I can steal your heart away

He is your friend, your partner, your defender–Your Dog!
You are his love, his life, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
–Author Unknown

Here’s how Sheeba woofs her way in…

Battle half won…
It was the night of celebration for Verma family. After months of arguments and pleading by the kids and his wife Ruma, Ravi had agreed to get a pup home. He was just not in favour of a dog since he never liked being around them. He found them too whiny, too jumpy for comfort and the idea of having them in the house 24×7 was just not appealing. But Ruma’s upbringing had been just the contrary. She had never lived in a house without a dog. For her, ‘life without dogs was barren and lifeless’ – as she kept saying. And the kids developed a keen fondness for dogs because every time they went to their grandparents’ house, they did nothing but play with dogs. And somehow, this year on his elder son’s birthday, the kids conspired to persuade him and used all coercive words possible to get them a pup home.
For the next few weeks, the euphoria was at its peak. The minute he entered the house, the kids would love to share the anecdotes with their loving canine. His family was happy and that was all that mattered to him.

Puppy woes…

However, as days went by, Ravi realised it was not as easy as he had expected. His favourite pair of shoes were chewed upon. His socks had major holes in them and he found himself stepping on Sheeba’s pee every other day. As if that wasn’t enough, the kids were forever busy with the pet and to him it seemed like a perpetual circus with Sheeba jumping all over the place and the kids chasing her with yells and squeals.
One day, Sheeba chewed up his mobile phone and he decided to return her to the breeder. It was a very quiet dinner that evening. The kids ate with a heavy heart and they couldn’t take their eyes off Sheeba, who somehow sensing the tension in the room, sat very quietly in a corner, looking at them with pained, soulful eyes. That night, the kids took Sheeba to their room and wept. They couldn’t bear to lose her, but they knew Dad was serious this time. Ruma felt her heart would break if she let her little baby go like that from her life.

Sheeba the saviour…

Ravi decided to go and finish some work since he couldn’t sleep at all. He went to the drawing room and began working on his computer. It had been just an hour when Sheeba suddenly started barking. “Oh God, no peace at night either,” grumbled Ravi and continued working. But Sheeba would not stop barking and though Ravi yelled at her to stop, she wouldn’t. Soon Ravi couldn’t take it any more and he stormed to where he heard the bark. “Shut up!” he yelled and Sheeba looked at him and began jumping up and down, still barking. She kept looking inside the kitchen and then up at Ravi, but the barking wouldn’t stop.
Ravi was about to lose his cool, he opened the kitchen door and there it was. A strong hissing sound was coming from the kitchen. When Ravi switched on the light, he saw that the sound was coming from the geyser, which the house help had forgotten to switch it off and now it was emanating fumes and shaking. Ravi immediately rushed to switch it off and realised what grave danger they had been in. Sheeba by now had resorted to a slight whelp and looked up fearfully at Ravi.

The miracle happens…

By then, Ruma and the kids had also come, scared of what Ravi might do this time. As they all stared open mouthed, Ravi bent down, picked up Sheeba in his arms and hugged her. “And if not for this brat, it would have burst any minute,” he added. Sheeba, who was just too happy at being held by Ravi for the first time, began licking his face and Ravi couldn’t help but smile. Just when they thought the storm was over, Sheeba in all her excitement, peed, there was a moment of uncomfortable silence as Ruma and the kids were sure that Sheeba had blundered all over again. But then Ravi shook his head and turned to the bundle in his arms who looked at Ravi with his doe-eyes. “Little one, you need to get toilet trained soon. Kids, we start her toilet training regime from tomorrow. “Are you with me?” he asked and the kids jumped with joy. “Yes!!!” they screamed and wrapped themselves around their father’s legs in joy.

The bond develops…

And as Sheeba continued ‘woofing’ once again, Ruma couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t believe it when Ravi hugged Sheeba again and said, “Little one, you and I have a lot to catch up on! You are after all, a part of the family now, aren’t you?” “Woof, woof!,” replied Sheeba, as the kids danced around, oblivious to the fact that it was late in the night. For the Verma family, it was a night of celebration, a whole new beginning.
That’s how pooches are…lovable, unselfish and a darling!