Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.

Ever since Romeo has come into our lives, I have realized that no matter how little money or possessions you might have, having a dog makes you rich. Very rich indeed. Your life overflows with the wealth of joy, love and colossal showers of affection. There is a strange peace in the house, inspite of all the chaos that comes with an over-active, over-hyper puppy. There is something new to learn every day. There is an alchemistic energy around the house that shouts, “To err is human, to forgive Canine”. You begin to realize that it takes a lifetime of human handshakes to match up to the affection that a dog exhibits through just one flick of his tail. This peace, this joy and this abounding love makes us rich and makes us content.
Sid and I can’t stop marveling at the amazing miracle that Romeo truly is. He is unbelievably smart. He has learnt some amazing tricks that one can only dream about, specially from a 14 weeks old pup. He can sit and stay obviously, he knows down, knows how to get “up” on his hind legs, can fall dead like a corpse when we make a gun with our fingers and shoot him with a “Bang!!” Ha Ha! Yes… he falls dead at “Bang” as if he just got shot!! And stays that way till he gets a treat!! It’s hilarious! Of course he has mastered the “Fetch” and “Hide and Seek” game. What truly amazes me is the prodigious intelligence he displays in day to day life. His sense of timing for example, is staggering. Every day, he goes out into the patio at sharp 5, no matter what he was doing before. Be it 5 pm and Romeo rushes to the patio, sits down with an unflinching gaze and alert ears, looking straight at the driveway, waiting for Sid’s car to turn into the parking lot. He sits there, sometimes even for an hour (when Sid gets late), just waiting for his daddy to come home. Once he sees the car, (yes, he knows his car), he jumps up into the sit position and gives out a bark of joy! As Sid gets out of the car, Romeo breaks out into an excitement dance, runs back home and dashes for the door. The moment his daddy enters, he is all over him, licking him profusely, and his tail wagging with joy. I watch him wait for Sid everyday and when Sid does come home, he gets the most touching welcome I have ever seen.








Romeo also knows his car well enough to run to it himself when it is park time. He starts to bark and jump the moment we all start wearing our walking shoes. When we all descend the stairs to go to the car, he excitedly takes the lead and sits by the car door, waiting for us. The only problem here: even at 34 lbs, he wants to sit on my lap!! We need to fix this problem soon. We took him to Rainier last weekend and he was on my lap for 6 hours straight! I almost died! (Note to myself- Make Romeo like the seat. Maybe I should hide a few treats there). However, I do discount his sitting-on-my-lap for the next two weeks. He got neutered on Friday and has been in pain. He also has that huge collar around his neck that makes him very uncomfortable and it just breaks our heart. I think it is much easier to get an already fixed pet. It’s quite hard to watch your puppy go into surgery and come back dull, sleepy and in pain with that huge collar. Romeo must have been in pain when he got discharged from the hospital, but he didn’t show it. He was so excited to see us that he jumped, wagged his tail, nibbled us a bit and then ran off to kiss the clinic staff! The nurse had to ask him to calm down and was pretty shocked herself to see his energy level just a few hours after surgery.It’s been just 4 days now, but he looks like he has recovered almost completely. The collar bothers him more than the incision I think. But the funny part is, he looks like a gramophone. Even a flower! And thanks to that collar, when he barks now, his voice is amplified and he even looks like a loud-speaker! Check him out!







He has been getting pampered by his daddy ever since his surgery. He was supposed to calm down, but we don’t see any difference at all. He still wants to jump, run, rip, and his curiosity level only seems to have increased! His daddy loves this fact that being neutered has not changed him. I do notice some change though, he wants my lap a little bit more than before…. maybe because he is uncomfortable. Other than that, he is perfectly normal and still a brat! And a great brat at that! My mother is also here and he gets a lot of love from her. She is a huge dog lover herself and has 2 back home, so she is a huge help with Romeo and knows way more about dogs than we do. She used to take him for a walk before the surgery and he would just follow her without his leash. Now, after his 2 weeks bed rest is over, he’ll be back to hopping, skipping and jumping all over.



I just can’t stop thinking about the changes Romeo has brought about in our lives as people. Of course there is a huge change in terms of responsibility, but there is something far greater than that that I see within us now. I don’t know what it is, but it is something stirring enough to change the way you live and look at life completely. I can’t stop comparing him to people and wondering why people can’t be as loving as him. I wish I could be as loving to my friends as he is. I see some friends who don’t seem to want to touch him because he is a “happy” puppy. As people, we would never show love to those who really don’t like us, but not Romeo. Whether you like him or not, he still loves EVERYBODY! He wags his tail for those who like him and those who don’t alike. Watching him do that just touches my soul and I realize that my dog has indeed, awakened something new in my soul. Although I can’t explain it, those of you who have loved an animal can understand perfectly.



