I will miss my silent conversations with my dog forever. Baba was the heartbeat at my feet, he still is and will always be. He left Pawprints on my heart that live forever. Found these lines and felt that they say everything that I wanted to.
You came into my life one day, so beautiful and smart. My dear and sweet companion, I loved you from the start.
And though I knew the time would come, when we would have to part. You’ll never be forgotten, you left paw prints on my heart.
He left his pawprints in our life
September 29, 2014, the day when he left us to cross the rainbow bridge forever. He was just one month short of completing fifteen preciously loving years with us. Somehow I agree with all truths about dogs said by John Grogan and incidentally, Marley and Me is an all time favourite with me. I realised that fateful day that we as a family would grieve forever. We will not ‘get over’ the loss of Baba, but we will learn to live with it.We will heal and will rebuild ourself around the loss we have suffered. Yes, we will be whole again but we will never be the same. Nor should we be the same nor would we want to
Baba owned us from day one
Right after marriage, we decided to bring a dog into our lives. A friend helped us and soon we were dog parents to this maddeningly cute furry white German spitz, a month old ball of love. We tried different names but he somehow responded to Babu or Baba. So, Baba, he was. He owned us from the tip of his wet nose to the ever wagging tail and we became his ever-attentive servants bound with love, rewarded with licks.
Parenting Baba
We now understood what unconditional love meant. It had a cute face, wet licks, happy barks and limitless energy. This white furry bundle of joy taught us to look beyond ourselves and transformed us from a newly married couple to responsible parents in a day. Was that Gods way of preparing us for parenthood to our daughter who would enter our lives three years later?
Mixing the Cerelac formula and mopping poop
They say when you love someone, you learn to embrace the drawbacks and faults in the person too. Since it was love at first sight for us, it became easy to do everything that caring for a puppy entails poop and all. Daily routine now included providing warm milk at regular gaps and keeping the feed ready. Parenting also included keeping him engaged and safe.
Start of a 15-year long heart to heart
‘Bliss is the result of a silent conversation between me and my dog’. So started my heart to heart talks with a dog, who finally became my soulmate. How true and strange that this connectivity was forged by silent looks, soft murmurs and loving touches. There was never any need for fancy words or intellectual thoughts. The language of love is best expressed by silence and loving touches.
Adapting to a Dog’s Life
I discovered the perfect way he loved his milk and cereal, not too soggy or watery. He loved chilled water and crisp biscuits. Oh yes, he loved chilled milk, after he started taking milk morning and in the evenings. Since my husband came home late at night, I had all the time to watch him, understand his moods and act accordingly.
Setting up His Cozy Corner
We prepared a bed for him in an old cane chair and placed it very close to our bed. The idea was to make him feel safe and close to us. He would be exhausted with the days’ puppy activities, all the running around, exploring and chewing up bits of newsprint. I would patiently clean up after him and cuddle him to make him sleep. He loved my fingers caressing him, just above his nose and forehead. I soon discovered that he loved nibbling at my fingers and just when I would be sure that he was sleeping he would prove me wrong.
My Husband Started Tip-toeing In
I started keeping the front door unlatched so he would not wake up from the creaky joints. My husband would tiptoe in and we would try to have our dinner in silence but it was no use, Baba would wake up eventually and like a child eagerly jump up to spend an hour or more of play with my husband. He would finally doze off sucking at one of his fingers. We would cover him up with a soft old shawl and call it a day finally.