According to Lucy...recorded by her mom

Hunk and the real McCoy

As recorded on October 29, 2009. Event took place near Kali Puja time, 2009.

Place: Village Home, Radha Nagar, Hooghly District, West Bengal

We were in the village home the other morning when it happened. Mom was holding a camera in her hand and taking pictures of Gramps and Payal. Payal is a teacher. Anyways, more about me and Payal later; for now, getting back to the sequence of events of that morning---I was standing somewhere on the newly constructed marble porch where the blissfully unaware humans were standing and getting photographed. Suddenly in one corner (the common boundary with Sabi aunty’s house) I spotted Phoolkumari, stealthily staring at me, curling her body to sit on a heap of leafy dirt. In a millionth of a second I stiffened my body, lowered it to leap in her direction. Mom who was carelessly unaware of the impending brawl and was still finding the right angle on her camera to click Gramps and Payal, suddenly looked as I sped past her in my crouching stance. In the next millisecond, I had pushed the recalcitrant Phoolkumari out of the barbed fence around our home. Phoolkumari wailed and barked, showed her teeth and what not. I for one was enraged but kept my emotions well under control.

On the other end, more trouble was awaiting. Hearing the wails of Phoolkumari, Lalu of the neighboring house (his name is also Lalu, but he is a skinny fella) crossed the boundary and did the unthinkable. He was viciously showing his teeth to my bro Lalu. My bro is polite and not used to the rough ways of a real dog’s life. Bro wasn’t quite sure of how to react to this vicious gesture. Without loosing anymore time in understanding and strategizing, I went straight for the skinny Lalu and threw all my body weight in his direction, showed him a matching pair of teeth. He ran for his life and the ensuing pandemonium got all the spectators (father, Mukto uncle, Jethoo, Mum, Gramps and Grandma) a bit shaken up. Father grabbed the collars of me and bro and took us away from the site of the fight. The neighbors and standing folk started to shout at the erring skinny Lalu (of the neighbor’s house). Mom was still standing with her camera; didn’t know what to do with it. She thought she could have taken good pictures of me getting the intruders, but she couldn’t. It all happened too quickly and it was all so unexpected that Mum couldn’t plan any frame or angle. Had she been less petrified, she could have caught my bravado on reel, especially to show to humans who think looks is all what counts. I know my bro is a hunk but in some situations looks alone cannot deliver. But alas, I have no regrets, just better hopes for the future.

Lesson: Stay focused and calm. Issues related to the line of control of the house cannot be negotiated upon with sadak chaap kuttas (street dwelling dogs), whatever the humans may feel.

guard-dog-guard

Look at this little brat...guarding his roti. Once in awhile I give dry, plain rotis to three of my dogs- GND. All three behave differently with their prize.

Nikki, needless to guess, wastes no time in taking the roti to its natural destination: her stomach. Ginger goes berserk and takes the roti in the true playful retriever fashion all over the house like a crown and when she is tired enough or sufficiently hungry eats it slowly- with no hurry and sometimes Dash shoo-es her away and impounds the roti instead.

But in this picture it is the little hero himself and NO this is not a grabbed roti but his original roti; given to him and him alone only. And mind you, he is not hungry either ...so he is giving mean glances at everyone to scare the hell out of them. As if they are not afraid of him already. I think this glance is particularly directed at Raga- who incidentally would never, never eat a dry roti. But Mr.Dash does not understand that and he really has to scare her with the meanest looks that he can cast in her direction- the little guard-dog, guarding his roti.

Oh btw, these days Dash-aa (as I sometimes refer to him with love) is concerned, he is not wearing his harness as the former one is already used beyond further use and we are awaiting the new ones that are coming from Kolkatta.

posing with my girls this once-

Here I am posing with Raga and Nikki in two separate pictures. Raga the german shepherd and Nikki the labrador and me of course the homo sapien. the other dogs are also around on the front lawn

Nikki, mind you, is quite a handful and a real pleasure to hug. I call her my blood-pressure dog because when you hug her she gives herself so fully into the hug that you really feel the hug-warm, present in the moment and loving.

on the lawn with my girls...and the little boy too-

this is ginger, always demanding her fair share of your love.

effusiveness

Raga is known to be very loving and for showing her love too-in a very mouth-oriented way...without regard for the size of the person to whom the love is directed, or the comfort with which the recipient receives her love. See how it looks in this picture here as my closest friend and her child are subjected to her canine kiss.

patience personified or greed unlimited?!

Much as they are known for their gargantuan appetites, Labradors are also touted to be lazy. At least for various reasons my Nikki has become lazy- partially due to the leg pain and partially coz i got her spayed in an improper manner.

Anyhow, i took this picture yesterday as she lay in the kitchen- a picture of peace, patience and love for food all in one!

nocturnal activity

activity nay action never stops in our canine household. can you imagine what time this must be happening? well the time is well past ten in the evening, we are typically faced with a powercut situation and since sleeping is really tricky in the summer heat inside for us...we are all out in the back lawn- me with the camera and the dogs with a lizard, garden lizard or some such reptile to catch their fancy.

