It’s Tommy’s world. Review on Having Pets at Home

Two-year-old Tommy is a handsome brown and white dog of mixed parentage. He is huge with limpid light brown eyes, which can melt the hearts of even dog haters. Frisky and naughty, he is in his prime of life and loves to eat and sleep.

When he was small, he loved to jump and lick our faces. He liked to pull my dupatta and try to prevent me from going out of the house. And when I began my early morning walks in a garden nearby, Tommy would follow me till the other dogs of the vicinity chased him away. He had been straying away from his territory and they did not want any outsider in theirs. He would then sit on the opposite side of the road and follow me with his eyes as I made my rounds. He would wait for me excitedly as I came out of the garden and welcome me back as if I had gone on a long visit.

During his formative years my son used to look after him and till today he adores my son. If he doesn’t take any notice, Tommy just sits and gazes at him with worshipping eyes. Tommy does not allow me take any clothes belonging to my son to the laundry. He pulls the bag and runs round me as if telling me not to take anything that belongs to his dear master.

He does not like sleeping an a bare floor and prefers a carpet or at least a dari. He had tried hopping onto the bed and the sofa but a smart whack on his behind made him realize that these were out of bounds and he has never tried that again.

However if the carpets are rolled up or taken away to the cleaners Tommy does not mind the small little mats outside the bathroom doors. He curls himself and sees to it that nothing, not even a tiny part of his tail, is on the floor.

Like all dogs he loves bones and non vegetarian food. But he settles down to a meal of milk and bread or rice and milk. He has his own bowl and if he is hungry he carries it with his mouth and comes to me telling me clearly that he is hungry.

Perhaps Tommy is the only ‘talking’ dog. When anyone he loves returns home from office he looks directly into his or her eyes and ‘talks’. His tone varies as if he is telling the news, complaining or grumbling. If he is upset with the watchman he looks from the watchman to the person he is talking to and grumbles.

We missed him when we went on our trip abroad and noticing how much we remembered him, our daughter presented us with doggy ‘mouth fresheners’, a special belt and dog food to be given to him.

Tommy is a fighter c*ck. He has to fight with every newcomer and come back a winner. In the process he gets hurt and bleeds all the time. Recently in a particularly bad doggy fight his tail got badly damaged. A big clot had formed which was giving him a lot of trouble. The minute the tail touched the carpet he would let out a howl.

Since this happened in the evening when the vet was away, I had to douse him with anacins and crocins as I couldn’t bear his howls of pain. He would whimper and look at me with painful eyes.

At the vet the next day three hefty men were needed to hold his legs, his head and his mouth as the doctor cleaned and bandaged him and injected him with medicines. Though Tommy has an annual visit to the vet when he gets his inoculations, this tail injury was very painful and after the visit he just curled up and slept it away, getting up only for meals and nature’s calls.

The next day however Tommy was nowhere to be seen. The watchman who was earmarked to take him to the vet came with his chain and at its sound Tommy just disappeared. We searched him everywhere and he was found hiding below my son’s bed, quietly terrified. Two more visits and Tommy’s tail is as good as new but the sight of the chain still worries him.

He is obsessed by autos. He loves to climb on the seat and sit straight as if challenging anyone’s right to displace him. As I get out of my gate if I turn right he knows that I am hiring an auto and he follows me. He gets into the auto before I do and doesn’t get down till he has a little ride. After that he is perfectly alright and does not get into it again.

When I return from office, the first thing I do is to see where Tommy is and how he is. In fact my son grumbles that Tommy is higher than him on my priority list.

When my son and husband are away at their places of work and I have a holiday, Tommy is my full day companion. The very sight of him sleeping peacefully on the carpet lowers my blood pressure, releases all my tensions and gets me into a comfort zone. I am like P G Wodehouse’s Lord Emsworth, who loves to see his fat pig the Empress of Blandings just breathe(for she does not do anything else).

Without Tommy, what would I do?