Scooby is still whining as I open the gate. I look over the wall, but can’t spot her inside the dark hutch. She calms when I call her by the comical name. The poor girl is afraid to be alone. She misses her mother. Every two-month-old mammal would miss his/her mother when darkness falls. I have read somewhere that dachshunds whine till they find company. Does the rule apply to Dobermans too?
Bruno the dachshund is man enough not to whine. But he seems to be offended by my unexpected concern for the neighbour’s dog. Leaning against my right knee, locking his nails on my jeans, he demands an explanation. We were never on talking terms. He left his teeth mark on my feet when he was hardly a year old. I suspected that the “son of a bitch” was bought with a plan to make me come home early.
I instinctively patted his head and instinctively feared that he would instinctively bite me again. I never believed that the domestication of dogs was successful enough. Its wild instincts were forever at work. Like Jack London’s Buck, any civilized dog was pulled between the security of kennel and the liberty of jungle. But the dog went on all fours expecting me to caress his silky black back.
I always blamed my brother Shawn for bringing home a dog. But I too had a pet. Duka mesmerized me from his stinking cage at the pet shop. I brought him home a Sunday morning, when I was coming back from the church. The little white dog was easily mistaken for a Pomeranian. But he was Australian pedigree, I was told. Someone asked me if the dog planned to go to the UK for a degree.
Duka was an unlikely canine name in a land where people named their dogs Caesar, Kaiser, Bush and so on. Normally people name their dogs in honour of their enemies. Aamir Khan named his dog Shah Rukh and Shah Rukh Khan planned to name his dog Aamir. But I chose a historical name for the dog. Michael Dukakis was the Democratic candidate against George Bush in 1988. For some apolitical reason, I wanted Dukakis to be the US President and honoured my dog with the name Duka.
He proved his pedigree but never graduated to get a degree certificate. He grew beyond a Pomeranian. He was my constant companion until he fought a pack of street dogs one night. He bled to death the next day. Then came Bruno, years later.
All these days, Bruno made sure that I became sober by the time I got past him to the house. But today, he remained non-enthusiastic. All he wanted was a pat on the back. He left me and resigned to his lonely life. A straying cat or an unguarded rat would give him company in the night. Dog is man’s best friend. But does the dog have a friend? Bruno is a prisoner. His easily available friend is a prisoner too, just beyond the wall. Then Scooby is just two months old.
Diagnosing the little dog’s aggressiveness, Shawn had made plans for him. Bruno was taken on a date. But his girlfriend happened to be a bit on the fatty side. Poor Bruno was frightened by her size and ran for his life. He cursed the vet who advised against overfeeding him. Obese dachshunds were prone to back problems. Their spinal discs frayed easily. So Bruno kept the spine and his virginity. He remained aggressive. Tom and Jerry went on cursing his breeders.
Bruno’s breeders preceded Charles Darwin. The Origin of Species is 150 years old. But dachshunds are much older. German breeders who manipulated natural selection bred and bred till they found a lowly dog, with a long spine and short ribs and shorter legs. The “design” was suitable for burrowing after badgers, but the short legs collapsed under the body’s weight. Its drooped ears added to the ‘cute’ look, but were intended to protect its ear canals when digging after game.
There’s no end to the game. Deaf Dalmatians and bowlegged dachshunds are the result. Darwin cites the example of the blue-eyed cats who are invariably deaf, hairless dogs with imperfect teeth, and pigeons with feathered feet who have skin between their outer toes. “If man goes on selecting, and augmenting, any peculiarity, he will almost certainly unconsciously modify other parts of the structure, owing to the mysterious laws of the correlation of growth,” he writes.
Men need dogs for hunting, guarding and adorning the ‘pet’ status, but seldom recognize their vital needs. Only breeders make matches (even they ignore the weaker ones). Maybe they should ‘design’ a variety who has forgotten his/her libido.
Meanwhile, Bruno and Scooby whine away their lives while their cousins in the streets find love when they want to, till the municipal noose catches up with them. It’s a dog’s life.
Bruno the dachshund is man enough not to whine. But he seems to be offended by my unexpected concern for the neighbour’s dog. Leaning against my right knee, locking his nails on my jeans, he demands an explanation. We were never on talking terms. He left his teeth mark on my feet when he was hardly a year old. I suspected that the “son of a bitch” was bought with a plan to make me come home early.
I instinctively patted his head and instinctively feared that he would instinctively bite me again. I never believed that the domestication of dogs was successful enough. Its wild instincts were forever at work. Like Jack London’s Buck, any civilized dog was pulled between the security of kennel and the liberty of jungle. But the dog went on all fours expecting me to caress his silky black back.
I always blamed my brother Shawn for bringing home a dog. But I too had a pet. Duka mesmerized me from his stinking cage at the pet shop. I brought him home a Sunday morning, when I was coming back from the church. The little white dog was easily mistaken for a Pomeranian. But he was Australian pedigree, I was told. Someone asked me if the dog planned to go to the UK for a degree.
Duka was an unlikely canine name in a land where people named their dogs Caesar, Kaiser, Bush and so on. Normally people name their dogs in honour of their enemies. Aamir Khan named his dog Shah Rukh and Shah Rukh Khan planned to name his dog Aamir. But I chose a historical name for the dog. Michael Dukakis was the Democratic candidate against George Bush in 1988. For some apolitical reason, I wanted Dukakis to be the US President and honoured my dog with the name Duka.
He proved his pedigree but never graduated to get a degree certificate. He grew beyond a Pomeranian. He was my constant companion until he fought a pack of street dogs one night. He bled to death the next day. Then came Bruno, years later.
All these days, Bruno made sure that I became sober by the time I got past him to the house. But today, he remained non-enthusiastic. All he wanted was a pat on the back. He left me and resigned to his lonely life. A straying cat or an unguarded rat would give him company in the night. Dog is man’s best friend. But does the dog have a friend? Bruno is a prisoner. His easily available friend is a prisoner too, just beyond the wall. Then Scooby is just two months old.
Diagnosing the little dog’s aggressiveness, Shawn had made plans for him. Bruno was taken on a date. But his girlfriend happened to be a bit on the fatty side. Poor Bruno was frightened by her size and ran for his life. He cursed the vet who advised against overfeeding him. Obese dachshunds were prone to back problems. Their spinal discs frayed easily. So Bruno kept the spine and his virginity. He remained aggressive. Tom and Jerry went on cursing his breeders.
Bruno’s breeders preceded Charles Darwin. The Origin of Species is 150 years old. But dachshunds are much older. German breeders who manipulated natural selection bred and bred till they found a lowly dog, with a long spine and short ribs and shorter legs. The “design” was suitable for burrowing after badgers, but the short legs collapsed under the body’s weight. Its drooped ears added to the ‘cute’ look, but were intended to protect its ear canals when digging after game.
There’s no end to the game. Deaf Dalmatians and bowlegged dachshunds are the result. Darwin cites the example of the blue-eyed cats who are invariably deaf, hairless dogs with imperfect teeth, and pigeons with feathered feet who have skin between their outer toes. “If man goes on selecting, and augmenting, any peculiarity, he will almost certainly unconsciously modify other parts of the structure, owing to the mysterious laws of the correlation of growth,” he writes.
Men need dogs for hunting, guarding and adorning the ‘pet’ status, but seldom recognize their vital needs. Only breeders make matches (even they ignore the weaker ones). Maybe they should ‘design’ a variety who has forgotten his/her libido.
Meanwhile, Bruno and Scooby whine away their lives while their cousins in the streets find love when they want to, till the municipal noose catches up with them. It’s a dog’s life.
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