As you can see in this picture here (picture is disturbed due to the artificial lighting from CFL bulbs and the movement of the dogs) they are looking very eagerly in this brick-heap to trace any sort of motion of those reptilian adversaries. In view of the night, Dash is taking the liberty to use his size to the best of his advantage leaving Raga a bit confused!

pea hen

the pea hen here landed on our wall and is looking with curiosity at the three dogs here and the dogs too are frozen in surprise...you can see raga's head, ginger and dash, right behind ginger as a speck of black.

this pea-hen was kind enough to let me get my camera from inside my table and let me click her from various angles in the garden. the dogs were also aghast to see her non-plussed by their noisy barking and excitement.

drain pipe devil

Dash, the dachshund has more stories to report for than all the other dogs for the time being. there is too much of action for me, maybe coz so much is for the first time and then for the small dog that he is...keeping busy is important for himself. there is certainly no question of lazing around like the bigger sized women of his species. moreover, being the only male presence he sure has to keep his eyes on all sides of the house...!!!

you must be told about all the enemies that he has to contend with on a daily basis. on the front side of the house, he has to deal with squirrels and birds who feed at the bowls meant for them. in the garden there are plenty of garden lizards- everyday i am losing some or the other plant or pot! in the back-lawn again he has to keep the birds and more squirrels at bay. lately, there are monkeys straying into the house-mostly on the terraces. he has to object about that quite a bit. inside the house too...lizards keep him on his toes, especially in the guest room and the kitchen. 

most of our afternoons we are in and around the lobby and periodically he jumps and barks at the lizards around. yesterday, between him and nikki they got one and killed it. then i shooed them away and had to send the poor dead thing on its last journey.

now the story for which this entry. on the terrace too, Dash has discovered a hidden presence in the drain pipe!!! and when i took pictures of it yesterday, for i found the whole thing so funny, i decided to name it the drain-pipe devil! the pictures have titles here and they are like this:

1. ok drain pipe devil i know you are there;
2. oh you dare to call out to me;
3. i know you are there...i can see you:)

are u giving it to me or whatttt???

as long as you let me look into the bag...!!!

i

the unusual couple

this foto speaks for itself. thanks to the unfoldment of this sort of a tale, i was to learn a new lesson in my life-baptism by bite. err.r.r..r...Dasch the Dachshund bit me, and it bled quite seriously, in my ignorant attempt to keep him away by using my freshly bathed foot as a deterrent. A lesson well learnt! Raga was in heat, at the time of both this foto and the bite:)

Dash's former family

this is a picture i took yesterday on the front lawn, when Dash's former family came a-visiting. They were kind enough to not call him Junior, much as they would have felt like, i am certain. But i had some very curious observations to make about this young-little-man of my house. He just ignored them or pretended to say, "I am too busy to pay any heed to you right now." He had spent the better part of his life at home with the lady in blue...but he was utterly busy chasing squirrels when she tried to coax him and call him closer to her. 

That made me think of two things- either the presence of a bitch in heat (raga is in heat these days) has made him act like a peacock OR he has really adjusted so much in our home that he doesn't bother about the past any longer.

I am quite certain he recognised them. For not only did he bark at the main gate to welcome them but also did not play with their trousers, which he usually tries with every newcomer. On the whole there was an element of continuity in his mind and yet a supreme indifference too. At least bitches are not this way. I hope not. They were not excitable too much and were very welcoming and well-behaved with everyone. 

In this picture you see the lady and her husband and her daughter...one who is always worried about the dogs they have had to give up for adoption and a young friend of the girl, who happens to be a musician:) My Nikki always steals the show with her affable temperament and here she is in this frame too.

musical dogs

my dogs love music, or at least they are very tolerant of mine. i am utterly grateful that whatever i sing and wherever inside my home, i have some very honest audiences. They also keep changing their positions depending upon the venue i chose to sing in. They never object when i sing a raga inappropriate to the hour of the day or the season or even if my swaras sometimes go haywire (if at all). They are immediately mesmerized when i play my tanpura, they just know it is time to relax and take it easy...as long as their packleader is singing. i am utterly grateful for their patience and learning and i sometimes think maybe it is their destiny too that they had to come into the home of a person like me- to be such discerning audiences afterall:). past life karma eh!

though the newest dog dash comes from a different setting, the interesting thing about him is that he comes from a family of another artist- a painter. so i clearly know that dogs have their destinies and if it is art and literature, some dogs have it in them!

ten commandments of pets

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years.  Any separation
from you is likely to be painful.

 

2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3 . Place your trust in me.  It is crucial for my well-being.

4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as
punishment.  You have your work, your friends, your
entertainment, but I have only you.

5. Talk to me.  Even if I don't understand your words, I
do understand your voice when speaking to me.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget
it.

7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that
I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me.  Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9. Please take care of me when I grow old.  You too, will
grow old.

10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please.
Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone.  Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

1st january...new year come

here are the foursome now...the newcomer is being slowly integrated into the pack. i am still uncertain what to call him, for now it is Dasch! 

what you do see here is that how miraculously he is sharing space with the retrievers and not chasing after them, the manner he has been till today (he came on the 30th of Dec only) and now perhaps understanding who the 'worst dog' is (me obviously)