fighting for attention

some of the things you do when you don't think you are getting the attention you deserve

• climb onto a lap - mine or someone i am talking to
• paw my keyboard/ laptop or ipad
• try to knock the phone out of my hands
• fight with the printer / chords if i am printing something
• try to get into my lap and sit / sleep in it or at the least, rest your chin on my lap and look woefully at me

sometimes i yell at you because you try to eat the printouts as they come out of the printer, or you accidentally cause my laptop to shut down. But i know no one in this living world loves me like you do... and it makes me so guilty....

K says that once i leave the house for an errand or the gym or work, your job is to wait for me to come back home. Earlier, when you would hear the reverse horn of the car you would go ballistic and sit near the door waiting for me to enter. Now the sound of the car going over a manhole cover at the gate is enough to tell you i will walk through the door in a minute and you begin to bark with joy. So much love... sometimes i cant handle it!

How do you know?

From the time we brought you home, you have had more sense than us. That much is evident. When I am chasing a deadline you will sit absolutely quietly at my feet and beg to be taken outside only when the urge to pee is uncontrollable....

you have stayed by my side all of yesterday when i was laid up in bed with a back sprain... just like you slept on the floor beneath my bed, looking up every 10 odd minutes to check if i was ok when i was down with viral fever a few months ago....

how do you know? because you are otherwise bossy and when i am browsing aimlessly on the laptop, you head butt me so many times that i have to shut the laptop down. or when i am lying on the couch surfing channels, your persuasion with a ragged toy is spot on....

yet yesterday, you ate your food with minimal fuss, you didn't pull on the leash, you were very easy to handle.... one more reason i believe dogs are superior to us humans....

lounging.......

here you are, snuggled in the razai with K when i went in to wake him up on monday morning and lost you too to the 'lazy morning reluctant to get out of bed'

what were you thinking?

so yesterday it turns out, my darling sage, you decided it was time to embarrass me like a super bumper lottery.  we were on our first walk of the morning, you went along the regular route to check on who else had been snooping about in the time that you were sleeping and began marking your milestones/ flagposts once again. I met the large gentleman with the small dog (Buddy the 4 year old pug). you guys sniffed about while the man and i spoke... general chit chat....buddy is the guy you are indifferent about, unlike Snicker the Dachshund or Chubby the Golden Retriever. you will give buddy a cursory sniff and then stand or sit by my feet till i begin to walk away. I had no reason to believe it was going to be different. Sometimes when the humans we meet on our walks chat for longer than you like, or you are bored, you just pull at the leash and indicate that you are done, and i have to wind up quickly too...

this gentleman who owns buddy loves to talk...which is fine... because i love that too... but he talks at the pace that a snail walks... i have to stop myself from completing his sentences.... yesterday was no different... he droned on and on... i was being polite and having an eye on you... you suddenly decided that you'd had enough and just lifted your leg and peed on Buddy!

the embarrassment! my god, thankfully my reflexes were quick and i pulled you away in time to prevent a shower on poor buddy! 

what were you thinking Sage? for one... the gentleman will definitely not speak with me for a while now! and i will move on after the cursory hello from dog walkers!

give him to me

boy have you grown big! i cant carry you anymore! i keep saying that i know... but now, i truly cant. and the days that i do try, my body feels battered!

we've begun practice walking without the leash. at first i allowed you to do the last 5-10 feet into the house, inside the corridor without the leash. we moved onto you walking to the lift without it.... then the last leg before we entered the gate, and today we did the whole walk without the leash. when the roads are empty and you are not distracted by anything else, you obey and look only for me... so its pretty easy and safe! like mary's little lamb, always a couple of steps behind me... when you spot someone you know, a few steps ahead... if you think i am not around, you immediately stop in your tracks and sit rooted to the spot till you or i find each other. am amused and proud! but i do need to get K to walk you at times, cos you are refusing to go with him!

the sandpile! there is construction going on in our lane and a full lorry load of sand was delivered a few days ago. i took you to it to watch your reaction. as always i wish i'd filmed it! you approached the sand mountain gingerly, then fingered it with your paws, when the sand gave way, you dug furiously and joyously and made a small tunnel to bury your head into. snout, face and feet all coated with fine sand! after doing that a couple of times, you got bored of it (yes you have the attention span of a wasp!). so then you decide to roll....over on your back and back again onto your front, gleefully enjoying the sand in your face and mouth and other orifaces! i havent the heart to tell you to stop.

