Street Dogs Are Adorable Too

How watching puppies grow changed my fear into empathy & love for stray dogs.

Writing proposals, manuals, policies, documentation, newsletter, articles, templates…..et al; was part of my professional journey. And joined Medium to share from my archives of experience with a list of topics that I am working on. But I never knew I would take months to close on the topic.

It’s been months since I have been working on various business stories to go with my profile name — SME Consultant, but I had least expected that an animal will become my inspiration to appear with my first on Medium after pushing me to debut on Vocal as well. And this is the true story of a local stray dog who almost became my pet till my deep instilled fear outgrew and suppressed the growing courage to adopt one.

So I thought before I start with my selective writing, lemme debut on medium with a real story. Actually, it’s much easier to write a real story for it flows on its own. And this story also happened with a little push — a challenge on Vocal that was just too inviting to avoid called “Stray To Stay”. I had just the right experience and I participated. The topic refreshed my memories of witnessing this amazing bunch of puppies grow into big fat dogs in less than a year.

I am sharing a bit modified version with Mediumites. Here I go…….

I had always been intrigued by people having pets co-living like family and by the brave community that manages livestock. And even more the way they communicate with each other impeccably; love doesn’t need language!

I remember developing a fear of pets and animals as such right from my childhood, so much so that inadvertently I was more inclined to have friends who didn’t have pets or to be more precise; who didn’t like pets.

In India, we grow up seeing most animals freely roaming on the road. Dogs Cats & Cows top the list followed by monkeys and pigs. Rabbits have always been pets while Cows, Buffaloes, Goats, Sheep, Horses & Donkeys are domestic animals. Commonly tamed for roadshows are Monkeys, Snakes, Elephants, and even Camels. We grow up bumping into them frequently if not daily. But like in most counties; Indians also love to have dogs, cats, rabbits, and even birds & fishes (in an aquarium) as pets.

Talking about stray; cats and dogs co-exist with humans in most residential colonies and are even taken care of; may not always be like pets though. While some become lucky and get a family but unfortunately some even face atrocities from evildoers in society.

But I NEVER liked pets. In fact pets in my friends and family hated me for; my visit meant them getting chained or locked up in a separate room :) My biggest struggle used to be when the pet owners would try to convince me by saying that I should try to befriend them, they are harmless, they will only come smell and lick you a bit, they love to be pampered, don’t be scared, just touch them lovingly and they will be yours………blah blah blah…..and all I would do was to disapprove and move my head left to right….without uttering a word! Period.

But the bigger challenge was stray dogs. I still am dead scared to face one on the road. The very sight of stray dogs even at a distance gives me chills. As a kid, we were told to tight fist hand and just don’t look at them, not to show your fear, and never run. Trust me this REALLY WORKS, and I always wondered if tightening fist sent some special message to approaching canine!

Actually stray dogs know their limits and are more prepared to run away at the slightest shoo. They can be dangerous and harmful if provoked beyond their limits.

They just come close as they too want to be pampered. They do feel bad when pet owners take their pets out for walks and keep a stick in hand to shoo the strays away. They of course feel hurt by that discrimination.

Stray cats and dogs are very sensitive and intelligent, as they grow up in the same neighborhood; they also get to know their caretakers and would hover over near their houses for their basic supply of daily meals. And I was never on their preferred list :) for obvious reasons as I never even allowed them near my house.

So I was very surprised when a female dog lodged herself in a lightly dug-up pit next to a wall close to my house; to deliver her puppies. I still remember the bright noon of 24th June 2018 when I heard some noises outside. I immediately went out and saw the local “Presswali” (In India we have cloths ironing services available right near the house serving average 60–70 persons from the assigned blocks) and some neighbors had gathered and as I approached near, I was astonished and excited as well to see 6 toy-like puppies hugged underneath the supreme lady dog who was still recovering from the exertion of bringing 6 new lives into this world. OMG ! It was a stunning sight, I instantly fell in love with the puppies. I can never forget the fear in the mother dog’s eyes seeing so many humans gather around till she realised that we all were well-wishers. Since she was known to one of the neighbors, she allowed her to come near and fix a shelter and leave some milk for her.

I didn’t miss this opportunity to capture her defensive expressions. See the click below.

And soon she was provided with a mattress, some goodies, and was regularly looked after by local vets. The “Presswali” and those who stayed close to her lodge took special care that she and her new family is not disturbed in any which ways. And I was surprised that I had happily volunteered for a regular supply of milk for her.

