Everyone smiles at the D'Souza's place. I was tempted to title this post "Et tu, Brute?" after seeing this picture of the new family member Brutus. Check Raju's killer smile in this earlier post and you'll understand why!
Brutus has just been officially adopted by Godfrey and Tina. His "siblings" Raju and Deepa were adopted early last year. Follow their story here.
"I named this fellow Brutus months ago," writes Tina D'Souza.
"About four months ago, Brutus came to the house we were building that is beside our property. He had a nasty wound and was not interested in being attended to. He would sleep all night but by morning he was gone. Brutus is a stout male maybe six or seven years old, and he has been neutered. So we assumed that he belonged to someone.
He looks like a Pariah-mix."
"Slowly Brutus has spent more and more time on our properties. He is very well-behaved and has picked up the smile command by watching me work with Raju. He loves me and wants to please. I like this dog and wonder where he is eating, but I have never suggested to Godfrey that we take him in...
Yesterday Godfrey suggested that we buy another bowl and collar! So I guess he's ours!"
"While Raju and Deepa like him, they are constantly putting him in his place. He has the strength to hurt them both at the same time as he is so strong and muscular, but I think he is so gracious to them for just being allowed to stay. We are dealing now with the alpha dog issue: Brutus never talks back to Raju or Deepa. I think that deep down Raju likes having a comrade, only he doesn't like sharing the attention."
Kudos to Tina and Godfrey and all the other nice people who have adopted Indies. At least some of our dogs get the homes they all deserve. And some of them get to smile!
Photos and story: Tina D'Souza
Aldona, Bardez
Goa
3 comments:
love the story and glad it's a happy ending. that wound must have terribly nasty - it's left quite a scar.
also, of course, how can i comment without commenting on THAT SMILE? have a great weekend :)
Thats great of you. adopting stray dogs.
I have a question about mongrels here. Its about their behavior that I am trying to understand. I used to feed two stray dogs everyday without fail. gradually they started to recognize my voice and even my motorcycle sound. They come running to to me from next street just after I start my bike. In due course they became very affectionate with me. But gradually one of the dogs started barking at others and chasing people on motorcycles when I am around. He behaves very normally when I am not in the vicinity. due to this out neighbors have started complaining its because of me the dogs are braking and chasing.
Now I am not sure what to do with this situation. I feel bad if they look at me with longing eyes waiting for me to feed them. but If I continue this then neighbors start getting agitated. Any ides about how to stop him from barking and chasing when I am around.
Keerthi, in your place I would put leashes on the dogs at the time you are feeding them, so their movements are restricted. It's possible to get adult dogs to accept a leash by giving them a treat as soon as you put the leash on. Release them only when you're about to leave them. Would that work?
I put a leash on our friend Brownie on Nagaon beach, to stop him from chasing cars. I can't control what he does when I'm not there, but at least during my visits I try to stop this behaviour. Thanks to the treats I give him, he has accepted leash-walks very nicely.
The only other thing I can think of right now is to condition these dogs to stay away from motorbikes altogether. It's a bit complex and would involve something unpleasant happening to the dog at the exact minute he chases a bike - the best thing would be if the biker could spray water from a can onto the chasing dog's face. Dogs make associations very fast and they would I think learn to stay away from bikers after repeated squirts in the face. But you would need someone to help you with this.
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