The rescue stories of my boys

For as long as I can remember, I have loved animals. I have always felt a bond with them (especially with dogs) which I never felt with my fellow human beings. I would read rescue stories and wish one day I could help a dog just like in the story. I would always prefer to go to the relative who had a dog or was friends with street animals. I wanted to get one myself.

Delta in his SUPERDOGGO pose

Unfortunately, my mother has a fear of dogs. When I asked my parents to get me a puppy, I was told he would poop and pee around the house and my mother would have to clean it as I was too young to take the responsibility of a fellow-creature on my tiny shoulders. Years passed. Life became busier. Getting a puppy started to become impossible.

How to manage such a hectic life and a puppy? My dream of having a four-legged friend became more and more impossible. The year 2018 was very stressful for me. I was in a car crash in the month of July. I was facing difficulties in my personal as well as professional life. All in all, I had reached my breaking point. My husband was very supportive, but living was becoming very hard with severe PTSD and other problems.

The rescue stories start in November of 2018, I came to know that a litter of puppies were freezing in the cold just outside the hostel we used to live in. When we saw them, there were 5 pups in total. All of them were playing despite the cold except one. This one pup was thinner than the others, scared of every passerby and was only chewing on dead leaves. He wouldn’t eat when provided with food. This went on for two nights.

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On the third night, he seemed like he was starving and malnourished, but due to his extreme fear, but, he would not come out to eat. That’s when my husband and I realized that he would not make it to the next day without our help. Thus, we brought the puppy (Alpha) in.

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I wrapped his tiny body up in anything I could find. He was shivering so bad. I stayed up with him all night trying to get him to eat. Finally, towards the wee hours of the next morning, he drank some milk. That gave us hope for his survival and we realized that our temporary house guest had become a permanent family member. He was and will always be our first son.

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Alpha just brought in from the cold outside

A few days later, on 21st November, 2018 I noticed another batch of litter at the same place. Here too, all the pups were doing great except one who was incredibly tiny. All of the pups had opened their eyes, were exploring the world around them while this one little guy had his eyes closed and was fumbling around. The mother had abandoned them.

I knew I had to help this little guy, otherwise he wouldn’t survive. I thought, I will bring him in, feed him and put him back with his family. I did not have enough space to keep two dogs with me in one room. So, I fed this little guy some milk with a dropper and was ready to put him back when my husband came to know of all this. For him, it was love at first sight. Thus, entered Delta Bunny in our lives and in the rescue stories.

Delta was such a tiny thing. He would fit in my hand

Now, when we reminisce about our time before Alpha and Delta, life just seems so incomplete. It’s as if there was a missing piece in the puzzle and Alpha and Delta completed it.

 

Cleaning after them

I have forgotten the countless number of times I have changed sheets and pillow covers as Delta had peed on the bed. Alpha and Delta used to poop four times a day. Alpha would shiver uncontrollably in the cold outside, no matter how many sweaters I’d bury him in, while Delta’s nose would start running. Thus, potty training them or taking them outside was out of the question. I would wake up in the morning, clean poop and pee, give them breakfast, leave for work, come back during lunchtime to clean poop and pee, feed them lunch, again leave for work then repeat the process twice in the evening. Suddenly, I had gone from being a carefree person to a full time maid.

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Feeding difficulties

Alpha was a very choosy eater. He would sometimes eat his kibbles, other times he would just sniff and go away. Sometimes I mixed his kibbles with curd, sometimes I’d give him rice with chicken or egg. He preferred variety in his meals. On the other hand, Delta hated kibbles altogether. He preferred rice but simply loved chapati (Indian wheat bread). Rice was easier for us to cook but Delta had difficulties in digesting rice. So for Delta, it was chapati while for Alpha, it was rice (he did not like chapati much) mixed with eggs or chicken.

Dealing with the cold

Alpha hated the winter. He would bury himself in the blankets and stay there despite of the heater working full time. Delta was a little more resilient. He, neither then nor now, prefers the blanket. I always put a blanket on him worried he is cold. But in a few minutes, he would throw it away and sleep with his legs in the air (chicken legs).

