Doggy Tales - About Tobler - 'The World's Best Dog'

ABOUT TOBLER.....The World's Best Dog

Male : Fox Terrier Smooth

Height : 15" only

Weight : 8 kgs only

Lived, loved, enjoyed : 10-09-97 to 04-04-09

It was an open secret...

Tobler, my friendly-active-energetic fox terrier meant a lot to me.

But I often wondered how much I meant to him. 

It was hard to tell.

Considering the way he would meet, greet and receive anyone and every one at our doorstep...... whether it was the fruit-wala, garbage-wala, gaari chalaney wala, suit boot pehenne wala ya koi nakhrey wala (be it the fruit man, the garbage man, or a haugty suited-booted man)...he met them and us all 'unequivocally' with the same warmth, enthusiasm and joy, whether he was  meeting for the first time or the 100^th time. 

 

His greeting made the visitor feel honoured (his short straight tail that resembled the fore finger, wagged and vibrated in happiness at high speed, 500 times a minute), and he ensured he spent maximum time with the guest, entertaining him, making him truly feel like the ‘Guest of Honour’. 

In a short time he managed to teach the visitor an interesting ball game as per 'his' rules. This he did noiselessly, thru his eager brown eyes and his short tail wagging, vibrating constantly, thereby assuring and encouraging the visitor that he was playing the game well.   

                                        

It was a simple, no nonsense game of 'Throw and Fetch'.

Tobler would get the ball in his mouth and gently drop it at the visitor's feet. 

Now the only thing the visitor had to do was kick it (willingly or unwittingly) and... the game was on. 

His game had no doubts, 

no arguments, 

no losers, 

Only Winners, 
as both, the guest and him, enjoyed the game thoroughly. 

Those who suffered from dog-o-phobia would shiver, shudder and quickly kick the ball as far away from them as possible, least realizing that this was exactly what he wanted and the game had just begun. 

With every such shivering, quivering kick, Tobler would happily fetch the ball again, and again, and again till the guest was dog tired and sensed it better to retire for the day as Tobler was un-tireable.

His love for the ball also made him the most coveted fielder in every park in Delhi which was flooded with fanatic cricketers. Not a ball did he miss that was bowled, batted or catch missed, and not a ball was any of the two legged fielder allowed to catch. 

He was often mis-judged "Most ball-istic selfish  player of the match".

If one tried to snatch the ball from his mouth, his jaws and teeth clamped the ball hard and tight. So tight was his love for the ball and so firm was the grip of his jaw on the ball that he could be lifted alongwith the ball in the clasp of his teeth, the rest of his neck, body and legs hanging and dangling in air as you lifted the ball higher and higher off the ground. 
His motto....

   "Pran chali jaaye par ball na jaaye"

(You can take my life but not the ball.)

Tobler was a small, handsome, lightweight dog with a long long snout. 

Curious people often asked me.... "which breed"?  I'd enlighten them, occasionally alternating between deer and horse.  

His long face and snout strengthened their doubt and confusion. 

At the age of 10, Tobler had some breathing difficulty and was diagnosed with an Enlarged Heart. 

Not surprising, since he loved all 'unequivocally'.  

He loved all species, irrespective of the beak, teeth or number of feet. 

He diligently fathered several convalescing species at home... blue rock pigeons, 'Kiki' the green pigeon, 'Snowy' the pure white rabbit, 'Kevin' the fruit bat, 'Parry' the angry Alexandrine parakeet and 'Peeku' the abandoned peachik who grew from pea size to three times Tobler's size before it's release. 

Visits to the vet became innumerable. 

One day my sister and me took Tobler to the vet as he was rather unwell, in his favourite car....the Maruti van!  The Maruti van was simply irresistible for him and he would jump into one the moment he saw it. (I am sure men will understand this kind of unjustified, unreasonable adrenalin rush for four wheelers.) 

Even after umpteen rides Tobler had not been able to coin the Maruti van ride with the visit to the vet. or the intravenous drip.

That day I had to give his swab sample for a culture test, so the cab stopped in front of Dr. Dangs pathological laboratory. 

I got off and went into the lab. My sister and Tobler waited in the cab.

 

During the wait my sister noticed that.......

every time a person with my kind of hairstyle passed by the cab, Tobler got excited ! (My haircut was a blend of Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachan's hairstyle of the 70's). His excitement was judged by his sudden rushing to that side of the window and the acceleration in the wag vibration of his small short straight tail.

He remained calm when a small boy or a vendor or an aunty in long plaited hair passed by. 

 

After a few minutes, due to traffic reasons, the driver was forced to re-park the cab further down the road. 

As the car started moving, Tobler became frantic. He began to rush from left to right ,  window to window inside the cab. 

My sister presumed he got frantic as he thought they were leaving without me.

When I returned to the cab, he greeted me in his same unequivocal style.  

Well, these were just her observations but it felt good to hear.

When we reached the house, he promptly jumped out of the cab and to my wonder of wonders, he lifted his right leg and pee-ed long and non stop on my leg, as I was paying the driver for his cab ride!

 

So, the wonder of my wonder dog still remains....    

how much did I really mean to him???  

*******************

Tobler lived, loved and enjoyed a full life of 12.5 years.

In my search (in vain) for his perfect mate, Tobler fathered all, big and small, but remained a virgin.

Thank you Tobler for being a part of my family and my life.