Caeser's reign

"I will stay home and look after the pup. When you all go on holidays, I will eat canned food and feed the puppy too. I will walk him, clean up after him. I will study hard." ..All these were promises made by my then nine year old son, Sidhant. It was 2001 and he was ready for a birthday. He also claimed he was ready for a puppy of his own.

As most parents know first hand all the promises fall into the category of 'famous last words' . The first day after they get what they want, they fly around beaming and doing your bidding. On day two, there is a slight time lag in the command and it's execution and the smile is missing. By day three, there is a definite air of civil disobedience, which turns into defiance by day four.They discover that they have a lot more work than they ever realized and all of it needs to be completed pronto. You would have to be a truly uncaring parent to expect them to keep the promises they assure you, they fully intended to honour.

Thus it was, based on promises, even I knew were made to be broken, that Caesar entered our lives. The fact that he peed on my lap in the car, on the way home, should have been an omen of things to come and a realization that he would be one more dimension to my already crazy life. We already had a kennel ready for him and things were to go smoothly. As a virgin pet owner, little did I realize that Murphy's law applies wholly and completely to pets. We did all that we were supposed to do and retired for the night with a chorus of bright 'goodnights'. A little later it was obvious that either no one had bothered to educate Caesar on the meaning of a 'goodnight' or he was choosing to ignore his education. The plaintive crying was enough to get me arrested by the SPCA and everyone could be forgiven for believing that we were indulging in some major abuse. To prevent any such misunderstandings and ensure that we all got some sleep, I volunteered to sleep in the same room as him.

With that he seemed to settle down better and his little sigh was echoed by all of us. Expecting to have to take him down early in the morning for all his morning jobs (the book said that was the way to potty train a pup and keep the house clean) I got up early. Then again, I need not have bothered. After a brief and enthusiastic licking of my face, he proudly ran to a couple of corners that were his chosen toilet spots. You could say that the house had gone to the dogs!

This was just a brief preview of how my life would go from then on....

Caeaer , in his prime

Eight years and several dog experiences and dog books later, I understand that pets are like children. You can expect the unexpected if you want to enjoy them and hold on to your sanity.