When it comes to sensitivity we have both ends of the spectrum in our house. We have both – be sensitive unto yourself and be sensitive unto others.

I sensitivity as two types, one in which you are sensitive to what others are going though, feeling, experiencing and the like. Where you sympathise and empathise with someone who is suffering or in pain.

The other level of sensitivity is the one that make you touchy, makes you react to what people do to you, to what you are experiencing, to what people are saying. In this one you tend to growl and snap at people under the right circumstances.

And like I was saying we have an example of both in our house. Both examples are mongrels, only 6 years apart.

Cuckoo has always been a touchy dog. She doesn’t like certain things at certain times. Like try telling her to get away from the gate and come in when there is a cat out there and you’re going to see some fireworks.

Or when she sleeps. She likes to curl up at tummy level and expects you to curl up around her, but, but but but, you cannot curl up tight or touch her paws in any way. This she will not tolerate. When it happens accidentally (we’ve been trained well) she will growl, jump out of bed and promptly paw your face to get do it right all over again.

Cuckoo is super sensitive but then so is Elu, only at the other end of the spectrum. She isn’t a touchy dog, rather she is in tune with people around her. Super sensitive to whats happening to her people.

When Che or I get even mildly upset, hurt or we are unhappy for any reason, it is amazing to watch how Elu picks up on i and will be immediately by your side. Nudging, licking and trying to find a way to distract you and make you feel better.

In her head, I think Elu thinks her cuteness can override any bad thing. And it’s true, Elu can make you smile no matter what. Her immediately attention when I’m am down and out is one of the most wonderful things I have experienced. It makes you bounce back and how.

For me, there is something to learn and take away from both…

William and Max came to Bangalore about three years ago. Bringing them here was a decision we made in a split second and we have never looked back since.

On a routine call with Che’s parents we heard about how they had found out that the dogs were being abused. My In-Laws are doctors and they run a hospital. William and Max had come as pups into the premises and had had a good life.

Growing up they had a large space to play in and spend the day and at night the entire hospital compound became their play ground. They ran about, hunted and generally had a ball. This though lasted only for a little over 6 years, then the old security guard and their caretaker passed away.

There on things took a down hill turn. Caretakers changed often, none were patient and kind, and it seems a couple hit them and put the scare of people into them. Their temperaments had changed, they were becoming different dogs, and difficult to handle.

We brought them over and put them up at Happy Tails, a boarding rehab, while we searched for a bigger house that would accommodate 5 dogs. It took us close to a year to find a house and bring our pack together.

As I was saying yesterday Max is all about food and sleep (the pic above is Max at the kitchen door) and it seems like he had found a way to separate from the abuse in his head. He wasn’t as regressed as William but he wasn’t open either. Over the last year and a half he has blossomed and is almost his former self. A dog that demands food and attention, likes to cuddle and allows us to touch him all over.

William is a stickler for routine and cleanliness. He would bark when he needed to go out and instead of being taken out he would be punished for barking and would get tied up. The abuse impacted him the most, to a point where he was wary of every human being, he flinched a the slightest change in tone or volume and got defensive if you had anything that resembled a stick in your hand.

When William first came home, the only person he trusted was Che. He was always watching me from the corner of his eye, ever watchful, ever wary. He’s a big dog and when he did his mock charges, it made me jump out of my skin. It made me ever watchful, ever wary too. 😀

It’s taken a year and a half for William to learn to trust me and me him. We aren’t bum-chum pals like Che and he but we have our own little equation. He has learned to listen and believe in me and I have learned to read some of his moods and language. He has come a long way but he also still has a long recovery ahead.

Considering what these two have gone though (and the fact remains that a lot of it is still a mystery, we don’t know all that happened to them and maybe we never will), their resilience amazes me. Their ability, to withstand their past and recover from it to find themselves again, is a testament to their strength and hardiness.

The dictionary defines resilient as “able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed” and this so is them. Fast in Max and slow in William but yet a case in point for resilience.

We’ve been taught repeatedly that it’s quality over quantity. That quality is more important than quantity and I agree, it’s true. However does it have to be more important?

Having a labrador in the house has forced me to change perspective. Maximus or MaxiTaxi as I love calling him has only two priorities in his life. Eat and sleep.

He likes doing other things too, like going for walks, killing lizards (yep he has that nasty habit) and playing sometimes but these aren’t the things that rock his boat. What he cares about most is eating and sleeping.

And when it comes to eating and sleeping, it’s all about quantity. Max does not choose between meat, chicken, kibble or anything else as long as it’s food. All he’s interested in, is finding out how much of it is there.

The more the quantity the happier he is. The rest of my pack may turn up their noses at what is given sometimes and also turn away after a certain amount but not so with Max. He’s all about getting the most out of the box.

To Max, and maybe to most labradors quality and quantity are the same. Push come to shove quantity will be more important than quality. And in some cases I think he has it right.

Making the most of something, or getting all that can be got from something, is a worthy lesson.

I got Cuckoo and Senti when they were puppies but the years have rolled by unnoticed and they are now 6 years old. That’s middle age in a dogs life!

They used to play a lot when they were younger but over time the playing reduced and we hardly noticed it since it happened gradually. The other three in my pack came to us when they were already middle aged and they preferred to lounge than run about playing.

This was the state of affairs in our household last year. The only times I saw a lot of activity in the dogs was when walks were about to happen or food was going to appear. At all other times they lazed about and sometimes investigated a toy lying around.

Then came Elu. When we first thought of adopting Elu, we were in two minds about it. All our dogs had crossed the five year mark, and we didn’t know if the dogs would want a young one around. Neither did we know if a puppy would fit in, if she would be happy in the pack.

