Because Puppy can't hear crackers any more - she's deaf.
She will no longer hide or skip her meals because of boorish inconsiderate people whose idea of fun is to split the eardrums of more civilized beings.
Above: Waiting at the kitchen door for lunch, just as usual
Above: Patience is rewarded, just as usual
Above: We love her smiling expression when she's asleep. She might be dreaming about food, we feel.
Puppy is usually eating or sleeping, or else between meals or between naps, with short walks in those intervals.
This is a good life if you are between 13 and 14 years of age.
Being hearing-impaired is definitely a blessing during Diwali, our famous "festival of light" which is more a festival of LOUD NOISE really. Puppy sleeps peacefully through the explosions, and isn't scared of going downstairs for a walk even when it sounds like a world war outside. She does hear the very loudest bangs, but she doesn't try to run or hide: she just barks.
It wasn't always so. When she was a street dog (until March this year), she used to be terrified of crackers and would simply disappear during Diwali. Her first owner, the late Umashankar, once tried locking her up in his taxi to keep her safe. She tore the seats to shreds and he stopped trying this method after that.
Since Puppy is now a pet dog it isn't really a problem that she's hard of hearing. Of course it was a huge danger when she was a street dog. She had been losing her hearing for some time - I could tell because she didn't respond when I called her. That phase of her life ended with a horrible leg injury, presumably because she didn't hear the car coming.
Read about her adoption here. There's another post about Puppy here.
Lalee is more nervous about crackers than she is, but thankfully her fear isn't very extreme and as long as I'm at home, she behaves almost normally.
In case you haven't read it before, here's my old post on dealing with your dog's fear of firecrackers.
Hope it helps make the festivities less traumatic for your pet.
Wishing everyone a peaceful weekend.
Mumbai
2 comments:
puppy has a beautiful face. i love that first picture and when she's sleeping :)
She's our spoiled brat now :-) It's as if she was always a pet instead of on the street for so many years. The only street habit she won't give up is trying to eat garbage!
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