The first night with Leo was as traumatic for him as it was for us. Because of our two cats and my unwell mother at home, we decided to house him in the front ve-randah and put him in a nice crate that we already had for the cats. However, he made his displeasure known. Loudly. And all night.
The next day we took him to the vet for a checkup. The vet suggested he was about 2 months old. So Jul 5th was his gotcha day and we decided that May 3rd would be his birthday since the cats’ birthday was 3rd April. He was extremely playful, and my daughter and wife had cuts and scratches all over their hands for several months after his arrival thanks to his teething. He would tug at all loose clothing so many a dupatta and shawls were sacrificed until we found a way around it.
Of course, my wife had to sacrifice her front garden also because he spared no plant or pot. He ripped the garden lights, the CCTV camera cords, and above all gnawed on our wooden doors to leave permanent marks. However, he was only playful but never bit anyone who visited the house. At this time my daughter decided to take the professional help of a dog trainer to discipline him since we had no idea of how to deal with dogs, never having had them before (more about this later).
Leo participated in all family activities by watching us from the glass door in the verandah (it was such a cute scene with only his head visible through the glass) that led to the drawing room.
Our young pup had a temper as well. One evening we had drawn the blinds and were busy joking and laughing inside and he wanted us to come out and play, while we usually always went out, we were in training with the dog trainer (referred to as dog psychologist in the family) who was clear that he can’t constantly order us around, so we pulled down the blinds.
He got so mad that he ripped the garden pipe in frustration creating an emergency. We had to call a plumber immediately failing which the water tank on which our entire household depended would run dry. It was the pandemic and finding a plumber was hard and paying his exorbitant fees was harder since we had to replace the previous plastic pipe which was now stainless steel.
Feeding Leo turned out to be quite a challenge for my wife. She tried everything she could –rice, bread, roti but he would eat two days and give up the third day. She tried vegetables and dal but that did not work. She then tried eggs but that also he could not digest so she settled for pet food which she was so much against. Leo ate to live and did not live to eat though he loved his high-end treats, and apples and watermelons. We finally arranged chicken rice for him much later.
No family member could take him for a walk as he was so hyper and so we engaged a series of walkers. That was another saga. More about it next time.