The amount of love a Dog can give you in his 15 years on earth, people can’t in a lifetime. And my dog has that love not just for Sid and me, but for everyone. That’s why I am so proud of him. He heart is large enough to fit the whole world in!!

If Romeo wrote a Journal.

Unless you have seen Romeo as a pup, you won’t believe it that he weighed less than 10 lbs when we got him. Now in just less then 2 months, he weighs over 25lbs (Maybe even more, I haven’t checked his weight in 2 weeks) and is tall enough to grab food from the dining table!!! Still, it is his character that amazes me more. I don’t think I have met a more social dog ever in my life. For him, the best gifts of life are people and treats. Seriously, sometimes I tell him stories while giving him a shower and end them by saying,” So the fairy god mother rewarded the good puppy with many people to play with and a magic box of treats that would never get empty!”. I don’t know if he really understands what I say, but I like to think that he does. Maybe he does too, who knows. He sure acts like I say the most important things and listens attentively every time I start to talk. It’s not just me, he listens to everyone! He is the HAPPIEST when we have people at home, especially Manav and Dona, his best friends. It is almost impossible to keep him in control when he sees them. He behaves like a compete Psycho (which is his latest pet name!). Romeo’s friendships are another story altogether and deserve a special mention, so I’ll keep that for a new post. For now, I’ll show you what it would be like, if Romeo was to write a journal. This is what a normal day would look like.


6:30 am“Woof Woof” (Wake up!! I’m done!! Get me out of this crate now! )“Whine Whine” (Mummaaaaaa… I want mummaaaaaa)
I ran straight to Mom, completely ignoring dad who just opened the crate, took a few kisses from her and headed straight for the door. I peed, sniffed around, enjoyed some fresh air and ran back inside with Daddy. Stole a few kisses from him and then got some Pretend Food. (A few pieces of puppy chow so that I stop acting like I am dying of hunger and go back to sleep). Everyone headed back for the bedroom, I propped myself up nicely on the bed, snuggled with Mommy Daddy and everyone took a nap again.

7:30 amWoof Woof (Ok now I SERIOUSLY want my food!)
Mommy fed me a real meal while daddy showered.

7:45 amI ate my meal, peed and ran back home. I sat right in front of the bathroom door, tried hard to open it and play with daddy while he showered but the door was locked.

8 amDaddy got out of the shower. I was still waiting at the door and the moment he stepped out, I attacked him! Grabbed his leg, tried to pull the towel and licked off some body lotion from his feet. (These guys smell and taste pretty yummy after a shower!).

8:01 am
Mommy rushed from the kitchen, leaving daddy’s breakfast half cooked, picked me up, left me in the patio and shut the door on me.

8:05 amI waited a few minutes and then started barking at the top of my voice. Mommy rushed to get me out coz she knew I was threatening her to wake the neighborhood. I ran straight to daddy, but the bedroom door was locked. So I got angry, ran as fast as I could to the living room, picked up a picture frame and ran. Mommy ran behind me with a spatula (she was cooking breakfast) and I made her chase me for a good 5 minutes.

8:10 amI got tired of running and so did mommy. She yelled at me like a psycho and we traded the frame for a raw hide. I sat with it for 10 minutes and caught my breadth.

8:20 amDaddy came out of the room all dressed to go to work. I tried to tug and tear his pants (I lovvvveee to play in the mornings!!), but he sprayed bitter apple straight in my mouth. I got angry again and ran straight to the bathroom and stole the toilet paper roll. Daddy was already eating breakfast so Mommy ran behind me again and I made her chase me for a good 5 minutes again. She kept yelling like a psycho.

8:25 amI got tired of running round and round the living room. We traded the toilet paper (which was in shreds by now!) with a Chew and I took that to the patio.

8:35 amDaddy got up to leave. I hate it when he leaves me so I tried to stop him by grabbing his pants. Mommy ran behind me again and took me straight into the crate. I fell off to sleep immediately.


10 amI woke up and daddy was gone. We went for a short walk and I think I behaved well. I just plucked leaves while walking, uprooted some grass, tried to tug mommy’s shoe, said hi to all my neighbors and went back home.

10:20 amMommy played fetch with me for 10 minutes and I was ready for another nap in the patio.

11:30 amStudy time. I showed Mommy some tricks, leant some new ones and got lots of cheese.
12 pmNap.

2 pm Ate Lunch (I didn’t trouble mommy much all day, just stole the toilet paper once more).

