One of the few child hood memories that remain unmarked is my uncle’s adult Labradore “Jackie”. We were always told to keep a good distance from him though he was very friendly and as a child I never understood why he was treated as some “indistinct”? As I grew-up  I came to know the reason, a school of thought  believed (in fact still many believes) that  the good angels who are responsible to shower us with the blessings  like money and food never visit a home  with dogs. Only one condition allowable to keep dogs at home and that is if they are kept for the purpose of security. Other reservations sighted against dogs were that they are not clean specially their saliva.

These charges against dogs were never very convincing to me to treat this creature so discourteously. Then I also believed that with any animal whether a cat or horse or monkey (or parrot) we should keep a reasonable distance for health & hygiene purpose. But the question remained why only dogs are treated with such cruelty and disgrace? Myth or reality, religious obligation or something against dogs, I never understood, people never explained and dogs never complained. On the other hand, its quite intriguing that whenever a human is in need… there friend is a dog indeed. And so I began to wonder on traits of dogs; one of the most ‘honest’ and ‘loyal’ animal whose claim to fame is men’s best friend (women’s too..),  the one who possess the bestest of qualities like loyalty , honesty , self respect, care and affection  and best of all they are all ‘Unconditional’.

Keeping aside  all my fears of losing the “good-angels” visiting my home  and also against the will of all senior family members , One day I brought  a dog to my home. Since that day ‘Dogs’ are part of my life not only as best companion but also as my best friends. They have been a source of learning and inspiration for me.

I bought my first puppy the 4 weeks old coton de tueler  and named him as “PATCH” .Raising patch was  a life time experience , not many of us are aware that  raising a puppy  is exactly like raising a human kid, the four legged ,  just like human babies , need to be fed every few hours and in small fraction ,  need frequent naps, wakes up early morning or in between , cry if left alone and also get attached to you. Usually convey the love with their wagging tails (and if allowed by licking but you don’t have to).  They can express their love, speak with their twinkling eyes , understand what you say. In fact for me as a human most of the time I found it difficult to decode their needs and get confused in how to respond to their love.

Patch raised among humans as he was the only animal among 8 humans in the household. On one occasion when he was needed to defend himself in a street encounter  in front of our home with a stray dog he showed only humanity instead . I was fearful that he would forget his instincts and traits, so I decided to bring him  a companion and  ‘TINA’ arrived, another coton detueler, almost 6 months old female.  After few months of caring n sharing they became proud parents of 3 puppies. Patch remained the same happy go lucky “Romeo” but I noticed changes in Tina, she was no more my little Tina darling’, the ‘princess’ I raised the ‘bubbly’ who liked to play all the time, she suddenly converted  into  a caring mother  an amazing transformation.  It was impressive to see an animal to develop such a sense of responsibility and care, just like humans. She liked to kept the puppies warm, fed them , kept her eye on them and seen them playing around and if for a moment  any one of them disappeared she just got worried like … a Mom! I remembered how restless and sad she was and heartbreaking for me when I was giving away her kids, puppies for adoption.

Now I have this 4 years old “Fudge” he is Tina’s  son from her fourth liter , his unconditional love for me makes me think  at times about us as humans the community. We are so conditional that we even negotiate love these days , trade the emotions , we deal with the people where we need to and feel the people. How many of us even life partners greet each other with the same intensity , or even close friends , share the joys every day like Fudge.  He never comes up with petty issues like where were you ? why your late again ?  You don’t give enough time. He never demands that you make him  believe twice in a week that you still love him.  He unlike humans never doubt my love for him whether I say it or not but he remains focused and determined with his love.

Fudge is raised among us humans and other animals too with his “traditional rival” CATS , his friendship with me and other humans makes sense and with CATS, makes us more sensible I guess  to learn that even animals if raised together  can create space for each other. Isn’t  it against nature if a dog allows a cat to share his food , a cosy comforter , cats play with FUDGE  and FUDGE loves them in return , I am amazed how naturally and humanely animals priorities love over hatred, a lesson for us to learn from them .

For one of my introductory email about my pets to my friend  GURU,  a human person… wrote back these words. I am sharing his wonderful email here … his respect for God’s creatures regardless of class and species is a lesson to those who  are just  discourteous  to ‘HIS’  wonderful creature in general and dogs in particular.

Guru wrote.. “Dear Bumble Bee, I am not at all a dog person but you seem to have a life around them, good for you. Though I am not at all a dog person but ‘nothing against them too’, why should I .. They have nothing against me or us humans. I would like to think they are nice ‘people’ and created by God with a purpose.  They at least serve their purpose well and with dedication. So what does your dog say…..”

To the answer for Guru’s query, I looked and found an appropriate  answer in this quotation

“If dogs could talk, perhaps we (human) would find it as hard to get along with them as we do with people”.

Last but not the least if you are  in search of love, happiness, bring one home you will be inspired you will be loved ….satisfaction guaranteed for dogs may not be humans but at least they are animal at their best.