spotted a girl doggy walking his way and very slowly and almost artistically his hind leg went up, hallelujah!

The little joys of life ;)

Well, he was now a year old, 30 kgs, super energetic, spoilt and greedy piggy and seemed to be just half way through by the way he ate and destroyed things around him...

His last leg of puppy-hood was marked by major-ly happy events and memories but there was one memory we all wish we could forget, it just hurts too much, even now... But you'll have to wait a while for me to get there...

I'll be back soon enough and will take you through the mad life this guy led and dragged us through too...

He has been a blessing and not one day goes by without at least one of the family thanking god for having brought this butterball into our lives...

More to come!

Dukie Bulletin Board- 1

The Hero Himself!

"My dog's not spoiled ... I'm just well trained !"

This one's for Duke, the 'forever baby' we brought home in 1999. Life was never to be the same... I have mentioned my furry baby in my previous posts but I always felt I was cheating him out of the coverage he deserves... He needs his own space (On my blog, I mean!) and I'll give him that now...

Duke, registered as Duke Havaldar, was brought into our family when we were all grown up and pa couldnt resist it anymore... Ma liked dogs but that was about it. Sandy (My cousin who stayed with us through his school), Nammu and I did not know too many dogs ourselves but our love for dogs was generated through all the doggie stories ma and pa told us... The major stars were:

1. Jimmy- He was my ajji's (Granny) dog, a lovely Alsatian that I had played with as a kid. He was the first one to receive us each time we went to Hubli for our summer vacations... A patient, lovable and beautiful dog... He was also the first dog to bite me. I received seven injections but I thank god that my mind did not develop any phobia due to that incident... I was at fault, I had fallen over him while he was sleeping...

2. Snoopy- The yellow lab of one of my dad's friends that had stayed with ma and pa when I was a baby. He was left with my parents for a month while uncle and aunty went for a yearly holiday and when dad met him almost ten years after that first time he stayed with them, he was the first to the door and gave pa a welcome that made up one of our best 'dog story'.

3. Kitty- She was, I think, a collie... She was small though... A beautiful, long coated girl dog who we doggie- sat while her family went for their vacation. Even after her family came back, she would head for our place after her evening walk causing her owners to stop all her visits to our place. We were upset by their behavior but now that we have this pig of our own, we know how bad you feel when your dog has an attachment for someone outside of your family.

4. Papa's sheep dog- This one was our favourite due to the fact that this was pa's very own dog he had as a kid...

We were so ready for our own doggie... We always knew it would be a yellow lab because pa was quite sure of that. I was in my 12th standard, Nammu was in her 8th and Sandy was in primary school when we had this Air Force mela where we had a breeder participate as well. Vinod Uncle. He told pa that one of his lab's had littered and that he would bring over a couple of dogs for us to choose from.

As promised Vinod Uncle came on a Sunday with this small cardboard box and he put his hand into it and brought out two SUPER CUTE lab pups, a black one and a yellow one. They were both placed on the carpet for us to inspect and play with. It was love at first sight... Nah, not Dukie, we fell for his darker brother :) Duke was a sorry excuse for a lab, a puny little stupid thing that just lay there on the carpet and slept through most of everything... His brother was super enthu and so happy-go-lucky! he played with us, he chewed on stuff, he peed around the room, he pulled at Duke's ears while that idiot slept through even that, he sniffed at everything he could get his cute little nose to, mmmmm, we knew which one we really wanted and pa also seemed confused. Sure, he had always wanted a yellow lab but the black one was just adorable. Pa took a deep breath and took one of the biggest risks he ever has, he picked Dukie :) Some dreams are too strong to let go off... The cream pig won due to only the colour of his coat and no quality of his own... We were happy both ways, we got our very own puppy :) Sure, he looked boring and dull but then he was one of the last of the litter and was weak and was barely a week old and it was unfair to judge him that early... He was taken back to be brought home officially when he was a little older. We should've taken him in a month after that but a week later he was back home, for good...

Yippe! We were a doggie family now! It felt like we were finally a family... Dukie started giving us memories and stories from the day he came into our house. We were in a temporary accommodation in the Air Force base of Coimbatore when he joined us. it was a hall and a bed room. Nammu, Sandy and I had taken to sleeping inside the room while ma and pa took the carpeted hall as pa's back hurt on anything soft. Duke took to sleeping in the hall with ma and pa. He had a corner with warm clothes spread out for him but he chose to go for nightly excursions once the lights were out.

