Diary 5 - To give away or not give away - March 2019

To give away or not give away

When we got Luna home, injured, we had no plans to keep her as none of us in the family are dog lovers.

Sandeep's opinion - dogs are meant to run around in open spaces and our house wasn't big enough for Luna. When she grows up, she would find herself restricted and this will kill her natural, wild instincts.

That is when I really wished that we were living in a country side with sprawling landscape. However, that's not happening. Can't take lock stock and barrel to a farm side and farm, at least not right now. Though, Sandeeep is a farmer by heart. Maybe someday, but now.

Hence, the long discussions whether Luna should go or not.

Another argument in favour of giving her away was where do we leave her when we go for our long vacations. You see, Sandeep and I take long breaks during summers and go trekking, backpacking in the mountains. We love the mountains. 

Our mountain happy faces!

So I started inquiring around for any potential dog lover who would adopt Luna. Sadly and fortunately(see the paradox there!), we found none. It turned out that nobody is willing to take in a 'desi' dog. It is not fashionable to own a street dog among all the fancy breeds of dogs that seemingly symbolize the status of a household. 

We also inquired at shelter homes only to discover that shelter homes provide just food and shelter and nothing beyond that. 

Meanwhile, I was getting fonder of Luna. I started resisting the idea thought of giving her away. My fears ran as thoughts.

What if she does not get people who do not cuddle her?

What if she is not given the food she likes?

What if she is not allowed to chew on things while she is teething?

And so the 'What ifs'  persisted.

This persistence led to a series of mild and heated discussions between Sandeep and I. But I could sense that Sandeep was also growing a slight fondness for Luna. 

Diary 4 - Puppy hood Pees

Puppy hood pees

Those were the days when our drawing room floor  was strewn with newspapers. 

Why?

Because Luna had no control over her bladder! She would pee anywhere she sees a newspaper or sometimes a rug or just pee anywhere. We had to use more newspapers to soak up her pee from the floor! 

Of course, she would get rebuked for it;  but it did not work much  at that time, as puppies, they say, need to pee very often, literally after every half an hour! 

Our major job of the day was to clean up the mess. And guess who was freaking out the most - our cleanliness and organisational freak, Mummyji! She would keep cursing and at the same time keep cleaning too! 

This peeing misadventure continued for a month; a month filled with sound and fury, chaos and understandings. 

In our living room

And one fine day she grew up! Grew up to understand that peeing in the rooms is offensive. I guess, she is a slow learner. It took her a month to figure this out!

 Since then, she would run upstairs whenever she wanted to pee. That is our terrace. And not just our terrace, our neighbour's terrace, our neighbour's neigbour's terrace and the neighbour on  the right! 

Not just pees, she was expanding her territory by pooing in other's terraces. 
Initially, the neighbour's politely pointed out that she was peeing. But gradually, it wasn't cute any more. We started getting grumpy complaints very often. We were in a fix! We did not know how to potty train and Luna was a reckless brat! Our relations with our neighbour's were at stake.

We had to give justifications to our neighbour's many a times.

Justification 1 - Uncleji, we woke up late today, so we could not take her out on time. So she  peed on the terrace. (We are trying hard to wake up early because of Luna, the early riser!)

Justification 2 - Aunty, we are new to taking care of a puppy and so are trying to figure out how to train her and change our lifestyle to suit her  bladder needs. Please, accept our apologies. 

Justification 3 - Uncleji, I am very sorry, from tomorrow I will definitely wake up early and take her out! 

Justification 4 - Aunty, I  truly apologise. This would not happen again. I have cleaned your terrace with water. 

And to all these apologies, the only advise I would get is 

TIE HER UP!

And we did not want to tie her up. So, we persisted! And one fine day, she grew up to understand the neighbour's woes as well! She stopped peeing and pooing on their terrace. She would in fact leap towards our neighbour's neighbour's terrace which is kind of abandoned. Nobody really comes there. She understood that and would leap over the wall , pee there and come back. We were relieved. Our persistence payed off! She is a self-taught learner. Totally unschooled! 

Diary 3 - The initial days of recovery

The initial days of recovery

Rest, eat and then rest. Occasional play with the neighborhood kids Simar and Tegh.

(They are the ones who named her Luna. According to the Tegh,  the 6 year old boy, the pup was a 'she'. He also ordered me to keep the pup and that he should see it when he returns to Bhopal after a year! And Luna is still with us, but the kids haven't come yet.)

  And since it was winters, we would spend most of the time on the terrace to bask in the mild winter sun. And guess, what was Luna's favourite napping spot - my lap!

Luna and the lap!

Whenever she would see me sitting down on the granite bench, she would try to leap up to my lap. I would oblige, happily sometimes and reluctantly at times. She would cuddle herself comfy on my lap and nap there for an hour or so. And I would be exhausted with an overdose of Vitamin D!

After a month, she wasn't limping anymore, much to our joy. Her gait was like any other healthy pup. How happy were we to see her trotting along the limited space on our terrace! At that time she lived on the terrace since she hadn't become a member of our family. She was just to be tended, recovered and sent away. 

