My love for Pets

Dogs my first Love

I guess keeping dogs as pets ran in my family and that is how I got this habit. My grandfather always used to keep dogs, then my uncle is crazy about dogs who lives in England and my father also loved dogs. Now you can see as to how I got this love for keeping dogs. Dogs have been the only animal I have kept as pets. They are known to be man's best friend and are considered very faithful. As you will see from my article I have always considered the dogs I have kept to be pets and a part of the family. For me keeping a dog as a watchdog was as good as not keeping one at all.

Tmmy my first Dog

I had a dog called Timmy in Lahore. In those days The Famous Five used to be a popular story written by Enid Blyton and they used to have a dog called Timmy. That was how I got the name. I was very close to him and used to love playing with him. During cycling he used to run around with me and just loving the freedom he had. I used to talk him for long walks and in Lahore, there used to be a number of parks to go. Timmy used to get me worried when the gate would be open and he would sneak out of the house and not return until a few hours. My cousins would also love playing with him and while we used to play cricket, Timmy would go after the ball. I also didn’t like it at all when my father used to hit him if he did something wrong which was seldom. The time to move back to Karachi and we had to take Timmy with us, as he had become a part of the family.

The passing away of Timmy

Unfortunately Timmy could never settle down in Karachi and was beginning to fall sick quite frequently. Timmy was around six weeks old when he first came to us and he had grown up in Lahore. Although I used to take him to the beach and we used to have a lot of fun there. Timmy was not the same dog anymore and used to be very lazy always seen to me sleeping. We did take him to the vet a number of times and an injection would be given to him for regaining energy. His last few months were very hard for me and he was a shadow of his old self. He had lost a lot of weight and was not eating properly. In the end we were told that to overcome his suffering an injection would be given which would put him to sleep. Indeed it would be the toughest decision I had to make so far and seeing him suffer was something I could not bear. Timmy was put to sleep and died peacefully. It was a very sad day for me and I could picture him everywhere and how he used to greet me when I would come home after school. It did take me a lot of time to get over Timmy and he will always remain in my heart.

Keeping dogs was not an easy task as you have to take care of them. My mother was not at all used to keeping dogs and never before in her family had someone kept dogs. By keeping Timmy who we had for 7 to 8 years brought a change in my mom and she began to like dogs. My mom’s parents meaning my grand parents were always very scared of dogs from the beginning and whenever they used to come to visit us we would have to tie our dog. It did take some time to keep a dog after Timmy had died. I did keep 2 to 3 different dogs but the one who I will always remember is the last dog I kept called Jerry.

My most loving and best friend Jerry

His name I had kept after watching a movie called K9 in which there was a beautiful German Shepard dog known as Jerry. My jerry really resembled him and was just as beautiful as him. He was what you what say perfect in every way. There were so many things I just loved about him and he was my best and most loving friend. He would love to sleep on my bed and sit on the sofa with me. He would always wake me up in the morning by coming and licking my face. When I would get back from the office, he would be standing by the stairs to greet me. One of Jerry’s favorite things used to be going for a drive in the car. I also loved taking Jerry and we used to go on a Saturday.

Having fun with Jerry

Jerry was a very intelligent dog and in the evening he could tell when it was time for him to go in the car. He would go and stand by the car waiting to go. We used to go for half an hour with Jerry taking his face out of the window and enjoy the breeze. It really made Jerry’s weekend and I used to be so much happy for him. Jerry also used to love sleeping in the air conditioned room and used to sleep in my room a number of times. Jerry did have a lot of hair which did make it very uncomfortable as it used to get very hot and humid. During one summer we decided to shave off Jerry’s hair and you could not recognize him after his hair had been shaved off. Jerry looked totally different and since his hair was his beauty we decided not too shave off his hair again. Jerry became very close and attached to my mom as she was the one who used to feed him and be with him when I and my dad were in office. Jerry would always follow my mom wherever she would go.

Leaving Jerry Alone

I normally would be very excited when going abroad for a vacation but that was not the case when Jerry was there. I hated leaving Jerry alone and wished that I could also take him along.. Jerry used to be very upset at seeing the three of us leave and what my feelings were at that time were hard to describe. Jerry used to be in the hands of the servants which I disliked immensely but there was no other option. During my vacation, I would always be thinking about Jerry and what he would be doing. We would often call up home and enquire about how Jerry was. On knowing that he was fine would give me a enormous about of satisfaction and comfort. I clearly remember the joy and happiness with which he used to welcome us back. He used to jump on top of us and his joy had no bounds. It was a sight which was totally unique and I can never forget it for the rest of my life. I always used to get things for Jerry including bones to play with and biscuits. Jerry used to love them. I used to be so happy to be back with Jerry and thanked God for Jerry’s good health.

Losing Jerry

This paragraph is going to be very difficult for me to write. I remember Jerry used to have tick fever a number of times. Ticks used to be small insects which used to suck the blood out of Jerry and used to make him very weak. There used to be tick powder which we would pour over Jerry’s body to kill the ticks. A couple of times Jerry had it we were able to catch the fever in time and kill it with powder. The ticks had covered the whole of Jerry’s body which was going to be the last time he had this deadly fever. Jerry had become so weak and it made me cry to see him like that. All the vets had said that nothing could be done now and Jerry would live for a few days more. I felt so helpless at that point and so low as I have never felt. One morning I heard my father call me loudly and saw that Jerry had passed away. He was lying there in total peace. Jerry was around 8 years old and as they say 1 human year equals to 7 years of a dog. Jerry in that case would be 56 years old. They say that the life of a German Shepherd was short and Jerry had lived his life.

Tough Times

It was a very difficult time for me and it felt as if a part of my life had come to an end. Jerry was like a brother to me and the best friend I have ever had. They day Jerry passed away I went to bury him and on the way back could not help myself from crying all the way home. I definitely felt a sense of loss and was totally overwhelmed by emotions. It also had a very telling effect on my mom, as I had earlier said how close she had become to Jerry. Up till the present time I have still not been able to overcome the loss of Jerry and miss him like crazy at times. I can still picture him going for a drive in the car. We have not been able to keep a dog after Jerry. I guess his loss was so great that we just not have been able to come to terms with it. Keeping a dog requires a lot of care and having a lot of time at your hands for him, which is one of the reasons for not keeping another dog. The ultimate reason would be Jerry himself, his beauty, charisma and intelligence which no other dog can ever possess. I guess it will be difficult for you to believe me but at the time of writing this chapter on Jerry I had tears in my eyes which showed the affection and love I will always have for him.

Overcoming Jerry's Loss

I would have to say that losing Jerry was a big loss for me and I have never been able to recover from it. It is true that life goes on but when you lose something so close to you, it definitely has an impact on you and your life is not the same anymore. Being the only child makes me more sensitive and emotional at times like these. Since Jerry was my best friend losing him also felt like a part of my body had gone with him. We also have not kept a dog after Jerry, as the loss of Jerry was too overwhelming for us. Besides I had become busy in my work and used to come home in the evenings. I would not have to give or spend much time with the dog which would be unfair to him. It would have been too much of a burden on my mom taking care of him. After the passing away of Jerry I decided to keep busy in work which enabled me to concentrate on work related things and time was beginning to pass quickly.