He would explore around and would try crossing hurdles- like the lower supporting rod on the table, or some show piece on display or even pa's neck. The funniest bits were where the stupid thing would get caught across the table rod and start whining for someone to go rescue him. Pa would nudge mamma and she be Dukie's knight in shining armor as she picked him up, rather unceremoniously, and dump him between herself and pa so he would not stray again. But our Don Quixote would be up in a minute and this time would be caught trying to cross pa's neck. His hind legs were weak and he would spend the night spread across pa's neck, two legs on either side and whining quietly. Pa never rescued him as I guess he enjoyed having a soft fur ball that was all snuggly...

He also showed criminal tendencies from day one... He would:

1. go into attack position, forelegs stretched flat in front of him, his butt raised high up and his tail wagging slightly and would leap on mamma. He was no more than three or four inches tall and would get lost in the folds of her saree and struggle to get out while ma did nothing to help him. That was his lesson one that mamma was not-to-be-messed-with :)

2.run away from home and go exploring. He only had to find the door opened a bit and he would make his escape. He would be found a couple of hours later, either loafing around the play ground outside our mess block or in the laundry with the dhobi bhaiya...

3. eye my beautiful African Grey Cockatiel birds. I had a pair and their cage was kept out side most time. This idiot had been observing the way we would open the latch and feed them and one fine day he just walked to their cage and opened the latch with his snout. One of the two birds flew out and we decided to give out the other one to a shelter as I believe they need mates and are not to be kept alone... We were to be found the whole of that day outside, Sandy, Nammu and I, looking up trees and whistling in the hope that the bird would return... We even took the cage with the other bird but it did us no good. Stupid Dukie, hmmpf...

4. steal any food he could find. His height was a blessing and we managed to keep him in check by just placing everything on high grounds...

He grew at an astonishing pace and he was soon into his teething stage... I dont know if it was just this idiot but he chose to chew on everything except his own chewy toys! We have lost count of the number of bathroom slippers, sandals, shoes, mugs, dustbins and anything remotely chewable that this guy destroyed... He was on a spree! He would keep at it, one after the other. I had read somewhere about this species of African ants that ate everything in their way and whole villages would evacuate if these ants were found headed their way. Duke kinda became like that for us. He would chew and destroy everything that lay in his path, our hands, fingers, legs included. Nammu, Sandy and I were never found without scratches or bruises in that phase of this idiot's life... He would just come and start chewing at our legs or hands if he did not have access to any other chewable stuff. He was our very own Hannibal Lecter... Only he was kind enough to not kill us as that would rob him of the many chances to chew us up in the future...

Two of the cutest incidents happened around this kid called Dhruv who would come over with his mom. Dhruv was barely 8 or 9 months old and was the first human baby that Duke had seen. One of Dukie's specialties was that he treated other dogs like, well, dogs. His peers were the humans. So, quite naturally, Dhruv became his play buddy while Dukie also experienced a new emotion around Dhruv. Jealousy. Duke would put up with Dhruv as long as they were playing together, the moment ma picked up Dhruv or talk to him, Duke would see red and bark and if that did not help, just plain sulk till ma pampered him too...

So this one time, Dhruv picked up Duke's stuffed toy (Duke's stuffed toy, yeah, right! That bloody thief. It was Nammu's until this guy lay claim on it...) and was trying to drag it along while he crawled... Duke knew he was not supposed to hurt Dhruv (Why was beyond him but he listened to mamma anyways...) so he watched for some time before quietly creeping up from behind Dhruv, he then grabbed the toy with his front teeth and then ran off at full speed to go into hiding while Dhruv howled at the sudden way in which he was robbed of 'his' toy :) Dukie knew he had done something wrong so he stayed under the bed until Dhruv and his mom left and after testing the waters by peeking from under the bed, he made an appearance...

The second time, Dhruv watched Dukie give a 'shake-hand' for some time after which his mom asked Dhruv to give her a shake- hand too. Dhruv promptly lifted his leg and put it in his mom's outstretched hand :)

Well, I gotta go now but there is more to come, loads of it! So stay tuned :)

Love you Duke!