5 pmAfter playing and sleeping all day, (along with getting yelled at by Mommy several times for stealing), I sat at the door waiting for daddy.

6 pm.Daddy walked in, I ran to him and licked him as if he were an ice cream. I was soooo happy to see him! He picked me up and gave me so many kisses.

6:10 pm.Daddy washed up and got some chai. I wanted him to play with him so I stole his shoe. Mommy ran behind me again! I left the shoe half way and got the toilet paper from the bathroom! They both ran after me. We traded the toilet paper for Bobo.

6:20 pm.
I rested for a bit and ran to Daddy. He petted me and I took another nap.

7 pmDinner time!!

7:45 pmWe all left for the park!! My best time of the day!!!



7:55 pm I ran towards Kramer! My best buddy. My guru. When I grow up, even I will be a big handsome lab just like him!
I played with him and Riley for an hour. We played chase and tug and sniff (Mommy hates the sniff game! ha-ha!).






8:55 pmBy now I was so tired of playing with my friends that I was falling off to sleep in the park. Daddy had to carry me to the car and I slept on Mommy’s lap.

9:15 pm.I made one last attempt to steal the picture frame and eat the toilet paper but was too sleepy. Mommy Daddy caught me, took the toilet paper from my mouth. While Daddy picked up the shreds of paper from the living room, Mommy tucked me to bed and kissed me good night. I kissed her back several times. Daddy also came into the room and reached inside my crate. Both Mommy and Daddy kissed me some more and told me that although I am naughty, I am the cutest and the most playful puppy in the world! I went off to sleep amidst all those kisses and dreamt of people and treats and even the toilet paper!!
Phew! It was a tiring and a very busy day!!

Daddy's tale of a wagging tail

A river changes its course at free will carving a path for itself when it comes across a stumbling block. Such is life as well. Our stumbling blocks are the milestones/ events/ decisions that allow us to choose our path leading to the next step in life. They include education, work, marriage, and children and so on. We are responsible for these altering events which could make life a bed of roses or path of thorns.

My wife Kanishtha and I updated our life’s calendar with one such event on Wednesday, 13 June 2007 8pm. We took one big decision that has not allowed us to get a decent 7 hrs of sleep ever since. It has redecorated our faces with dark circles and our legs and hands with scratches. We haven’t sat on our hind for more than 10 min at a stretch and have lost our voices to screaming out a ‘no’ every 2 minutes. Yes, we brought this upon ourselves. We bought Romeo, a 6 week old Black Labrador.

Life was good without him. It’s only better now. Romeo has added ‘years’ to both our lives and all the pain mentioned above is a very small price to pay for the loads of happiness he brings us. The day ends quickly at work with the thought of rushing home to my baby who receives me with a wagging tail and his display of excitement with a few nibbles of my legs, tugs on my pants and displaying a belly that is begging to be rubbed. I am expected to spend 10 minutes with him before I can even take a step in any direction. Fun just never ends at home. My evenings are spent playing with him at home and then taking him to the park for his play date with his buddies Skeeter- Shitzu, Jack- English Bull Dog, Kramer- Black Labrador, Riley- Havanese and Alphie.

Born on May 7 2007, my Romeo is 10 weeks and 2 days old today. He has grown and continues to at lightening pace, making us wonder if the food we feed him contains steroids. I still remember the tiny fur ball that we got home 5 weeks ago. It’s all so clear in my head still…

Tring!! Tring!! Pick up the phone hun…
Kanishtha: Hello
Me: Hey it’s me. Stay ready this evening. We are going to do tea with some colleagues from work.
Kanishtha: Sure! What time will you pick me?
Me: Sharp 6:30 pm
Kanishtha: Sounds good
Click! Click!…the phones hang up.

Even though we drove for an hour to reach Auburn, WA for my 7:30 pm appointment at Magic Creek Farms, not once did Kanishtha call my bluff?
She did investigate a lot though. Who are these folks? What are their names? Why do we have to drive this far for tea? Is it really worth the gas we are spending? I kept fending off each question with a quick fix reply while anticipating what the next one will be. I felt like I was in a criminal investigation room with a detective trying to get things out of me. But, I had sworn secrecy. (I deserve to be starring in a Bollywood flick, just based on this performance.) Mind you, it’s never easy to keep anything from the wife. She always reads through me. Well, not this time.