We had a lot of questions but we went ahead anyway and Elu came home. And things were never the same again. She slowing and relentlessly won each one over. The old boys didn’t make it easy but slowly and steadily she wormed her way into the pack.

She was playful like a puppy should be, a bundle of energy always wanting to be doing something and she got everyone involved. The oldies seemed to get a new lease of life, they were suddenly playing and running about again. It was like they had rediscovered their puppyhood.

Elu changed the dynamic of our pack, she taught us to play again, unhindered, unrepentant, and unleashed. To play for only one reason – the joy of playing!

The one lesson from the dogs that is always in my face is grabbing opportunities. They don’t miss any when they come by and sometimes even create the opportunity.

It doesn’t matter whether it is food, toys, a good scratch, a cuddle, a walk, or anything else. When they get a chance they don’t think twice and they don’t dilly-dally either, they just go for it.

Buddha gets digging the first chance he gets.

The ‘Go For It’ isn’t in half measures either. When they get started they do it with their full 100 percent. No holds barred, no holding back, they play the game as all or nothing.

Of course they never walk away with nothing and a lot of times they don’t even get it all but I’m yet to see them not do something because of that. They still do the same thing with their full heart again and again, every time.

Neither does Buddha miss an opportunity to grab my spot on the bed.

They are extremely opportunistic and I love my opportunistic dogs even when they apply this attitude to the things they shouldn’t do… like destroy my house, my clothes, my shoes and everything else that appeals to them. 😛

The old Santa song asks if you have been naughty or nice and it forever seems to have imprinted ‘or’ between these words. But when I see Gubbi I know it’s possible to put these two words together with an ‘and’.

Gubbi is almost as old as Elu, a little over a year old and like Elu she is all puppy and all energy. Constantly playing and charging around, but unlike Elu she just doesn’t rest. Even Elu with all her puppy-energy takes breaks but not Gubbi.

A friends dog, Gubbi visits off and on and when she is home something is always happening. She and Elu get along like a house on fire and there is always some mischief afoot. And when it’s not mischief with Elu, Gubbi is up to something with someone else.

With a little mean streak Gubbi believes is playing hard and playing rough. A hyperactive dog who just can’t sit still, who is always jumping and is everywhere all at the same time; Gubbi is a little devil.

And yet she is also an angel. She can be oh so cute and kind when she wants to. She is this loveable and adorable thing at times who does things that make you go ‘awww’ and you can’t help but wonder.

I’ve known Gubbi since she was just over a month old. I’ve watched her grow from a bumbling puppy to a long legged beauty and she has turned out to be a beautiful bundle of good and bad.

She’s that marvellous mixture of naughty and nice that would leave even Santa perplexed. 😀

Masti is a Persian word that found it’s way into Urdu and Hindi over time. At a simple level this word means fun but it holds a different meaning for each generation and language.

Older generations consider the word to indicate things that are taboo or involving alcohol. Current generations though see it as a all encompassing word for fun.

That said Masti does change it’s meaning based on usage. It could mean being drunk, sensual fun, mischief or simple enjoyment.

Elu and Gubbi play like there is no tomorrow!

Here though with the dogs I see masti as mischief and fun. The joy they show in running about, chasing each other, chasing birds and squirrels, making mischief, sometimes destroying stuff in the process and sometimes creating.

Everything they do involves masti. I think even in their sleep they are having masti. 😀 It’s different forms and levels of masti for each dog but bottom line is, it’s masti.

It’s a mast life full of masti!

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
— W. H. Davies

I first came across Leisure way back in school, and since then it has been one of my favourite poems. A repeated gentle reminder to enjoy life. To absorb the small little things all around me that are free and beautiful.

We are stuck in a race though life, a race for money, a race for promotions, a race for everything. And in this race we miss out on some the most valuable things.

Every time I catch the dogs sitting and staring out with no real objective I’m reminded of ‘Leisure’. They seem to be listening to the birds, watching them fly about, listening the leaves rustle, the clouds slowly waft across, the sun move across the sky…

Well, I think they are doing all of this. But maybe they aren’t, however they are definitely like W. H. Davies describes it doing a ‘stand and stare’. 😀

Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love,
Make our pleasant earth below
Like the heaven above.
– “Little Things” (1845) Julia Carney

The dogs keep me on my toes constantly trying to stay one step ahead of them. It’s an extremely rare day when I have not had a hair pulling out moment.

Something is one of them covering another, other times it’s someone being jumped at, or it’s them being cheeky and doing something that they shouldn’t, like chewing up my jacket zippers. Oh the list is long…

But there are those days when I’m feeling off, I’m not well, not fully up to the mark. On those days it’s amazing to see the pack behave. They toe the line, don’t give me any trouble and seem to go out of their way to make my life easy.

Of the pack, Senti has exceptional behaviour. When he isn’t well or I’m not well, he starts to follow me everywhere right at my heels. We become a team of Mary and her Little Lamb.

Sometimes I’m so engrossed in what I’m doing, I don’t even realise I’m ill or falling ill until I suddenly notice Senti sticking to my heels. Like today, we decided to sort the store room out and the dust and mould got me all clogged up in the throat.

I was almost breathless and breathing raggedly but so focussed on getting things done that I just kept doggedly on, pushing to get the room done. It wasn’t until I suddenly noticed Senti stuck there at my heels that I noticed just how bad my breathing was.

I don’t know why he does it, or why my pack behaves the way they do when I’m sick but it moves me. It’s a kindness they show that is heart-warming and just wonderful. It makes me want to give them tight hugs and kisses.

Well at least until the next time they tick me off. 😀