The Dog who owned me

Have you ever wondered how a furry four-legged creature with beady looking eyes, teeming with ticks could take over your life?  The story starts with my wife and my daughters collecting him in Kochi after which he landed home in Munnar late in the evening, ostensibly our children’s pet and soon turning into both Neetu and my son. Twitch as we named him was a fawn-colored Labrador retriever with boundless energy and a temper to boot. Growing up he was a perfectly friendly dog who did a Gothic Mr. Hyde, turning into a bit of terror!  Obviously upsetting to us, we never understood these sudden changes in a dog who by then had turned out into a most handsome Labrador. It was when he was about 3 years old that one early morning, I woke up to hear him yelping in pain to see him almost paralyzed waist down. We rushed him to the local Vet, who asked us to take him down to Kochi where after examination we were told that due to a genetic disorder, he had a nerve related issue. It then became clear to us and explained his episodes of aggression which were triggered whenever he felt extreme pain due to his condition and got disoriented. We were told that there was not much that could be done and that his chances of survival were bleak. For nearly 10 days, he lay prone on his side at home as we tried to feed him and talk to him. In his eyes, I saw confusion and pain, as he beseeched us not to leave him alone. In those 10 days, Neetu and I discovered how much we had grown to love him. As suddenly as the debilitating episode of illness had arrived, it disappeared with Twitch recovering almost magically. He came back to health and regained most of his vigor too. In the following years, he did continue to have couple of more attacks but all with much lesser intensity till they just disappeared. 

Twitch never liked to be petted or touched by anyone other than Neetu and myself. Perplexing as it was, we decided to stop searching for answers of his lack of socialization and concentrated on enjoying the undivided love and affection he had for us. His tail wagging and his ears melting against his head and eyes lighting up when he saw either of us used to be some of the happiest moments with him. He would love to have a rub down every evening. Somehow it was just too idyllic and too good to be true for long, the warning signs were there to be seen. His evening walks were getting shorter as he found it difficult to walk for too long. We visited the vet who broke the news to us that his joints were paining him and that there were tell tale signs of his kidney failing. Neetu and I knew that he was not well, but still nothing could have prepared to the fateful week in November. His health deteriorated rapidly, all while we spent considerable time applying heat to his joints trying to feed him with our hands.  He would make the effort of trying to raise his head, wag his tail and I could see it was all too much for him. The prognosis by the vet was rather grim and he told us that his lack of appetite and his condition was the failing of other vital organs and that he was in considerable pain on account of that. He told us that there was nothing much one could do for him anymore and even the effect of the pain killers was wearing off.

He lay on the gurney, with one of my hands under his soft head and the other holding him tightly. The vet asked me if I was ready. I looked at Twitch and, in his eyes, I saw something that still stays with me today. His eyes were twinkling as if telling me it was ok to let him go and that he understood how difficult this was for me. In that instant over a decade worth of memories played out and as I finally numbly nodded to the vet to euthanize him. Almost instantly, as he was injected his eyes closed and his head became limp in my hand and Twitch was gone. As I carried his limp body from the first floor of the hospital to my car, I swear I felt other pet parents in the waiting room hold their pets closer. We got him home and have him buried in my garden in the same part of the lawn where he spent countless hours basking in the sun. Till this day not a day goes by when Twitch does not come up in a conversation at home. Unsurprisingly only the beautiful moments that he gave us and the last twinkle eyed look that stays with us. We love dogs and while we meet, pet and play with many other dogs in our very pet friendly community on our walks, the abiding memory of Twitch never leaves us. Many people have asked us why we haven’t adopted another dog even though it’s been so long since he has been gone, but then there was but one Twitch and  he owned me and my soul.