It was a dream come true when Prince came to my life. Although I wanted a dog always my parents would hace never bought one for me! It was a strange how the dog walked into our lives.
My father’s friend wanted to keep him in our house till they come back from vacation.
Father was out of station, so my mother had to decide alone. She asked us that weather we should agree or not. I instantly said yes and pleaded her to keep him. Mother said that we shouldn’t get emotionally involved with him as he won’t stay with us for long. I assured her that I will not. Mark these words for later reference. On my side I also had to promise that I would clean all the dirt he makes.
As it turned out, one evening Prince was brought to our house on a scooter. I was so happy that I ran and told mother who was chatting at her friend’s place.
Prince was very unhappy to see the people he knew leaving him alone . So I comforted him as he stood by our gate waiting for his master’s return. I cuddled him in my arms. He was so soft to touch. I was carried away by his soft black eyes and sharp features. He was beautiful.
Prince loved his master very much that the thought that he would abandon him couldn’t occur to him.
He sincerely waited for his master’s return. He wouldn’t come into my lap again. He would wriggle and bite till I leave him alone. I had to catch him off guard to take him in my lap.
Night covered the sky; Prince was tied to a rope so that he doesn’t dirty our house. The woebegone look made me feel sad for him. I caressed him hoping to comfort him, but he only knew what he was going through.
No amount of sweet talk could make him eat his food. He was hungry for his master’s arrival.
Before we went to sleep we took him out on the road. Poor Prince had never walked on the road. He was never let outside of the house. We had to literally pull him for a walk. His legs were wobbly afraid of the new surroundings. After a lot of coaxing on our part he answered to his nature’s call for the first time outside.
That day he went to sleep empty stomach in my brother, Babbai’s room tied all night.
Morning came and Babbai found him standing on one leg and his other legs were entangled in the chain.
It was obvious that he had tried to free himself from the bounds. Babbai freed him. He was soon to become Prince’s master.
Although it was inhumane to chain him, but it taught him to be disciplined. He learned quickly that he should not dirty the house and he must answer to his nature’s call outside. Food was served but it was left untouched. He had not recovered from the shock of him being left by his beloved master.
It was very dramatic how mother tried to feed him. She would sit and produce the food in front of Prince’s mouth and he would turn away. He would first lift his front leg then spring into a run .He would hide under a table, then my mother would take the food and go after him pleading him to eat with a spoon at least. With lots of butter and milk and my mother’s undying effort he would comply with a lick or two.
When my father returned, he got the surprise of his life when he saw Prince. Not even in his dreams he would have imagined a dog in our house. He was keen on returning Prince to his master’s family when they return.
Prince use to jump into his lap, whenever my father mentioned this to him. It’s a mystery why.
Prince was a very haughty. He had pride. Anything that was done to him against his wishes he would recoil and bite the person who caused the action. He would then repent his actions and wag his tail as if he is sorry. But then after sometime he would repeat the same story. This was one reason why my father wanted to return him. But our love ruled over the thought of giving him back.
Prince was a very fussy eater at one point we had to take him to his ex misstress wife because he would not eat but he ate from her hands.
Soon he started loving us for our affection. At the mention of “walk” he came hurrying to go with us. His love for walk was evident in his eagerness to wear the chain. Some times we took him without chain. He would hold the leather bock less in his mouth and trot with us. I am not kidding he use to walk and run like a horse. Prince was different in many ways. He was not the usual Pomeranian; He had solid figure and shiny coat that glittered against light. His lower muzzle was little shorter than the upper. My brother was a keen observer he noticed his every growth even his falling milk teeth and the upcoming ones.
One thing about him that concerned us most was that he was not barking. We consulted a Doctor and he suggested to keep him chained inside the gate entrance to our house for a while every day till he starts barking seeing outside people and dogs. He had not seen much people before as he was most of the time within the four walls of the house. The instructions were followed as said and Prince started growling and barking at every new person on the street. We encouraged him to bark so much that no matter what we say he would not stop barking until the concerned person had left the street. He had a very high pitched and deep voice that we miss today.
When he was inside he would bark so loud with the door bell that we couldn’t hear the bell itself. Once our guests were in he would be over friendly and bark no further. He would stand on two legs and climb at the back of the person and start licking his ears just as he would do to us. He would wag his bushy tail and brush his body against them that was how he caressed people. Then he would lie on his back and settle on the sofa for them to caress him in return. He would also wait for the small little crumbs from the dishes served to the guest.
Prince became Naughty not only by deed but also by name. Once he mischievously answered to his natures call on our Guests shoes! And guess what? She didn’t even feel it. He loved to chew socks, sandals, shoes and handkerchiefs and made holes in them with his teeth. He needed to bite something for his growing teeth.
We gave him processed meat in various shapes he liked like bones, shoes etc. to prevent him from using his teeth on anyone else. The irony is he has never bitten anyone else except us.
Naughty had a very supple body he could get through anything. So he managed to get through the grills of our g ate and chased cats. He couldn’t bear cats and all cats feared him and ran at the sight of him. But he got a lesson one day. He was slapped by a very domineering grown up cat.