So this spectacle continues for a few times each day and today, one construction worker stopped to talk to me. most of them just stand around and watch and when you know people are watching you play to the galleries. So this guy asks how old you are, etc and then says "madam, give him to me no....i will bring him up and keep him well. he's a nice dog" i said, yeah sure why not ...see if he will go with you and handed him the leash. he takes a few steps, till the leash permits, then turns around. you are rooted to the ground, sitting tight on a spot and looking at me desperately. he tries to whistle and cajole you and you dont budge an inch. he tries some more... then finally gives up and hands me back the leash. you jump up and start licking my hands and whatever other body part you can reach. he tells me "madam this dog doesnt want to leave you, not even one step he took without you". i say "yes i know" but inside i am ecstatic and choking at the same time. Choking for how much loyalty you have or love or that i am your alpha pack leader or whatever it is that made you stay rooted to the ground and not budge an inch. you delighted me beyond what i can explain  that day....

stopped counting

We got you on a saturday, the 13 of august and it was raksha bandhan/ avani avittam that day. ever since, i count each saturday to see how many weeks we've had you. yesterday i didnt. does this mean something? because it feels like we always had you now.

K texted what has to be the most beautiful message he's ever written (and that is saying something!). it included you and he has forbidden me from writing it here on a public forum. am just making an entry so i dont forget. and every time i complain of how much my arms ache cos you pull on the leash, i hope to remember this message.

its sunday today and i woke up as usual at 5.45 a.m. we've gone on our walk and i am onto my second cup of coffee. you've had your milk and breakfast. K is asleep with the a/c on and the room is so chill, yet you want to sit at my feet in the study where even the fan isnt on, although you love the a/c... my little lamb.

you are making it a practice to pick up fallen flowers on our walks and slink off as though you have a rabbit or partridge in your mouth. its hilarious to see a half grown dog with large pink flower in his mouth. did i say that you are adorable? or is it just my blinding love?

oh yeah and the fanbase is increasing! there are some 'hot chicks' as K likes to call them. they come and call you by name and tell us which apt they live in and how much they talk about you and they fall all over you to pet you. you love it.... but i think K loves it more! he also said how old it makes him feel!

btw, random boys are coming up to speak with me! i have so far met parag, chetan and amit... they all appear to be terrified of even touching you but they pretend to be dog lovers and ask my name in between asking yours, how old and what breed! totally random and very amusing!

updates and milestones

you lost your baby teeth.... and got new ones... two on the upper jaw and two on the lower. this meant that for 3 days you were dull and clingy and only wanted to sit in my lap. i was feeling so bad for you but couldnt help it.

you also met baby shayaan. you tried to chew on his socked foot and wondered why he started crying. you chewed on and swallowed a large part of a wooden spoon i gave him to play. i waited 12 hours to see it safely exit!

you ate a lot of pebbles last saturday and were in deep pain. refusing food and water for more than 14 hours. it freaked the hell out of K and me... thankfully they exited after 24 hours. 

K and I moved up to a cot, you still prefer to sleep on the floor. but the cot/ bed is still your play area. anything that needs to be chewed or time that needs to be spent waiting for us to wake up in the morning is on the cot.

my brother was here on a personal trip. he was disgusted to see you eat thair sadam and went out and got you some real meat and bones. he made a soup of it and fed it to you with rice. the way you sat and gnawed on that  bone like there was no tomorrow was both endearing and sad. sad that you are no longer my little iyer boy! you are going K's way! when you were naughty, he sat you down and had a man to man talk with you. i dont think you liked it much.

am enjoying your mischievous antics! yesterday you snatched a milk packet out of the hands of a bewildered milk boy. when your sharp teeth cut thru the packet and it started to leak like a shower, you were terrified and ran towards me! how can anyone be angry with you? 

you still sleep the same way as you did when you were 6 weeks old.

milestone

Sage stood on his back legs and lunged for my phone on the writing desk yesterday. till now he wasnt able to reach it, or level. yesterday he was at eye level.

he also sat in his corner and played for an hour after the lights were out with a toy. he usually used to sleep immediately after light out. he walked up to his basket, picked out a toy all by himself.... sigh!

1 year old sienna came down from mathur uncle's (i know!) first floor house to meet Sage and pet him today. i have not seen a more eager and fearless child. Sage behaved, sat down and waited to be petted with tiny hands.

here's a baby pic of us... all cos my friend A put one of her and you on her fb profile and i am jealous i dont have a single glamour shot with you when you were small and now you are almost half grown.