Run. Eat. Sleep. - A pet dog's journey.

My senior puppy : Alex

This post is for the 'good boy' of my house. Big and very very strong.

Alex came to my house on 28th of September 2005. He was 10 days old, his eyes weren't open, and he didn't know how to walk or lift his body. He came in a shoe box. He would fit in my palm. He was tiny, and black and for a moment I thought that my mother's brother had gifted me a mouse. My brother was so excited he went to every house of our block to inform them about our cute puppy.

The first 6 months were the toughest. Toilet training him, waking up early in the morning to feed him, to take him outside, to teach him to not litter the house. But they were also the most adorable moments. My mom would hit his bowl with a spoon to call him for dinner, and he would wobble around the house, hit some furniture on the way and present himself with all the happiness in this world. We would bathe him every second week, then wrap him in a towel and sit with him outside.
When he was teething he bit all of our cane furniture and all the wooden show pieces my dad got from Africa. I and mom had to hide those from dad. 

I remember he was so tiny, all we could see was his tail when he would walk around the bed. The first time he barked was on a soap left on the floor in the bathroom. I have no idea how he got in there but I know he tried to taste the soap. I remember once we went out for lunch, and we had to leave him alone. He went to the bathroom and dropped the dye all over the floor. We got back home to little paw prints, all over the house.

When he needed to get on the bed, he would start running from the corridor to gain some speed and he would pounce and end up hitting the pillow. Every winter he would have a new coat. He would tear them once the summers approached. He was indeed very conscious of his fashion.

He traveled with us to Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Nainital. He would love car rides. He would always take the window seat, often sitting on  my then tiny brother.

He loved to eat. He would eat anything we ate, he loved pedigree, bread, chappatis, rice, chicken. Everything. He was also very fond of every birthday cake that came to our house. He had a sweet tooth.

Every new year I and my mother would go to the temple and get sweets and every year he would climb up the table and eat them all. He was very naughty. After he did this, he would hide beneath the bed or table thinking no one could see him.

He loved to run. 

Running made him so happy. Every time the house gates were open, he would run and no, he would not come back when we called him. He would look behind and almost tease us. We'd always catch him at the shopping complex. 

And he would sleep for hours. He loved to do that. Even when he was up, he 'd slowly doze off.

I remember all the tiny little things he did.

He would come near my bed every morning and sleep till I woke up. He would sit in the corridor and wait for my mom to come back from work.He would jump on our beds and dirty them when we would go out. He would sleep in the bathroom and have dirty paw prints all over the house. He would give me company at 5 am in the balcony while I studied for my exams. He would wag his tail happily every-time we would see him. He would walk behind anybody with food. He would go run hide beneath the table when he did something wrong. He would wet the whole house trying to wipe himself when we gave him a bath. He would put his paw on my arm when I 'd tell him my sob stores. He would run towards the car when we'd tell him that we are going out. He would make funny expressions when we would say 'ghummi', 'khaana', 'bone'. He would lick my hands when I would meet him after a few days and put his head on my lap. He would want someone to open the door for him because he was just too lazy. He would roam around, checking every room in the night.

He was so strong, he would pull me and my brother in seconds and it looked like he was taking us for a walk.

On Sunday, 21st of Sep, 3days after his birthday, we got to know that he was suffering from IVDD. He was now 9 years old. This disease caused back pain and rear limb paralysis. He was at the final stage of the disease. He couldn't walk. And we had to put him to sleep.

This was the toughest decision my family had to make. He loved to run, eat, and sleep. And he could do non.

We put him to sleep 6 days later.

My mom told me that a dog doesn't have a past or a future. He only has a present. And his happiness at this very moment is all that matters.

He taught me to be happy, to not let things get to me, and to always , always love my family.

I will always miss him. And I will always remember him as My big, happy, naughty, loving and very strong baby.