Tammy, the breeder greeted us as we parked and then walked us towards her home. By now Kanishtha knew there is something fishy. All her questions were answered within the next minute when she saw a litter of fur balls following their mom out of the house door into the yard. Her face lit up. She had this surreal glow. I could see the set of 32. She was all smiles. I said, “Pick the one you like”. She turned towards me to confirm what her ears might have heard. Without wasting a moment she got down on her knees to greet the mommies (there were 2 of them: yellow and chocolate) and then the pitter patter of tiny paws that followed. This was too good to be true for her. She has been waiting for this moment ever since she moved to the US, post our wedding in Dec 2005. Many a times she had begged and pleaded me for getting her a puppy, even agreed to be my slave for life. Finally, her moment had arrived and she made the most of it, picking each one of the pups individually and then putting her arms around all together.


One stood out of the lot…that was our Romeo to be. He was fearless. We watched him closely. He pushed and shoved everyone around to make way for himself, tumbling over his siblings if need be and/or bite the rest. He took a big piece of wood between his razor sharp puppy teeth and walked around with his head held high. Kanishtha looked at me, smiled and nodded, confirming the choice of her’ knight’ who is meant to protect her from all the evil ducks at the Kirkland water front. Oh yeah, ‘the wife’ is phobic of birds. So while she played I finished all other formalities and we were on our way home.

It was love at first sight. We knew that very moment that life has changed. We christened him “Romeo” on our drive home. That was the first name that flashed in my mind and it stuck. Trust me; he has been doing full justice to it as well. An apple of everyone’s eye in the community we live, people gravitate towards him everywhere we go. He is truly an ace in the pack. The hour long drive home wasn’t pleasant at all. Amidst all his yowling, whining, high pitch barking and struggling to be let out to get back to his siblings, we tried talking to him, calming him down, keeping him straight up, sometimes upside down, planting kisses and everything else that you can possibly think of, but nothing worked for more than 2 minutes. At one point we even considered taking him back to the breeder as we couldn’t see him in pain. Kanishtha had slipped into her parental role and the motherly instinct had kicked in. Her experience in raising Caesar and Hazel (her Daschunds in India) helped her handle Romeo well. Kanishtha made a couple of quick calls to our friends who promised to be home to receive our baby.

We reached home finally, after a journey that seemed to go on forever. First thing we did after entering home was take him to our little mandir to thank the almighty and seek blessings to help us provide for Romeo with everything that he deserves and keep him away from an evil eye. Our baby is dependent on us for as long as he lives and we needed to make sure that the superpower that sits above us all is with us through this journey. Romeo was let loose. He wandered around sniffing, exploring every nook and corner of his new home. In the meantime our friends poured in to see our new bundle of joy. In sheer excitement to meet new folks, Romeo marked his territory, peeing and pooping. I looked around for Kanishtha to clean up, but since she had stepped away I was the chosen one. “Welcome to fatherhood” was my thought as I bent over to pick the mess. There has been no turning back ever since.


Romeo’s social character was displayed right away when he played around with all the starry eyed folks who came to visit him. That came as a pleasant surprise as we expected him to have separation anxiety. Everyone was surprised and overjoyed to see this lovely addition to our family and took their time to spend some one on one time with him. After all he was to meet his uncles and aunts on a daily basis. After playtime was over Romeo fell asleep on his Mommy’s toes…a sight so sweet, it just had to be captured through my lens (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidz11/550741108/). Romeo was soon transferred to his makeshift bed next to ours for a good night’s sleep.

Zzzzzz……..zzzzzzzzzz………..scratch…..scratch….whhhhiiiinnnnneee……..bark……..scratches again….whiineeeeee (Woof Woof to English dictionary, “Good Morning, I am wide awake…take me out”)
I squint to see the time in the alarm clock that sits on my bedside. It’s 5:00 am. “Why can’t you sleep for just one more hour “, I tell Romeo who is now sitting up in his crate. He has been my wakeup call at this unearthly hour for the last five weeks now and I still haven’t got accustomed to it as yet. I walk dreamy eyed to his crate and unlatch it. He quickly runs out with a wag of his tail, conveniently ignoring my presence and the sleep I just sacrificed for him; runs to his mommy for a quick pat on his back and few kisses. After that is over, he remembers that he has business to finish and follows me to the door. I take him downstairs to his make shift toilet patch to wrap things up. He follows me back home after emptying his bowels. We follow the ritual of a rub down with disinfectant wipes every time he enters home, post which he is allowed to spend an hour in bed with mom and dad. It’s our family bonding time every morning. I struggle to get shut my eyes and get a few extra minutes which is totally at the mercy of this sleep destroying devil in disguise. He sometimes prefers to share my pillow or just use my face as one. When his pillow choice is Kanishtha I quickly slide myself completely under the comforter and steal a few minutes of the much needed siesta.