Unfortunately, I did not take picture of her comfort bedding.

I loved to visit her and watch as the little ones began to respond and she too got to know me and didn’t take me as a threat anymore. It is amazing to see how animals learn to deliver puppies and take care of themselves and newborns. This is so magical and divine. I found it humiliating to even term her stray. So I named her Diva. Amongst us caretakers, we began to think of the names of the little stars. There were already some who had volunteered to adopt the newborns. But the mother was still very possessive and would not allow them to go out of sight. We could feel that she didn’t trust anyone and would be upset if anyone tried carrying the little one out of sight.

It was fun watching them grow as soon the sixers begin to crawl and fight over the milk bowl. We kept two long low height bowls to make it convenient for puppies. As my apartment was the closest, I could hear them playing and making a lot of noise. What still kept me holding my breath was the mother dog and the way she kept an eye on all six. How firm she was with her newborns. It was fun to watch her pull them back as they tried going a bit far into thorny bushes or separate them when they would get entangled fighting.

And in no time; in just about a month they were big enough to ditch their overprotective mom and swift crawl a little farther. Many times they would get stuck in the rope that we had tied to restrict their movement and she would painstakingly help them out. They were learning from her, this was so beautiful Awww... !! Like all kids, they too were growing to be naughty, calm, and intelligent.

By 2 months they were big enough to run a bit and explore the outer world while their mom also started going out. But they stayed together and would come back soon. Tragedy struck when in less than about 2+ months, one jumped in front of a moving two-wheeler and died instantly. It was indeed a very sad moment and I could not believe my eyes when I saw their mother crying, the remaining five maintained a pin drop silence. It went on for 2 days and then they were back to their notoriety they were out running all over again. 2 months of dog is like 2.5–3 yrs in humans.

They were restless. They were teething and started biting the plastic milk bowls and the small pillows & rugs we kept for them.

This was no less than seeing toddlers playing and I loved spending time with them. The fear of stray dogs was turning into affection and I became a bit more empathetic towards their mother, and towards the stray community as such.

They knew my house and would come and pull my gate and make noise demanding food. I used to purposely wait for them to make noise before offering them milk and goodies. I was having a very growing feeling that I would keep one of them but looking at their bonding it appeared very criminal to separate them and be biased towards one. Also, I could see a marked difference in their behavior as they were growing so I wasn’t very sure if at all I decide then which one? The other caretakers were also of the opinion that we should not allow anyone to take any puppy. We had seen them grieving over the death of their sibling.

And soon another one was gone in the same manner and the grief was not over when the mother lost her third child as well; again to a road accident. And the grief it brought this time to the mother and the siblings was so visible and unbearable. There was complete silence and the siblings were quiet and lost. The caretakers were worried and kids in the neighborhood started playing with the puppies.

By now someone had named the remaining three Salty, Pepper, and Toony.

They were almost 8–9 months now and a good spoilt teenager. They started barking a lot and didn’t care if we gave them food or not as their responsible and smart mother had taught them to look for food for themselves and were on their own.

They begin to miss returning to their boarding and lodging that we so lovingly created for them.

In the meantime, we got to know that salty also died. Actually, while they are small they copy the older dogs and get into the habit of running after moving vehicles. But they are not as energetic and end up suddenly halting or just jump in the middle of the road and get hit by the vehicle.

I came to know that someone had taken one of them but the puppy created a ruckus and the adopted family had to let him go. And I also felt that my “love at first sight” was turning into a farce with them getting bigger and ferocious. And finally, I decided to be just nice to them. Knowing me; that thought was a big achievement in itself. I pat my back for this.

That said, I was proud and victorious as I moved a step ahead in overcoming a big fear. The sight of a stray dog used to petrify me and now I see a Pepper and Toony in all of them albeit with the tightened fist : )

They are almost three years old now that’s like mid/late twenties in humans.

Both are big and know well how to keep themselves safe and protected. They were anyway far more pampered and had an edge over other stray dogs when it came to caretakers. Pepper and Toony would keep visiting my house every evening as I would leave some milk in the bowl for them.

But this whole experience brought a big transformation in me. The way the dogs befriend you, it’s amazing. They understand, love, and respect your feeling much more than you can think of.

The seed is sown, and I learned that bring home a newborn puppy for they grow too fast making it unfair to separate them from family. They are truly adorable.

And I close with the popular saying “Adopt don’t Shop”.