I’m not a dog lover!

People who have dogs always pet stray dogs, what about your dogs at home, you may carry an infection??? People pick up strays, I disagree, how can you separate a puppy from its mother? What will happen to the poor mother when she can’t find her baby??? People feed dogs on the street, great! Till the day you forget or get bored of it or shift towns and all these dogs are dependent on you??? People scoff when I say you don’t want to get a dog or any animal because you can’t take care of it, you work and have no support. What do I know, I’m not a dog lover, 6 months later they give the dog away.

From the time I was little the dogs have been an integral part of my life. They got the treats, the comfiest chair in the house, all the love and attention and I hated it. There was Gidget , a dachshund , who was older than me. I had 2 big sisters – my sister and Gidgy. What a dog was she! Smarter than most humans I met then or ever since!. She’d irritate the hell out of me because she’d corner you between her paws and lick you clean to some doggie level of hygiene while I’d squirm with being tickled between my toes! ‘Don’t grumble meenakshi!’

Then there was Kajal , Gidget’s daughter. I didn’t really know how because she’d hog all my mum’s attention. Poor thing got paralysis of the hind legs. I didn’t get a paddling pool but a special one was got for her to help her recover. Hrmphf! I’d help fill the water and dry her down. Maybe pick her up to help once in a while. Whatever!

My masi had Thakur – Doberman, the most gracious gentlemen ever, scared me shitless why I wonder considering Gidget and he were the best pals. A Doberman and a Dachshund! Then there was Saiba – a Rottweiler, she looked at me funny and I always thought she was out to bite my bum!! Yet when Saiba was a puppy as was Surma the next dachshund after Kajal went onto doggie heaven, Sai would take Surma’s entire face into her mouth and not a scratch! Surma was the one who bullied Saiba all the time! As I grew older Saiba would sprawl across me on my bed and I wouldn’t move a muscle but somehow we managed to both sleep peacefully when occasion demanded it.

There was Gemini- Gemma – the Beagle. But she deserves a story all of her own.

Then I got my first dog Phoebe – technically she was for me but as all dogs in my house, they are mum’s best friends! Mum took her first trip in 25 years; Phoebe was old and fell ill, she had to be operated. I was there with my sister. Slept three nights on the floor with her after it, she went in her sleep. Buried her next to Gemma, the love of her life. How I cursed her for not hanging on just one more day till mum came home to say goodbye. I AM NOT a dog lover.

This brings us to the here and now. Kismat and Karma. Beagle + Dachshund mix. Deagles as we call them. Brother and sister. Kismat sensitive to the core gives love unconditionally. Karma – jealous and stubborn, always craves attention. I am always sidelined. Now they have migrated into my bed. Keep me up all night with their ‘in and outs’ Kismat sleeps all over me, sometimes we fight coz his paws are in my face. But he is the most reliable man ever, always there to greet me when I come home no matter what the hour. Karma won’t move an inch, digs her heels in but she does have the most soulful eyes even when I growl at her!

I tolerate my dogs! Im not a dog lover… so don’t say I am one!