Kanishtha has been kind to me by taking Romeo for a walk at around 6:30 am. They get back at 7:00 am and after the usual cleaning up ritual he makes a dash for his bowl. His body clock tells him it’s one of the three best times of the day. It’s food time! Our puppy is always hungry. His mouth is always open, either to eat food or chew on his toys or just about anything that is in jaw snapping distance. Sometimes I wonder if “Camera” would have been a more appropriate name for him, since he snaps so much. What do most of us think of with a full tummy? If you guessed ‘sleep’ give yourselves a pat on the back and an extra five minutes in bed tomorrow morning. As for Romeo, food is always followed by a nice twenty minute nap. He wakes up at the time I am about to head to work, and then all hell breaks loose. He senses separation and gets into a hysterical mode. You read it right, “Hysterical”. He starts barking and tugging at my pants aggressively as if to say, “I will be very upset if you go away”. This is usually broken up by the bitter apple that’s sprayed in his mouth to let go. After a landing a few kisses and playing with him for a sometime I bid adieu to ‘the wife’ and ‘the son’ hoping for the day to speed through so that I can rush back to the wagging tail in the evening.

Sid

The Pet Food Recall Saga!

Ok. I am stressed as hell! What’s with all the pet food brands being recalled? At least most of them! Romeo’s nutrition is driving me crazy. I want to feed him the best, but the best (for a fast growing 100lbs- to- be puppy like mine) is being recalled now. Yup! Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance has been recalled, although the regulation applies to the canned foods only. Still, if you come to think of it, once the canned food of the same brand has been declared perilous, it is both wearisome and confusing to decide whether their dry food is safe or not. I somehow really like their dry dog food. We feed him the Ultra Premium Dry Dog Formula and he loves it. Unlike other dog foods, the premium content is chicken and not corn. So it has been easy on his stomach, filling and of course the flavor is outstanding ( Romeo makes this more than evident). I just called the company to recheck if this dry dog food is safe and they responded in the affirmative. So why am I still confused? Ha! Who wouldn’t be?


I was happy with Pedigree, but the doctor recommended something better for a dog his age and breed. The change of brands was an eventful one. What we paid for a month’s food from Pedigree, we pay that much for a week of food now. We don’t dissent this at all. Romeo’s health is our foremost priority: but now, I am worried just incase they wake up one fine day to recall the dry dog food too. I don’t want that to happen, because I like the brand and more importantly, my dog relishes every chomp, blissfully smacking his lips and leaving his bowl sparklingly laundered. Besides, a change of food always means either loosies or constipation, none of them a favorite for any dog or parent. It just annoys me to see the long list of pet foods that are recalled every month. I do feel thankful that at least we are warned, but my heart goes out to all those who have lost their furry friends. I guess I should check the pet food recall list once every 2 days. 2 minutes of my time every day could easily save my pet’s life!!


Delightedly unaware of the recall, Romeo is having the time of his life these days. He continues to discover new things and new smells on his adventuresome journey from a puppy to a big boy. He has finally learnt how to go down the stairs (till a few days ago, he could just climb up). He is becoming more attentive, more obedient and calmer. Nothing destroyed this week! Yippee! He has found a mystery in the toilet paper roll that only he can resolve, so he takes it in his mouth and inspects it a few times daily. He licks the refrigerator religiously each day and stares at it for hours, hoping that it would open for him my magic like Ali Baba’s cave. I can almost see his keen eyes scream “Khul Ja Sim Sim!!” “Sorry baby, you got the wrong password!!”

I am very excited for Romeo to meet my Mom, who is one hell of a dog lover. She is one of those brave people who got two puppies home at the same time and trained them successfully afterwards. They even won the “National Dog Show Championship” once. She will be a great help, especially with training Romeo. Then of course, there is Maria, Romeo’s trainer who comes home and gives him great lessons. Many people to teach and one stubborn, smart and extremely playful puppy, it’s a whole lot of fun! Each day is an adventure, each moment is a new story, each passing minute is a waltz of smiles!

Whoever said you can’t buy happiness forgot little puppies I guess!!

Some Infection, Some Attitude And An Empty Box.

This week has been rather eventful, with Romeo getting an ear infection, ballyhooing appalling attitude, and getting obsessed with an empty cardboard box from Costco. The infection is a consequence of his own stupidity. Every morning when Sid takes a shower, he wants to jump in with him and play. Even I know that Labs love water, but come on, PLEASE spare the shower at least! Romeo just loses control when he sees water and now I have learnt not to waste my commands when I know he won’t listen. So “hop” he enters the shower and begins trying to catch the water streaming out of the shower, (apparently the most fascinating thing my dog has ever seen!). Of course Sid takes him out of the tub immediately. However, it seems like his ears got filled with water at some point of time which has now caused an ear infection. The doctor says it is a common thing in Labs, because they are always in water, so I am not too worried. Besides, his ear washing with antibiotics gives me a good opportunity to hold him tight and show him who‘s the boss.