My showstopper, Alpha

Before having them, I could not have imagined doing so much of work in one day. But just having them in our lives compensated for all the hard work I did. In fact, I did not even feel like it was any sort of extra work. They were the center of our little universe. Whatever they wanted or needed, they got.

My little angel, Delta Bunny

 People think, so much extra needs to be done when you have a dog. But think about it this way, if you have a kid, won’t you do all of this for him? If it’s your kid, sacrifices, adjustments, lack of sleep would all be justified. But just because the dog does not share your bloodline, does he not deserve the same treatment?

But things never really go as planned. We had imagined 10-15 years with Alpha and Delta. However, our Alpha died at an early age. He had certain neurological ailments from birth. The time we had with him was simply amazing. He was such a gentle soul except for a minor biting behavior. He always held his calm except when Delta would try to eat his food. However, if Delta was feeling down or was sick, Alpha would offer him food, stay close to him, sleep with him. Alpha would do anything to make Delta feel better. He was the best brother ever. During training, I would train Alpha first, then Delta. Delta used to copy Alpha’s movements. So Alpha would help me train Delta. Oh! What an incredible time it was.

However, our happy bubble did not last long. At four months of age, Alpha suddenly stopped eating. I tried changing his food, gave him chicken, eggs, everything that he loved to eat. But he would not even sniff it.

He would just sleep on the bed. If Delta tried to offer any comfort, he would be met with a growl. Eventually, Delta started to shy away from Alpha. We were so worried with Alpha’s drastically changing behavior.

At first, he failed to recognize Delta. But eventually he stopped recognizing any of us. Our hearts broke into a million pieces when we realized that our journey together had come to an end.

I was always skeptical about something bad happening. Life was just too good to be true. I had everything I had ever dreamed of. However, good dreams don’t last long. The night Alpha passed away, I dreamt he was healthy and with us. I woke up looking for him. But he was not there. We kept going to places where we would take Alpha for walks. I kept hoping to see him again even though I knew that he had crossed the rainbow bridge. I kept feeling like I was in a nightmare from which I could not wake up. It took us a little more than a week to accept that Alpha was truly gone.

Delta turned out to be an amazing support system for both my husband and I. The moment he’d sense our sadness, he would come over and give us hugs and kisses. At times, when he could not stop me from crying, he would cry with me. It was Delta’s compassion, unconditional love and tenderness that pulled us out of our dismal abyss. We would be lost without him.

Trust me, the pain of loosing Alpha almost pushed me into depression. But, the support system  I found in my husband and Delta kept me going. Alpha may finally be relieved of his suffering but, Delta still needed me. Being needed is very important. It gives us a reason to live for one more day when all we want to do is curl up and die.

Alpha is in doggie heaven with his new friends. I know he is my guardian angel above and Delta is my guardian angel here. Our rescue stories may not have had a happy ending. However, Delta gives me courage and and hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday.

Rest in peace Alpha. You will always be missed. The place you covered in our hearts will be yours till our last breath. Love you always. I hope their rescue stories inspire more people to adopt and not shop.

“Dogs come into our lives and teach us about love, they depart and teach us about loss. A new dog never replaces an old dog. it merely expands the heart.”

We are just happy that we got some amazing months with him. He also lived his life to the fullest in that time. It was very painful and hard to believe that Alpha was not with us anymore. His rescue stories will always be on the tips of my lips. However, my little Delta took it upon himself to comfort his parents, gave us lots and lots of mlerms (kisses), cuddles, hugs and so much love that the devastation we felt on loosing Alpha turned into this determination to save more dogs and give them a better quality of life…

Alpha has taught me so much and I want to honor him whichever way I can. My kids are the reason I chose to become a dog blogger and dog youtuber in the first place. Now, I take care of 15 dogs in my region. Everything I do, it is to make my Alpha proud and to honor him. Rest in peace Alpha Honey. Our love for you will stay constant till the day we die.

In honor of our first son, Alpha

You saved me when I was down on luck

My sweet boy, Alpha Honey, REST IN PEACE