Micheal my Buddy !..

Why dog is a best companion 

What impact dog has in our life 

Micheal As narrated by Nandini

How he came in our house is something I have no memory of .  But how he became an integral part of our house is something, I have very vivid picture still registered in my mind .. as if these all events happened last day or to the max last week ..

Actually role of a dog is summarized so magnificently in this quote .. “If puppies could talk, I would never even try to make human friends.”

What comes out of these lines is Dog is not the part of your family,  rather it is the element which makes a family what it is ... a bundle of joy and most often than not makes a family the Perfect Family !

This is what Micheal was for me .. No matter how angry u behave with him and push him away from your sight with tight scolding, moments later u realize as if he did not hear or felt anything at all .. As he comes back and takes The Straight Sit position right in front of you with his front pair of leg resting on floor & wagging his tail with fervor and simultaneously nodding his head up and down .. and seeking your forgiveness .. Actually this posture is just a deception of  Micheal.. if for next 15 seconds you did not react, he gets it very clear that your mood is fine and he will start running towards you and this time jumping on you now as well  ..

All this is possible with Micheal because unlike many other domesticated animals Canine are blessed with super senses and a long history of mutual admiration.

The human-dog relationship – a historical perspective

Where has this bond between humans and dogs come from?

Back to Beginning

Dogs were the first animals domesticated by humans more than 30,000 years ago (more than 10,000 years before the domestication of horses and ruminants). This was an era when human used to behave like hunter-gatherers. This started when wolves began scavenging food scraps from humans, who then began to domesticate the wolves providing them with shelter and protection. In return, the wolves helped the human hunter-gatherers with hunting. As these domesticated wolves were breeding, over 1,000s of years they became dogs as we know them today. 

Alongside evolution of the wolf’s physiology, there is evidence of the developing bond between humans and what we now call dogs. At a burial site in Predmosti (Czech Republic) a dog was discovered buried with a bone (believed to be from a mammoth) carefully placed in his mouth after death – it is believed to be 32,000 years old. In Ober-Kassel (Germany) the skeleton of a disabled dog was buried with the bodies of a man and of a woman; radiocarbon dating puts this at about 14,300 years ago. This is a unique early example of the developing connection; beyond using dogs for practical purposes only.

As dogs were evolving alongside humans, they are able to connect with us on a deeper level than many other animals of today.  

Credit: Wikipedia

Memory 

Though my meeting with Micheal used to happen only twice in a year- the usual Summer and Winter vacations when I used to go to my parental home .. but his love and rock solid memory always used to baffle me .. To test this each time, I used to be the first one to land at gate silently... but his unflinching smelling sense will catch me red handed each time and reply was a loud husky bark !!

Then I finally appeared in front of him from very far, he will stand on his back pair of legs simultaneously making very weird sound which was in very high frequency .. This sound use to touch my heart straight as if he is complaining me why I have been away for so many day and months ..  and the very next moment he is in different set of emotions where he wants me to grab him in my arms and swing him around ..

In short duration he might miss events , but his long terms memory was very strong. During one of the conversation Dadu told me that Canine do not forget event which are registered once in their memory . Canine can remember words and action for life time.!!

Intelligence

Canine intelligence is the ability of the Micheal to perceive information and retain it as knowledge in order to solve problems. 

A study done  with Canine showed that they knew the labels of over 200 different items. They inferred the names of novel items by exclusion learning and correctly retrieved those novel items immediately. They also retained this ability four weeks after the initial exposure. Unlike many other domesticated animals canine have advanced memory skills. They are able to read and react appropriately to human body language such as gesturing and pointing, and to understand human voice commands. Dogs demonstrate a theory of mind by engaging in deception.

Sense

The dog's senses include vision, hearing, sense of smell, taste, touch, proprioception, and sensitivity to the earth's magnetic field.

Communication behavior

Canine communication is about how dogs "speak" to each other, how they understand messages that humans send to them, and how humans can translate the ideas that dogs are trying to transmit. These communication behaviors include eye gaze, facial expression, vocalization, body posture (including movements of bodies and limbs) and gustatory communication (scents, pheromones and taste). Humans communicate with dogs by using vocalization, hand signals, and body posture. Dogs can also learn to understand communication of emotions with humans by reading human facial expressions.

Boy !!  Micheal used to ooze-out so many emotions of love and affection within such small duration . Once u touch him and put hand on his head , he closes his eyes as if enjoying the eternal bliss in those seconds ..

Personal Traits

Typically in North India, Dogs are thought to be the gate keeper of home . A regular dog scene includes becoming still and rigid, growling, snarling,baring teeth,lunging, and nipping or biting  knocks your senses . But Micheal had no such trait .. ultimately he was not meant to work ,, all he used to do was relax, eat, sleep, play and repeat !! 

His favorite food  was crabs which were abundantly found in a nearby canal to our home. Lamb bones, Chapati soaked in mutton gravy was his staple food. He has a particular disliking for white meat like Chicken, Fish.

How can I miss those long walks taken with Micheal,, with his collar in my hand and still he is dragging me from one corner of the street to other far end ! Given a little pep talk, he will start cuddling with me accompanied with his trade mark tail wagging . 🐶🐶🐶

The-morning-walk

The drag-and-pull

Vacations spent with him are memorable and cherished treasure of my childhood .. which is still on..

As vacations will get over, the morning when I was to leave for Delhi; not sure how he used to get sense of this ... His behavior was similar like the day when I reached there. Typical attention seeker.. Jumping up and down , making loud howling sound , running to and fro from me at the same time his trade mark tail wagging . With all these gestures he used to make me realize that he knows well enough about me leaving him again for next 5 months at  the same time also kind of asking me to stay around or take him along to Delhi ..

Whatever was this, but it certainly used to  make atmosphere of whole family very sentimental.. and What good is an Indian Family if it is not hell emotional complimented by a Canine !

It is kind of Messenger with all good Omen . Whether u come or go..  Micheal is the first person who knows it, and passes the information to the rest of members .

With such fond memories of my childhood which grew along with Micheal , last Monsoon I got a devastating news from home ... As Dadi told about the untimely demise of Micheal, I could not comprehend what to feel and how to react .. I was like Numb , absolute Zero in my mind . Dadi told me that he was not keeping well for some time and even after good care given by Chachu and Dadu (he was bitten by some unknown venomous insect), looked like our time of togetherness was over 😢😢😢

And this winter when I went home the first thing I asked Dadu was to show me Micheal's resting place .. which was made in our backyard .. Standing there for few moments made a sea of emotions surging within me again and standing there I thanked Micheal for all the love and wonderful time we spent together !🥳

A companion of last 5 years has gone to Almighty God to get a new Avatar for his next life cycle .. I Wish and pray in that Avatar he comes again as my Micheal .. off course provided he has no issue with me 😝

Animal cruelty is a tragic scenario I often encounter in Metro cities ,, Canine are considered more of a show trophy instead of family member. If I m wrong on this assumption then what could be the reason for pathetic condition of stray dogs visible in almost each and every street , colony gates. If each family can take care of 1 Canine this will make things so heavenly and comfortable for Canine.  

Many of the org. are currently working in this domain to create awareness and impact. I m doing my bit and hope to play a bigger role in this crusade at appropriate time to make bigger impact ..  

Micheal this Vlog is in your enamoured memory my Buddy..  Have good time there! ... 🍖🍗🍺

Nandini 👯