This brings me to the second event in our canine wonderland. It is a doubtless fact that Romeo was the Alpha Dog in his pack. He seems to think that everyone around him is a directionless wimp in need of some authority. Like a wolf, he thinks that someone has to hold the top dog position in our pack, just incase we get attacked by another pack! (I know… it’s INSANE!). My Dog likes to lead and is the most fearless creature I have ever seen. He has been sat on, growled at, maybe even nipped a bit by very large dogs. Still, he just gets up, sits right in front of them in his “Down “ position, pretending to be tired and when they are not looking, he attacks back! It is crazy; he “plots” the attack. At home too, he has been trying his best to establish that Pack Leader position very hard. What he doesn’t know is that like him, I am not scared of any dog. I too have been bitten, growled at, jumped upon, pinned down and scratched by many dogs and still, I don’t care. Bottom-line, “Dude, you are not the boss!” So these days, I am assiduously working towards successfully training Romeo (which is hard because is one hell of a persistent and stubborn jackass sometimes!) and establishing my rank above him. Even though he is the cutest thing alive, I give him the “alpha dog rollover” a few times a day, snarl back at him when he is trying to bite, and sometimes, for no reason I just make him do something he hates, just to “pull rank” on him. I don’t have a choice. Better to get in under control while he is just 20 lbs. At 100 lbs, I won’t be able to give him a scruff that easily. I have been told to eat before he does, which is so hard because by the time we are done eating, Romeo has drooled a lake on our feet!!
Now when he tries to tug on our pants, (his way of insisting that we play), we thrust him back with our feet, giving him the cut to come up with a better option than tugging. He seems to hate this new mean side of his parents and is making it more than conspicuous. He sulks and sits next to the fireplace, making that,” No one loves me” face. It is hard, but it’s working and he is learning. His hysterics are deflating slowly.


Now the cardboard box part. The other day, Sid went to Costco and came back with the groceries neatly stacked in a cardboard box. Like always, Romeo just pounced at the new object brought home, sniffing and inspecting it away to glory, as if looking for some hidden pieces of meat or maybe even an intruder. He paused to look at me, (these days he stares at me to see if I approve of what’s in his mouth), his tiny tail wagging energetically, his beaming eyes analyzing my expressions, searching for that nod of approval. He was so frenzied with that box that I didn’t have the heart to say no. So I nodded an “Ok” and that was it! He jumped into the box, chewing, gnawing and licking it elatedly. For the next two hours or so, he didn’t move an inch away from the box. Sid and I couldn’t stop laughing. He was trying to dig the box, chew the corners and pushing it around the house with his paws. Now, that box has become his favorite toy and I have kept it away, so that I can reward him with it when he behaves well. I think he loves this idea. Check out the picture. He is sitting inside the box, relishing every bite of that cardboard. Silly Boy!!
That’s my Romeo; Beauty without pride, courage without violence. He still continues to destroy things, but my God knows that I can buy more carpets and shoes, but never a friend like him.

A Heartbeat At My Feet.