Our house was Naughty’s territory and he would bark at anyone who went past his area. Be it the Postman, Paper man or dog.
Dogs of powerful breeds like the Alsatian, German shepherd etc. in turn chased him while he was taken out for walks chained. He would somehow manage to slip out of his bock less and sprint for a run like the wind. No one could catch him. We use to fear that he would get lost But he use to return by our gate soon enough. On a certain day my father took him on his usual stroll on a fish market. Naughty returned as usual.
My mother while cleaning him found blood oozing out of his stomach. We were so shocked and horrified.
We did not see the wound before because his thick white coat covered it. Naughty sat bearing the pain silently without complain. When we called our father at his office only then he remembered that he might be bitten by a dog who was at the fish market. This had happened so quietly that my father could not guess what had happened. Naughty had to be given nine stitches and injections.
We had to keep him under observation even though he was given anti –rabies regularly.
Naughty recovered soon and was back to his usual naughtiness. He was very friendly with certain dogs and hated others for no apparent reason. He would start from a sweet growl to a nasty fit of barks and make as if he would spring at them if he was unchained. Some of his arch enemies would not pay any attention to him, while some would bark a threat. Fortunately they were chained.
Naughty had very sharp ears, keen eyes and an alert sense. Like a good guard he protected us from thieves.
He chased one out of his skin. The boy was stealing Papaya from our house garden. Not in his imagination he would think of coming back to us. He left the Papaya he had plucked to steal for us to savour.
Despite his naughtiness he was all ears to us. He use to follow every word we said. We had to be very careful while choosing every word we say to give him a bath. He understood the word “bath” and there had to be lot of tussle work to be done to get him inside the bathroom just like a human kid. He was human in many ways… his actions like sleeping with his head on the pillow, sitting decently on the dining chair etc. Whenever we plan to go out he would know. As we dress he would be standing beside us as if saying not to leave him alone. When my mother wears Sari he would stand on it as if to say “Please don’t leave me alone” Even though we understood his body language we choose not to understand sometimes and leave him as dogs are not allowed everywhere. When we return to the house, his welcome was so warm and touching, we never got the same from any one in our family.
We had very happy moments with Naughty. All his actions were so funny and endearing that we could not help but laugh with him. He could make light of a most tense situation. Without him life couldn’t be happy.
He was a well-behaved dog except that he was short tempered sometimes, for valid reason. He demanded respect as equal as we humans get. In fact he was far better than a human being for his loyalty, unconditional love and the true friendship that we fail to retain. God has given us the power of speech, but we use it to hurt people, but he can say a lot of good things through his body language without speaking.
Naughty’s kind eyes said it all. He showered all his love to us but didn’t want anything in return for his good deeds except love.
When my father use to go on tour he would sit inside the suitcase ready to be packed and taken. He would sincerely hope that he wouldn’t go. And when my father went he would wait for him to come and won’t eat for days. What he wouldn’t understand is that my father had to go alone for quite some time. It’s a good thing that he didn’t understand the facts of life, because if he knew it would make him even sadder.
Sometimes I said things which hurt him thinking he doesn’t understand. But I would not have done the same thing to a human. That was very unfair when I come to think of it now. He may have understood and must have felt unhappy.
When we shifted to another house Naughty couldn’t stand on the new mosaic. His legs slipped as he tried to walk. But soon he got used to it and trotted to and fro just like the master of the house. He smelled all the new smells there and cooperated with us in every way. He made new friends. But he didn’t forget his old friends. Whenever we passed through our old lane he would recognize the same old smells and pull us to his friend’s house. One day he took us to his little friend, Rover. But he was shocked to see that he was no longer little. He has grown larger than him. Naughty use to bully Rover when he was tiny and now seeing him so big Naughty was taken aback. It hurt his pride. Jacky another Pomeranian friend was more like him as they were of the same breed.
Sheru , Honey , Fluffy were his new friends only to name a few. Naughty often went to Sheru and fluffy’s house to play with them even though Sheru was big and strong. Mother had to pamper Naughty while feeding him as he wouldn’t eat without it. There has to be background music while he eats.all good things have to be told about him. All are rotten accept him. Naughty good boy . Sheru , Fluffy ,Jackey. Rover are all rotten and bad. Naughty is very beautiful. We use to sing a special tune while he ate. When he played he use to jump and catch the ball keeping with the tune. He could balance on his two toes for a long time.
When we went to school he would wait for our return looking at the door from which we left.Going out on car was his favorite outing. One restaurant even allowed Naughty to sit with us while we ate and passed him some crumbs. Naughty liked everything we ate .He always thought we eat better things than him. But when he smelt vegetables in our food he would turn away. Chicken, fish , prawn, sweets fried items, are some of his favorites. Sometimes we took little food for him too when we went out alone on our car. Usually he went with us everywhere. He would be sitting quietly in the car when we went to the movies or shopping.
Naughty loved small children. He loved to play with them. Anything his size and shorter interested him…puppy, kitten, goat, calf, etc. I use to play with him a lot. He could stand on two feet for several minutes trying to catch the ball . He would catch the ball flying! These beautiful memories always remain in my mind like the florescence in flowers and fills my heart with joy.