Diary 2 - Luna's first night stay at our house

Luna's first night at home

 Luna reached home. Our Mummyji was shocked, but she was okay with us tending the pup and giving it first aid. You see, our Mummyji is a 73  year old lady who is okay as long as things do not get to the extreme. She lives a disciplined life of moderation.

So there was Luna. We did not know what to do for a while. Then it clicked us that her wound needs to be washed and taken care of. So I cleaned her wound with Dettol swabs and tied her leg with  a bandage. All this with reluctant hands. Sandeep cushioned a basket and lay her in it. A basket from which she cannot come out herself. And remember, she was injured too.

That night with Luna was my first experience of having a sleepless night. Luna lay in the basket in the living room and we were in the adjacent bedroom. Whenever she wanted to pee, Luna would start a faint moan and one of us would wake up; take her out of the basket; place her on a newspaper and she would pee on the newspaper that we had spread for her. Now this happened five to six times that night! Sometimes Sandeep would nudge me or sometimes I would nudge him. to wake up. Amidst the nudges, I found myself waking up the most. 

So here is a universal fact that we discovered... rather observed. Dogs do not pee where they sleep. Quiet sensible programming in their genetic code; unlike human babies who pee wherever they are!

That night and many nights to come, my auditory senses grew sharper and my brain grew alert in the nights. New brain neurons were being formed. 

Luna, The sleeping Beauty... with the look of a rodent!

Diary 1 - The Day Luna found us

I am in love with her. I find myself talking about her to everyone I meet.  I find myself alert all the time just in case I hear her moans, groans, growls or whines. Her lovely, feminine eyes eyes crave for a pack of her own. Not to forget the perfectly smeared black eyeliner look in them.

The black eyeliner look!

Right now when I write this, Luna is in her second summer of her life. She has been with us for 16 months. Lots of changes in her and me since she entered our lives. I could not get to sharing these changes with the world till now. But now, I feel strongly about sharing them. So, let's begin now.

But how do I begin? Umpteen experiences flashing in my mind. 

Ok, let's do this. I will anecdote and keep shuttling back and forth in time. So here is how Luna found us.

The Day Luna found Us

The day was 29th, December 2018. A lovely winter evening. Sandeep and I stumbled upon her during our usual weekend walks at the vast and winding, green paths of BHEL Sports Complex, Bhopal.
We met her  near one of the ber trees(Indian Jujube or red date) outside the cricket stadium at the Complex.

The ber tree

She was this tiny pup, probably a few days old. Tumbling and falling, she inched towards us; barely able to keep herself on her legs. We paused our brisk walk and stooped down to look closer. She was clearly injured on her left front limb. Sandeep and I exchanged glances. We did not know what to do. Neither of us were dog lovers but we couldn't leave too. 

A lady passed by. I stopped her to ask for help. She suggested that we go to the sports coach at the nearby athletics ground. My ears were ringing with the painful, faint whines of this frail pup. It was getting darker and colder too as the evening set into the night.
Luckily, we fund a bunch of young lads and girls along with two grownups approaching us. One of them was the coach. A girl among the group(she seemed an animal lover) took the pup in her arms and they offered to go around the Complex looking for the pups family. They said that if the pup's mother tended and caressed it, that would be the best treatment.
Made sense at that time. So we continued with our walk, which was a round about one (approx. 2 km roundabout along the green paths). After completing the second round, I was back at the same spot where we had chanced upon the pup. Sandeep(my husband and partner in all the crimes!) had gone ahead of me and was nowhere in sight.
As it was peak winters, I was jogging faster to keep myself warm. The sun had already vanished from the sky leaving behind a fading light of crimson.
There at the same spot, I found her again. A few boys were introducing her to a family of dogs and their litter. The mother dog suspiciously crept forward to sniff at this pup. She sniffed at the pup for  a few seconds, scorned her away and turned back to her litter. Clearly, the mother dog did not accept the pup.
The boys took the pup again in their arms and told me that they would look elsewhere for its family.
They walked back with the pup and I walked ahead.
A few meters ahead, my footsteps stopped. I grew anxious with curiosity. I doubted the intentions the young boys. I wanted to see where these boys had gone with the pup.
With all kinds of apprehensions, I retraced my steps. As I reached the spot again, near the ber tree, I found the puppy tumbling and falling with more anxious whines than before and moaning with every fall. The boys were nowhere to be seen. I waited for a few minutes for them to re-appear.
And then the fact dawned on me. THEY HAD ABANDONED HER.

Just then, Sandeep jogged by. I stopped him. Both of us did not know what to do. The sky had given away to the dark. In some irratinal fit of passion, I suggested that we take it home or to the vet. Sandeep, the more practical one, refused to do so. He knew that I was scared of dogs and he wasn't interested.
 I was adamant, but had not courage to pick it up. You see, I was scared of dogs or pups(or so I thought) or any kind of animals. And I am a cleanliness freak too. But I am very good at being stubborn and making Sandeep do all the dirty job that I cannot do myself with my hands!

I refused to budge. And pestered Sandeep to such an extent that he had to give in. He picked up the pup and we rushed towards the Complex exit where our two-wheeler was parked. Sandeep was clearly not happy with this and I had no clue what was I doing. But the pup was packed inside a cloth bag and we rode home.