Year : 1992
Just before marriage, my husband got (bought) our first dog specially for me, a German Shepherd pup.
His family named him Rustom, more for his power and strength, oblivious to the fact that Rustom was a common Parsi name. His photos were sent by post and I got regular updates of Rustom the Great.
After marriage, when I shifted to Chandigarh, I was excited to be with my very first pet dog who would actually 'eat-sleep-breathe' with me in the same house.
But suddenly Rustom had been rechristened 'Bruce'.
I was perplexed ! Why ???
Because some one had informed my in-laws 'Rustom' was a Parsi name.
"Arey, so what! Stray dogs in Parsi colonies are always named as per the name of the irritating Parsi neighbour's" I explained.
Bruce grew up to be a handsome dog. Very handsome, in the eyes of his owners.
But he was the perfect epitome of all brawn and no brains. 'Daffar' was his middle name.
He refused to learn or obey any commands even if repeated daily.
The only 2 commands we ever managed to teach him were
'Sit' & 'Eat'.
'Sit' he understood well.
'Eat' was happily obeyed as well.
We were impressed with his manners, he was sure to excel.
As Bruce grew from pup to adult, his mindless traits grew louder.
Every morning at 6 am, when most were asleep, the newspaper-wala stood outside the fence, rolled up the newspaper and aimed it on Bruce who used to sleep with my father-in-law outside in the garden lawn, under the starry night. So perfect was his aim that it always landed on Bruce's nose and activate the 'barking dog' for the day, every day.
Bruce barked non stop, more so when we had visitors at home.
Since his bark was very loud, polite conversation was impossible.
As the visitors hoped for a moment of silence from Bruce, they
realised silence on their part was the only possible thing.
So they sat and waited
in the living room sipping tea
with nothing better to do
they scrutinized our faces silently
we smiled helplessly
as we sipped tea through their scrutiny.
Within minutes it was clear.... Bruce was the 'malik' (owner) of the house.
As soon as the visitors left the house, exhausted Bruce would slump to sleep.
No visiting rights allowed for our house.
A walk in the park with Bruce was always fast paced. Bruce led the way, leash pulled and hand
out-stretched to 180 degrees, the master running behind the dog all through the walk. It was tough to keep him in control and even tougher to hold on to him when he took me for a walk.
When Bruce was 6 months old, my bro-in-law and I, drove our handsome German Shepherd from Chandigarh to Ambala for a dog show, in the hope of a new champion in the family. Bruce had never travelled by car so we had to make several stops en-route to ease his restlessness.
We filled up the dog forms and proceeded to the main entrance gate. A group of smart, well dressed officials checked through Bruce's details. One of them walked up to Bruce and slipped his hand between Bruce's hind furry legs.
Bruce got startled. He moved two steps ahead.
My brother-in-law and me raised our eyebrows in disbelief. Neither of us had been to a dog show. We were clueless at the sudden fondness of this man for Bruce from the wrong side.
The man straightened himself briefly.
Within seconds he slipped his hand between Bruce's rear legs again, and again and again.
By now Bruce stood calm. Both seemed comfortable with each other.
The man crouched on his haunches
with his hand that seemed to be in the wrong place
engrossed he seemed in his work
even as he stared into space...poker face.
My brother-in-law and me looked at each other, wondering whether to laugh or shout at his behaviour.
Er...excuse me.... who are you ? I asked the man in action.
"I am the Vet" he declared.
After a few minutes the Vet stood up and politely said "He cant participate."
CANT PARTICIPATE ??? The words echoed thru my ears like it did in the Hindi soap serials.
What? Why ? How Come? Why won't you allow my handsome dog to participate ?
"Because he is a Monorchid" the Vet replied.
Me : "What's that? Is it a Title of some sort?"
Vet : "Monorchid is a dog having one testicle"
Me : "So what? And why??"
Vet : "Probably due to inbreeding by the breeder. Inbreeding can produce several birth defects and diseases like epilepsy, hip dysplasia (crippling lameness or painful arthritis), glaucoma, deafness, blindness.... "
Oh God! With the sound of each disease I was seething with anger at the unknown breeder for intentionally spoiling the lives of these beings.
I put my hands between Bruce's legs to check. One or two was hard to tell.
Me: Is there a possibility of the other testicle forming few months later ?
Vet : Perhaps, but unlikely.
Me : I am crestfallen.
I held back the tears.