The main reason why a dog gives so much comfort when you are blue is because he does not try to find out why. Yesterday was one of my low days and Romeo just sat there, listening attentively and licking my toes from time to time, like he totally understood what I was saying or feeling. I don’t know why I was low, but I was. Maybe it was lack of sleep, maybe it was the sudden realization that I need to figure out what I will do with him when I go to India. In all probabilities, I knew it was something to do with him. Romeo knew that too. I could sense it. I noticed that yesterday, he tried his best not to bother me much and spent most of his time just sitting at my feet, sometimes chomping on his horse hoof and sometimes just taking a nap on my toes, like he used to when he had just come. He also stared at me occasionally, as if trying to see if I squealed a, “Roooomeoooooooooooo” in excitement, inviting him to play. I didn’t. At least not for the most part of the morning.
I was at a complete loss of nerves by day break. The thought of leaving him alone when we travel to India was harrowing. What am I going to do? Where am I going to leave him? Will he be ok? How should we plan our trips? Will it really be feasible for us to take turns and go home? Will our parents ever be ok with the fact that they will get to see us individually, never together, unless they come and visit us here? I thought about it for quite a while and then just gave up. “We’ll cross the bridge when we get to it”. Or so I concluded..… till Romeo got a tummy ache.
Sitting calmly at my feet with his little heartbeat only too distinct at my toes, he began to whine. Not normal. He never whines. Then, he just got up and ran to the door, rigorously mugging it with his tiny paws. “Potty time!”. I ran to the door, picked him up and took him down to his landscaped toilet in the grass. Normally, he likes his privacy and poops as far from me as possible, but today, he decided to go right next to me. Not normal again. Then, he began to whimper, trying hard to poop. After a few seconds of acute discomfort, his whimper turned into a shriek as he struggled and out popped a stone. Right there, in his poop! I bent down to validate my doubt and yes, it was a tiny pebble. I had noticed him eat a pebble when we went to Rainier on Sunday but had no clue that he had swallowed it. After some anguishing moments of suffering, he succeeded in passing out that stone in his stool and ran towards home. His tiny body struggled to climb the stairs as fast as possible, his belly dragging and rubbing against each step. I rushed behind him, opened the door and he ran towards the chair I usually sit on, turned around, stared right at me, and whimpered again. “What happened Romeo?” “Are you ok baby?” I questioned as affectionately and sympathetically as possible. He jumped at me, tugged at my pants, till I was forced to sit down right there on the floor. He hopped right on to my lap and began to yowl softly. I turned him around, started to rub his belly, while he just say there, staring right into my eyes with a gaze so helpless and vulnerable that it broke my heart. Finding the belly rub enjoyably soothing, he fell off to sleep, just like that, upside down on my lap........
In an instant, I found all my answers.
I realized that a tiny life that can not speak depends on me completely. From his food to his puppy tantrums, all he has is me to count on. I realized that for my dog, I am his idea of what God must be like. I realized that for me, he is a part of my world, but for him, I AM his world. All he has is us. Sid and me. Was it really fair of me to think of him as a problem? Was I doing that? Never again I decided. I got him for me, to make my life happier. Shouldn’t he expect the same if not more? Isn’t he the one who is giving way more to this relationship? Yes, he is and I am going to be the good person my Romeo thinks I am. That is my goal in life. For those who don’t have dogs would think I am being way too dramatic. However, those who have a pet will know what I am talking about. Life changes and life changes drastically when you have someone depend on you as much as your pet does. It makes you a better person. More loving, more responsible and more forgiving. I am learning from my Romeo and his tummy ache has taught me some great lessons of life. I have to ensure his safety and his comfort in whatever decisions I take. Sid and I can easily take turns to go to India, drop him off in a kennel for a week incase we need to be together in India for a few days. Not more than that. It is possible, it is practical and I know our parents will understand. They have dogs too and can’t live without them. The other way to look at it is that for people as emotional and as attached as Sid and me, there is no other choice and our family understands that. Once someone said to me,” You guys are very strong. You can stay without going to India and meeting your family for 2 years. We can’t”. At one point, I felt like telling her why we haven’t gone and why we got a dog. Then I decided against it because we don’t need to give anyone an explanation. Our family matters to us the most and if they understand our situation, we are good. With Romeo too, they know why we got him, how much we love him and they have dogs too, so they know exactly where we are coming from. Everything is possible when you have your family’s support.

I have all my answers now. My Dog is my best friend, my baby and my responsibility. Watching Romeo sleep soundly in his safe spot (my lap), I felt guilty that I had been ignoring him all morning. I picked him up, gently placed him on his day bed but he woke up. He had this amazingly blissful expression on his face. He looked at me with remarkable awe as if I had taken his pain away by magic. I could see a stark sense of gratitude in his puppy eyes. His tail began to wag. He hopped and skipped like a rabbit, ran to get his Bobo (a toy he can’t live without), and placed it at my feet. “Fetch time!!!!” his tail exclaimed! I picked it up, kissed his forehead and began another delightful day with my best friend. A tiny heartbeat at my feet.

