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Phew !!!!!

I finally got around it. I  spent most of day before night and the next day fretting over 5 pups. They also made me and more significantly, M, go up and down 3 floors (I live on the third floor) at least 15 times and a scary visit to the vets with one of the them.

<Flashback>

I have this street bitch who decided to ‘adopt us’ for food about a month back. She would look at you with ‘ the prettiest eyes’ one can have and u meltttt and out pops a bowl of milk, eggs and bread. Very very effective!!! She uses her assets well.

She even got herself named  ’lotto’ by us, ‘ginger’ by the floor below and ‘doggie’ by another set of neighbors. And the icing to the cake – she was pregnant…… ooppppsss!!!

Like a friend K said (on hearing the news): whoa! that’s too soon for you.

(wow… thanks!!!)

So lotto has a fondness for terraces… one night in full howling and ignoring food, she delivered on the adjacent terrace.. and came back after full 2 days for FOOD and more FOOD!

For a good 2-3 weeks she had her pups tucked under the water tank to ‘beat the cold weather’ and would do her rounds of going to each household at precise eating times – 3 times a day at least.

The pups, now almost 3 weeks old decided to be adventurous in checking their surrounding and ended up coming to the edge of the stairs and then yelped their brains out in complete fright of unknown territory and the height which lay before them.

The first time, two black fuzz balls rolled down two steps and woke up the neighborhood with  their plea for safety. This too at 7 in the morning. After much debate and a bit of fight with one of the neighbours they were put back with the mother and the rest of the pups on the terrace instead of being banished to the ground floor.

A similar routine followed the second time. The third time, we had to decide what to do.. so, against our best opinions, we put them in cartons and moved them downstairs. All night went in checking on them… added more newspapers, how they are adjusting to the new place… hope they are not being attacked by other street dogs. I think between me, m and our neighbours, we must have done 10 rounds.. Up and down… up and down.

By morning, they are again at the bottom of stairs  and the mother trying to ‘train’ them to climb up. This time on our side of the building.

And we instead of not interfering with mother nature and her ways, promptly picked all 5 pups and stationed them on the terrace, in the sun… the difference was our terrace door could shut properly… so no escape.

So, proud we were of our decision and of providing a nice warm spot for them, we let the mother in and out guarding the door. At one momentary lapse of action, we left the door open and one little pup landed at the railing.

Next, we heard a thud and howling. One of the pups had fallen 10 feet to our floor, right at the door. This is when god says ‘ don’t mess with the ways of nature’ and we had intervened.

We literally died. Thankfully a quick trip to the vet, an anti shock and a check up of all bones intact ensured the pup was fine…. just quite because of the shock of falling.

In our paranoid state, all evening we set a  routine for us:  every 20 mins – go to terrace, open the door, let the mom in or out, close it.  We tried to train the mom with biscuits to come in from the other terrace and jump over the wall, so we can keep the door permanently shut… but to no avail. We decided the pups would have to go to the ground floor, we can’t take care of them.

Just when we had given up hope of letting them live safely on the terrace till they a bit older, the head  popped a blue bench lying in the terrace. We used it to block the door, so that the pups can’t go over and out and the mom can jump over and access the pups and the world.

I felt the head lighten a little of the pressure and stress it was under the whole day. A few more days and we would have to let them go.

Right now, it’s a pleasure to watch them play and try to bite your socks off !!!!!!!

-Day done… exhausted and going to turn in.