"We've driven a long way with him. Will you please allow him to participate, even though he is officially disallowed? This will be our one and only day at the dog show"
Vet : Ok
By now Bruce was restlessly pulling his leash towards other dogs and my arm was almost out of the shoulder socket.
Bruce dragged us into the pre-event area. It was an amazing sight.
There were people and dogs every where.
Dogs of all kinds, size, colour, fur, paw size, snouts, ears, tails.
Some had their fur till the floor and some others had it tied up in fancy pony tails.
Pretty dogs cute dogs
Big dogs cuddly dogs
Furry dogs wiggly dogs
Dogs every where!
Some were carried
some were leashed
Some were quiet some at ease
Only Bruce barked his head off and seemed ill at ease.
Several small partitions were made for the dogs and their owners, to coif up for the show.
For a while I handed the leash over to my brother-in-law, and went to koochy-coo with other well behaved dogs. But it made Bruce more aggressive. He behaved like a spoilt brat, unwilling to hear any plead or command. It was a case of "Puttar ney nakh kaat li".
He was the only dog barking non stop, just as he did when we had ......Visitors!
Soon the Dog Show started.
In the breed ring, breeds were judged against their own kind. Followed by 'Best in show ring' where in the best one was selected from the best of all breeds. Skill display was entertaining. Towards the end of the show, there was a walk around the ring by all dogs and owners. Bruce and I were allowed to be part of the walk round.
But Bruce didn't walk around.
He ran the entire round,
barking at every dog and it's owner
pulling the lead and pulling his owner.
Back home, every one was eager to hear the results.
We told them he was awarded the title of Monorchid.
At night, after my good night hug to incorrigible Bruce, I slipped my hand between his legs.
No sign of the other one yet.
The very next day we hired a dog trainer.
Bruce hated being trained. Like a child unwilling to go to school, he sulked at the sight of the trainer.
He displayed no zest. He remained lifeless through the class.
As soon as the trainer left, his smile and energy returned.
He retained nothing of the training.
SIT and EAT were the only two responses on call.
Once in few months I'd slip my hand between his legs to check for the other one.
But it never appeared. His Title remained.
Bruce barely lived for 5 years. Unfortunately, epilepsy was a part of his last few years.
Just before marriage, my husband got (bought) our first dog specially for me, a German Shepherd pup.
His family named him Rustom, more for his power and strength, oblivious to the fact that Rustom was a common Parsi name. His photos were sent by post and I got regular updates of Rustom the Great.
After marriage, when I shifted to Chandigarh, I was excited to be with my very first pet dog who would actually 'eat-sleep-breathe' with me in the same house.
But suddenly Rustom had been rechristened 'Bruce'.
I was perplexed ! Why ???
Because some one had informed my in-laws 'Rustom' was a Parsi name.
"Arey, so what! Stray dogs in Parsi colonies are always named as per the name of the irritating Parsi neighbour's" I explained.
Bruce grew up to be a handsome dog. Very handsome, in the eyes of his owners.
But he was the perfect epitome of all brawn and no brains. 'Daffar' was his middle name.
He refused to learn or obey any commands even if repeated daily.
The only 2 commands we ever managed to teach him were
'Sit' & 'Eat'.
'Sit' he understood well.
'Eat' was happily obeyed as well.
We were impressed with his manners, he was sure to excel.
As Bruce grew from pup to adult, his mindless traits grew louder.
Every morning at 6 am, when most were asleep, the newspaper-wala stood outside the fence, rolled up the newspaper and aimed it on Bruce who used to sleep with my father-in-law outside in the garden lawn, under the starry night. So perfect was his aim that it always landed on Bruce's nose and activate the 'barking dog' for the day, every day.
Bruce barked non stop, more so when we had visitors at home.
Since his bark was very loud, polite conversation was impossible.
As the visitors hoped for a moment of silence from Bruce, they
realised silence on their part was the only possible thing.
So they sat and waited
in the living room sipping tea
with nothing better to do
they scrutinized our faces silently
we smiled helplessly
as we sipped tea through their scrutiny.
Within minutes it was clear.... Bruce was the 'malik' (owner) of the house.
As soon as the visitors left the house, exhausted Bruce would slump to sleep.
No visiting rights allowed for our house.
A walk in the park with Bruce was always fast paced. Bruce led the way, leash pulled and hand
out-stretched to 180 degrees, the master running behind the dog all through the walk. It was tough to keep him in control and even tougher to hold on to him when he took me for a walk.