Introducing Romeo

It is 7 in the morning and I am sitting with my mug of coffee in the patio while Romeo is busy playing with his “Milk Bone” blissfully near my feet. By 7, I have walked him, fed him, taken him out again for his business and even played a few minutes of fetch, while my coffee brewed and I defrosted from sleep. Now he seems to be all ready for a nap, (Ouch! Maybe not, I just got a bite on my toe!!). OK! He just wanted me to throw his bone for him. He has just learnt that he gets a “ good boy” for fetching and so now that’s his favorite game.
This change of lifestyle is nothing new for me. I have grown up with dogs and understand them only too well. Although I hear a million different stories from every breeder, every trainer and every master on how to keep a healthy dog, I firmly believe that a healthy dog and a content dog is one who has willing parents who go the whole 9 yards to raise a happy puppy. You could very well be lazy and just take your dog out before you head to work. Or you could be like Sid, my husband who now wakes up early, not just to take Romeo out but to get some time to “play and bond” with him before he leaves for work each day. He finds spending time with him first thing in the morning much more rewarding than those 30 extra minutes of sleep. It is amazing to see how Romeo has become such an integral part of his life and how happily he has embraced all the troubles and the running about that is involved in raising him. Even at the play date every evening (Yes. Romeo has a play date every day and he loves his friends Riley, Alphi, Jack, Skeeter and Kramer) everyone just keeps talking about how good a dad Sid is. He is all about making the best of the socialization period and wants Romeo to play with everyone, dogs and people alike! Romeo just like his dad loves people and loves to play. His play date time is the best time of his day and we ensure that we don’t let that one thing change.
Since this is my first post about Romeo, I know I could go on and on and on and on. So what I’ll do is that this time, I’ll just write about his milestones and a little about his character and then, in the following posts, I will keep writing about what new things he has been learning (which hopefully will not involve more ripped carpets, chewed shoes and sitting inside the dishwasher, chomping the wash blades).So here goes, a little bit about Mr. Major Trouble, Romeo. A riot that can’t be left alone even for a SECOND.

Name: Romeo Gavandi (Yes. He has a last name too!!).
Breed: Labrador Retriever (…and according to his vet, his trainer, his breeder and other breeders, he is what they call a “perfect” lab, with the perfect tail, ears and teeth. Yippee!!).
Color: Black (With dark blue eyes.Yeah! He is my blue-eyed boy. )
Weight: 15 lbs.
Age: About 9 weeks. (We got him way too early, at just 6 weeks. I don’t recommend getting a pup that young, it just happened by chance).
Character: Like all labs, Romeo is a people and a dog lover. His tail wags at the speed of light when he sees other people or dogs. Even on his first day home, I was more worried about his separation anxiety than he was. He just wanted to play not just with us, but with all our friends who came to visit and welcome him. He is extremely brave and I have not seen him afraid even once. Just the other day, his friend Jack, an English Bulldog, sat on him ( to kind of put him in his place because he was playing rough), and Romeo yelped a bit, limped for a few minutes and then was back running behind Jack! He chases dogs twice his size and plays with 90 lbs dogs and pocket size dogs alike with the same excitement. He is also a “Daddy’s Boy” (They both have this macho man to man thing going on. Whenever he shows bravery and strength, he gets loads of treats from his dad along with that famous “Yeah buddy, that’s my boy!” pat! However, he is also over active, hyper and destructive like all lab puppies, which might not be that good a thing. From the time I wake up, I start yelling,” No”. He chews EVERYTHING. The furniture, he slides under the couch, lies down on his back and tries to chew the bottom of the couch. He has ripped my carpet, pulled out almost all the threads from my rug, he has eaten mud, hay, stones, hot sauce, plastic, toilet paper, a travel brochure, cloth, leather bits from my shoe, some beads, a cigarette bud , sea weed and he pulled out the hair from his friend Skeeter’s back. This is just one of the few things. He does something to annoy me EVERYDAY. It’s like his mission to make me fume at least once each day. He is obsessed with my golden handbag, my everyday flip flops and Sid’s blue shorts. When you yell at him, he tilts his head and acts confused and then hops like a rabbit! How can you top that now? It is so hard to resist squeezing him and kissing him when he does that. Now I just turn my back and ignore him for a few seconds to show that I am angry. Obviously, it’s not working. Nothing does.
Hey! At the end of the day, he is a reward in himself. It melts my heart to see how he jumps in excitement when Sid comes home. Every morning when Sid takes him out of the crate, he runs straight to me, offers me his head to pet and then runs off to go down for his morning business. He follows me around like a lamb, wakes up from time to time to see if I am around and when he sees me in the room, he sleeps back, blissfully reassured.
Milestones: He is also amazingly smart. It is hard for everyone to believe, but he has had many milestones in his 9 weeks on earth. He is already housetrained (Can you believe it? He paws the door whenever he needs to go). He has mastered simple commands like “Sit”, “Down”, “Stay”, “Go Outside”, “Fetch” and he is completely leash trained. 2 days ago, he learnt how to go up a flight of stairs all by himself. He also knows that whenever I touch the Bitter Apple bottle, it is time to sprint away. His body clock makes him bark at 6:30 am and 4 pm daily and he comes and sits next to his bowl for food.
Bad Habits: Chew, bite, destroy things and chew some more. He successfully convinced my brother-in-law NOT to get a puppy. Ha ha!!
So that’s my Romeo. A bundle of joy, a 24x7 job, a reward and the beautiful dog who is busy making the best memories of my life!!