The Sly and the Shrewd

This is the tale of two dogs. A tale of how the meek outsmarted the bully. The back-yard bread seekers are always up and ready for the grub every morning. The pack is the first sight we see from our window, all looking up. The current ones are totally new. The oldies were civil to each other and never grabbed other one’s share. The present lot has an aggressive canine which snatches other’s share even from their mouths. It intimidates others to leave the place and not touch any of the slices. The eyepatch kind of mark makes him more domineering. Nevertheless, he was outwitted today by a tiny one. The two were waiting and I had only three slices of bread. Knowing very well that the bigger one will devour all three, I threw the first slice quite far away. While the bigger one ran to get it, the next slice was thrown near the smaller one. Noticing this, the brute ran back and pounced on it indicating that both slices belong to him.

While it was busy eating, the third slice was thrown behind him, again for the tiny one. The sly one turned to check but could not find it hence continued munching. It was amusing to watch the smaller one pretending ignorance about the third slice though the dog located it. The tiny dog stood still in its place just watching me. When the other one finished eating, it ran to eat the first slice that he booked already. At this instance, the shrewd dog moved slowly towards the third slice, grabbed it and ran away to a hide out to have the bread. Victory of brain over brawn!

Canine Confessions

We are the pack that guard our territories in our colony, each one in accordance with others. We have unique identities and are taken care of by the humans in our colony.

1. I am the self-proclaimed guardian of the green and tranquil Kerala Lane in our colony. I take care of my people with diligence. I am called by different names here. Every cab and auto that enter this lane are checked by me before my humans enter into it. If they enter the vehicle before my recce, I will block the way till they request me to move. I growl at strangers and new municipal workers who enter the lane. I will not tolerate bikers speeding in this lane and scare them with my bark. Thanks to me, my masters got many complaints from delivery boys and labourers who are here for some construction work. Call me over protective, but I don’t care and I will not stop because I love my masters a lot.

2. We are the silent duo who come every morning to Kerala Lane, have some food given by a kind human here, take a nap and leave. We never bark or disturb any one unlike the self-proclaimed guardian who is boisterous.

He is tolerant of us as we are here from many years and he came only a few months back.

3. I am the shoe-stealer ha ha ha… You can see me with a shoe every morning. I am proud to say that majority of the colony humans are now with one shoe. I cannot resist snatching when I see so many pairs of it lined up on racks. Notwithstanding this habit, I take care of my lane and the humans here.

4. I am a silent follower of whoever comes to the colony. This is because I am a curious canine and I love humans. This habit of mine makes some of them jump out of their skin but later they realize that I am loveable. I enjoy posing for cameras too.

Fidelity thy name is …..

The strays at the backyard of my house keep changing. The old ones are not seen any more, new entrants are there and the daily routine of throwing the bread continues. This write up is a tribute to a special one that has come in front of our house a few months back. A shabby dog with a torn tail and frightened eyes, who used to give us pleading looks. Paranoid about unfamiliar strays, we tried to shoo it away, but it refused to go and behaved as if someone told him to stick to our house. It seemed to be a well-trained one as many of its manners are not of a stray. It is potty trained too as it never dirties our place. Initially, it somehow sneaked into our compound and slept under the car at night. Slowly we started feeding it. The day the Municipality workers came to catch the strays, the dog was whining so sadly that our tenants requested them to give him back. They promised to vaccinate it and return and they did so.

Now he is our loyal guard dog who refuses to come inside the compound and sits in front of our gate and barks at every stranger and every biker who rides fast. People in our lane love it and they too do their bit of feeding. It is also friendly with two other strays who are fed by our neighbor. No other dog dares to come to our lane as long as he is there. His presence is also keeping idlers at bay. Fidelity thy name is this nameless dog.

Give us our daily bread

It began during the lockdown, the feeding of the strays through our window. The back yard of our house overlooks a green premise which is a great solace. There wandered a pack of six dogs including puppies. The cuteness of the whelps was irresistible that we tried to grab attention by throwing pieces of bread to them. The trick worked and they used to come every day for the bread. It soon looked like the word had spread and each day saw new additions looking up, waiting for their share.

he was the first to come

his family joined later

then he came

another mother dog

and her puppies

then came him

he was an onlooker earlier but now comes and looks up for his bread

one from the first kennel started visiting

some times he comes covertly to avoid fight

two together

the two with another friend

at times at night

waiting patiently for more...

should I go or should I wait for more? ...and the pastime continues...

Kitty Party

I was on my way back from shopping when I saw the group, munching on junk. They seemed to be too engrossed in the act. I was curious to know what they are relishing when I realized that the curiosity was mutual. I crossed the road and rushed away with my children, wondering why those buffaloes prefer raiding the garbage bin instead of grazing on the field nearby.

 

May be the pasture is too polluted, that they find the trash better. These animals are also unaware of the danger that the plastic covers in the trash pose to them. 

I thought about the pampered versions of them in villages. Fresh green grass, clean sheds and other additional supplements that keep them healthy. The trend to prefer junk food to nutritional one seems to be there in every being.