When Bruce was 6 months old, my bro-in-law and I, drove our handsome German Shepherd from Chandigarh to Ambala for a dog show, in the hope of a new champion in the family. Bruce had never travelled by car so we had to make several stops en-route to ease his restlessness.
We filled up the dog forms and proceeded to the main entrance gate. A group of smart, well dressed officials checked through Bruce's details. One of them walked up to Bruce and slipped his hand between Bruce's hind furry legs.
Bruce got startled. He moved two steps ahead.
My brother-in-law and me raised our eyebrows in disbelief. Neither of us had been to a dog show. We were clueless at the sudden fondness of this man for Bruce from the wrong side.
The man straightened himself briefly.
Within seconds he slipped his hand between Bruce's rear legs again, and again and again.
By now Bruce stood calm. Both seemed comfortable with each other.
The man crouched on his haunches
with his hand that seemed to be in the wrong place
engrossed he seemed in his work
even as he stared into space...poker face.
My brother-in-law and me looked at each other, wondering whether to laugh or shout at his behaviour.
Er...excuse me.... who are you ? I asked the man in action.
"I am the Vet" he declared.
After a few minutes the Vet stood up and politely said "He cant participate."
CANT PARTICIPATE ??? The words echoed thru my ears like it did in the Hindi soap serials.
What? Why ? How Come? Why won't you allow my handsome dog to participate ?
"Because he is a Monorchid" the Vet replied.
Me : "What's that? Is it a Title of some sort?"
Vet : "Monorchid is a dog having one testicle"
Me : "So what? And why??"
Vet : "Probably due to inbreeding by the breeder. Inbreeding can produce several birth defects and diseases like epilepsy, hip dysplasia (crippling lameness or painful arthritis), glaucoma, deafness, blindness.... "
Oh God! With the sound of each disease I was seething with anger at the unknown breeder for intentionally spoiling the lives of these beings.
I put my hands between Bruce's legs to check. One or two was hard to tell.
Me: Is there a possibility of the other testicle forming few months later ?
Vet : Perhaps, but unlikely.
Me : I am crestfallen.
I held back the tears.
"We've driven a long way with him. Will you please allow him to participate, even though he is officially disallowed? This will be our one and only day at the dog show"
Vet : Ok
By now Bruce was restlessly pulling his leash towards other dogs and my arm was almost out of the shoulder socket.
Bruce dragged us into the pre-event area. It was an amazing sight.
There were people and dogs every where.
Dogs of all kinds, size, colour, fur, paw size, snouts, ears, tails.
Some had their fur till the floor and some others had it tied up in fancy pony tails.
Pretty dogs cute dogs
Big dogs cuddly dogs
Furry dogs wiggly dogs
Dogs every where!
Some were carried
some were leashed
Some were quiet some at ease
Only Bruce barked his head off and seemed ill at ease.
Several small partitions were made for the dogs and their owners, to coif up for the show.
For a while I handed the leash over to my brother-in-law, and went to koochy-coo with other well behaved dogs. But it made Bruce more aggressive. He behaved like a spoilt brat, unwilling to hear any plead or command. It was a case of "Puttar ney nakh kaat li".
He was the only dog barking non stop, just as he did when we had ......Visitors!
Soon the Dog Show started.
In the breed ring, breeds were judged against their own kind. Followed by 'Best in show ring' where in the best one was selected from the best of all breeds. Skill display was entertaining. Towards the end of the show, there was a walk around the ring by all dogs and owners. Bruce and I were allowed to be part of the walk round.
But Bruce didn't walk around.
He ran the entire round,
barking at every dog and it's owner
pulling the lead and pulling his owner.
Back home, every one was eager to hear the results.
We told them he was awarded the title of Monorchid.
At night, after my good night hug to incorrigible Bruce, I slipped my hand between his legs.
No sign of the other one yet.
The very next day we hired a dog trainer.
Bruce hated being trained. Like a child unwilling to go to school, he sulked at the sight of the trainer.
He displayed no zest. He remained lifeless through the class.
As soon as the trainer left, his smile and energy returned.
He retained nothing of the training.
SIT and EAT were the only two responses on call.
Once in few months I'd slip my hand between his legs to check for the other one.
But it never appeared. His Title remained.
Bruce barely lived for 5 years. Unfortunately, epilepsy was a part of his last few years.
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