Pawful adoration

Day 13..#100happydays #100daysofhappiness
We often find ourselves remembering the important people in our lives, the ones who make that honest difference even in the smallest way. Interestingly, to my list I have my pets too, we have had others but somehow these have stayed on in my heart always. 

They were no exceptional dogs, they did not do anything symbolic like save a life or help us with our morning chores. They lived for themselves and for us. But what was striking was their passion, recognition, and understanding and sometimes that much needed concern with just a pawful silence. The labs were a mother son pair named Silver and Copper. 

While I could love them with all my heart, I have to say, my mom cared and trained them with so much passion. Silver has been my pet always, she moved with me and settled when I did. She was fearless, even of the crackers, to the extent she ended up putting her face into a fully lit flower pot and what happened after that shocked us - her whiskers just shrunk - actually burnt. Apart from that she had no reaction and scare to be near a cracker again. Copper, as apparent as it is in this picture, loved his bowl. It moved around with him and was literally his safety toy like a safety blanket. Whether he was sleeping or just hiding under the bed from the crackers, he had to grab his bowl and then hide. Yes! He was terrified of them. Copper was so playful that his only thrill was playing and eating. But in Silver, there was a rare character. She would sit with me, place her face on my lap and listen. She has infact taken all my secrets with her. I could sit with her for hours and just speak while she would listen. Isn’t that a luxury having someone to speak to without getting an opinion, feedback or being judged. It’s such a plight to do this with humans, but with her, it was 'my time, my space'. Copper being the son, always remained a child for Silver and that's what made their bonding so strong. They both lived and loved and when they passed they stayed on in our hearts. 

Later on, when I was engaged I had the best engagement gift- Arya gave me a basset hound pup - Fawn. She was gentle and did not like to be rushed. She was extremely playful but very intelligent. My involvement and adoration for dogs got my mum and in laws worried, they wondered if I would give more attention to her than to the new hubby:) In retrospect, I probably would have done that out of my deep fondness for paw friends. So my well wishers decided that this precious bundle would live in Coorg with my in laws at the estate, enjoying the abundance of space, openness, greenery and a superb home. Aditya Nanjappa and his keen interest in furs always ensured that the smallest aspects of Fawn were taken care of like the doctor's visit, the bath, playtime etc. Thankfully I got to visit her often. She lived well and grew to be my in laws favorite too and soon with the ardent efforts of Karthik Kuttappa Fawn entered and won competitions as well. 

I connect with dogs has been at a different level. In fact when I had my kids I found myself comparing their actions to that of dogs. Mom always thought I was crazy but it came so naturally. Today I often wonder when I might get another bundle of thrill, it will take time with my hands full with my angels at home, but in time, I will definitely welcome another paw child. Until then, here is to the insanity and love that my paw world has brought me - echoing my days of happiness yesterday today and always.