Fear to Love – See Them Grow

WOW !! My debut on Vocal is straight into the Challenge. In fact this is what pulled me to join Vocal.

And what can be better than facing the real challenge; yes talking about “Stray to Stay” !

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 but the commonly tamed for roadshows are Monkeys, Snakes, Elephants, and even Camels.

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 a separate room J. 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. Stray dogs give 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.

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 in their preferred list J because i never allowed them near my house also.

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 50-70 households on an average) some neighbors gathered and 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. 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 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. It is really amazing to see how animals learn delivery and taking care of themselves and the 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 in few days 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 patience of the mother dog. How firm she was and it was fun to watch her pull them back as they tried going a bit far 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 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 of them 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 out to test the strength of their teeth. See this picture of how they are playing with a towel.

By now i had developed a lot of affection for the little ones and their mother as well.

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 we had named the remaining three as Salty (see the white on the left behind, the two on the right side with Salty had died). The two in the front playing with the towel were named Pepper (right one) and Toony (left one). This scene is right in front of my residential block.

They were almost 8-9 months now and a good spoilt teenager. They had 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 they 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 see the older dogs and get into the habit of running after moving vehicles and suddenly change the path or just jump in the middle of the road and get hit by the following vehicle.

I came to know that someone had taken one of them but he created a ruckus and the adopted family had to let him go. And my interest to adopt one kept on shrinking 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.

I am feeling so 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 tightened fist J

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

And the remaining two 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. The picture below with Toony is taken this late evening. My apologies for the quality of all the pictures, as I still feel scared to go too close.

But this whole experience was a big transformation for 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 know the best time is to bring home a newborn puppy for they grow too fast to separate them from family just like humans. They are truly adorable.

Just go and get one home. They are like family.

I just couldn’t have missed this opportunity to share my experience for such an apt theme; as though Vocal created this for me to participate.

Thank you Team Vocal.

This story on Mediun with a slightly different version https://monamam.medium.com/