My dog Chiku

Chiku

Sleepy Head

I remember clearly the day when our cute lil' dog came home. My sister and I waited anxiously for our parents who had gone to the city of Delhi to look for a pup. We had shifted recently to Gurgaon and wanted to have a pet dog.
Luckily there was one last black Labrador pup left with the pet shop owner, and finally, our wait ended; they decided to bring him home. The moment we saw him, we were delighted. The pup was adorable, with soft black hair, soft feet, small ears drooping downwards, and innocent eyes.We named him "Chiku" after an older dog who stayed in the house we previously lived in. He was definitely missing his mother and feeling lonely. We made a little "dog house" out of a brown cardboard box and placed him in it.

He had a mind of his own and didn't miss a single opportunity to jump out of the box. So gradually we increased the height of the box's walls ..... but still.... he kept on leaping out of the box ( I guess he wishes to pursue a career in athletics). At night, when somebody would go and check on him, he would never be in his place. He was fed diluted milk initially and then after a few weeks given dog biscuits.
It was difficult to take him out for a walk. He always wanted to rush back towards the house. He was very stubborn and did not like to be led by the leash. He would hold the leash in his mouth and then walk in the front, as if making a point that he was leading and not being led! Well let me tell you this started takin' place after quite a lot efforts. Actually, the problem was, when he was young he stayed in the house and didnt go out that much .... so initially he was out of habit. After lots of scolding, sermons and efforts on our part, he is what he is now.

One day, we left the main door open in wait of the newspaper ..... and voila, there he was (we had forgotten that it was his breakfast time, so I guess he came up himself).

Chiku's First Climb

He could climb the stairs ..... but was really scared of going down (He looked down the stairs once and would quickly come stand against the wall. Now that's what we call vertigo, right?). We used to pick him up in our arms to take him out (earlier he was so light and compact that he could sit on my palm).  By the time he was a bit older, he learnt to go downstairs on his own.


Visitors that came to our house were thrilled to see him, as he was so cute. Everyone wanted to hold him, cuddle him. He was a stress buster, we would forget all our worries and just play with him.
He seemed to be fond of music, as he used to run after cyclists on the street, playing the radio. Any queer sound and he will twitch his ears and off he goes in search of it.

Now he is around two years old and is a huge, black dog, but still as cute as ever. He likes to sit around our feet and keeps licking our feet till we stop him sternly. He searches for the coolest corner in the house which is usually my room. We do not use the air conditioner as frequently, however when Chiku comes upstairs to escape the heat from the ground, we put on the AC just for him.

The strangest part about him is that he does not bark at all. There are a number of dogs in the adjacent houses, that keep barking for no reason. However our Chiku seems to consider himself above this species, probably he thinks himself to be human and civilized. The only time that he barks is when my grandfather comes to visit us. He adores my Dadu (grandfather) and jumps high up just to try and embrace him. Once my Dadu was lying on the bed in my room and Chiku leapt upon him. That’s the first time, he ever dared to go near the bed. The not barkin' part doesn't prove he's a shame in the name of a dog; he has a great potential, an immense sense of smell and sound and a perfect concentration. Just a few months ago, when our elder dog in a different house passed away, we took him there. He was on leash which was in my hands; as soon as he entered the house, he took a sniffing patrol and searched the entire house for the old dog, and even dragged me along. I guess he figured that out later, and may have even condoled the fact.

Although people do get intimidated by his looks and size, the moment he gets near to them, he gets all friendly to lick and hug them. This does not serve our purpose as we got him to guard the house and scare away intruders. As he did not bark at strangers and we wanted people to take him seriously, we have now put up a sign on the gates “Beware of Dog”. We also insist any strangers or visitors that they be careful of Chiku.

Once we took him along to our grandparents place in Delhi, he seemed happy. So now, whenever we go to visit them, it seems as if he knows where we are off to and tries to get inside the car along with us.

Another person that he is very fond of is the Veterinary doctor’s assistant, who is very composed and calm and tolerates his licking while the doctor gives him his injection.

While I am writing this blog, Chiku is sleeping peacefully in my room, snoring loudly, unaware that he means the world to our family.