A Family of Dog Lovers

A FAMILY OF DOG LOVERS
. During my childhood we were living in a remote corner of an isolated village and the only companions to play with children were two dogs. The dogs guarded the sheep from the wolves that made frequent visits to our farms from the hillock that separated us from the main village whose inhabitants were a few hundred in number and most of them weavers. The dogs followed us during our hunt for birds in the woods and swam with us in the near by stream which was fed mainly by rainwater and most of the time it was dry and remained our play field. We used to play there with our dogs named Caesar and Tiger.
When I grew up, to keep my childhood memories green, I bought a dog and named him Caesar. He became friendly with everyone at home and my children played with him as we did during our childhood. The only difference was that we were in a village but my children were brought up in a military campus in Bangalore city.
When we went to our native village during my annual leave, we took Caesar with us. He adjusted to the new surroundings and played with the sheep. At that time we were invited for a wedding in 0oty. We took Caesar along with us in car. We planned to leave him in the farm of our family friend and wanted to take him home on our return journey. The wedding was over. I t was midnight when we reached my friend’s farm. We did not want to disturb my friend so we returned home. I was planning to go and bring Caesar the next evening. But Caesar made his appearance at our farm around noon. We were surprised and we phoned my friend and enquired. He told us that he was howling the whole night and in the early morning he jumped out of the fence and ran away. When we told that Caesar had already reached our farm, my friend did not believe us. Who would believe that he had covered a distance of seventeen kilometers? He had the amazing power of smell. My children used to make him smell the handkerchief and they would hide it in their secret place. But Caesar never failed to find the handkerchief. We returned to Bangalore with Caesar and our children.
Hearing about the home coming episode of Caesar, my friend wanted to exchange his German shepherd for Caesar, knowing fully well that Caesar was an ordinary breed. We did not agree to send Caesar anywhere.
It was summer and the number of stray dogs on the campus increased. They bit two of the inmates. We summoned the corporation authorities. They failed to trap them. Therefore the commandant summoned gunners from the grenadiers. Two gunmen came and shot a number of stray dogs. The howling of the dying dogs made Caesar to jump out of the five feet high compound wall of my house. Unknowingly he was also shot dead. That is how I lost a pet dog named Caesar. The irony of the situation was that I had to invite the gunners for lunch, as I was the Mess Commander
My daughter in USA has kept our family tradition alive as she has a Saint Bernard as her pet. After all we are dog-loving people!