Legacy of Labradors

I have been a pet owner since 2011, and I have no intention of turning back as an animal lover. My mother and I had worked selflessly for the innumerable dogs and cats, including the pets and the strays. In this recollection of memories, I will only write about my first pet, Chiki, and her family. This story was initially published in the “Our Pets and Us” anthology and today, I am publishing it with some modifications and additions along the way. 

Chiki, a fawn-colored Labrador, 26^th March, 2011 – 7^th December, 2017

Mumma Chiki, Thank you for everything

I was always the most reluctant person in my family when it came to adopting a pet dog, but when Chiki entered our lives, it was a turning point for me. It was on 3^rd May, 2011, when a little puppy entered our doorstep, and for the first time in the history of our neighbors, they heard me screaming in excitement. The initial days were tough since Chiki missed her mother and didn’t let us sleep for a week. She was an expert when it came to tearing newspapers and magazines to shreds or secretly having the aloo dum and biryani from our dining table. Sometimes, when we went outside leaving Chiki alone, she meticulously punctured our sandals and socks with holes. Chiki was a lazy dog who sat happily on the bed while throwing her toys on the floor for me to pick up in the middle of the night. Together, Chiki and I contested to have a bowl of ricotta cheese, and she won every time she finished hers and climbed up the bed to have mine too. Those days were fun, especially since I still wonder at my own transformation from an animal hater who couldn’t eat her food properly in the first week to falling in love with Chiki, who licked all my tears till I started laughing when she didn’t come to me when I entered my home due to her weakness as a result of her first vaccination. Chiki was a choosy dog when it came to choosing her own pieces of chicken or a plate of Sandesh; her eyes used to point towards the piece she would love to have first, and I did as I was instructed by her. We loved her, and soon within a year we had another pet named Stubby, and both had four daughters—Angel, Elsa, Stuffi, and Sandy.

Stubby, a black-colored Labrador, 31^st January, 2012 – 14^th March, 2021

Stubby a.k.a Bondhuram

We had decided on Stubby’s name a year before we had him. Our initial plan was to have a dog, but we ended up having Chiki, a bitch. Stubby had been a biter, which was genetic, and he was of good breed with an imported bloodline. The day we had him, we couldn’t find his eyes because he was completely black. Soon, he started to ruin all of Chiki’s toys, and he was more of an attention seeker because he would eat Chiki’s portion of biscuits. He was a skilled master when it came to stealing potatoes from the kitchen. It was difficult to remove the raw pieces of chicken from his clutches because he would either threaten us with “goo goo” or bite us. Once, such a biting incident took place to me, and unfortunately, I had to attend a wedding ceremony in such a condition that the guests thought I was a disabled person. Stubby bit my foot, and I couldn’t walk properly that day. Stubby was a loving father who often got bitten by Chiki during the latter’s initial days of childbirth. Chiki chased him like a mad dog from one place to another till Stubby could manage a small place to hide himself and take care of his babies in the absence of their mother. However, after Chiki’s death, he ended up losing his aggression out of the blue. He deliberately breathes his last on a Sunday morning to be buried at a place where Chiki was buried. He died due to liver cancer, and he could not even drink a 3 ml syringe of water for the last one and a half months before he rested in peace. Everyone mourned Stubby’s death, including the pets in our house, who cried too.

Angel, a fawn-colored Labrador, 16^th February, 2013-2nd March, 2020

Angel a.k.a. the goody girl

Angel was a goody girl of our house and the apple of her parents’ eyes.  She was an obese dog just like her mother, Chiki, and had a jolly personality like Stubby. We often had to say to her, “Anju, goody girl, goody girl, eat her food,” and “Anju, goody girl, goody girl, go for a walk.” She was the one who often used to excite all her sisters and her parents by wagging her tail merrily till all of them started to go merry-go-round in a circle. Once Stubby was responsible for providing Angel and Elsa with Harpic from our shelves. Both the sisters consumed Harpic happily with their tongues turned blue and their bodies green. We saved them by giving them egg whites and a vet consultation. Angel had a unique habit inherited from her mother: she used to bring the bowl of food close to her mouth by using her jaw and eat her food happily with large shining eyes, just like her grateful mother. I still remember the day when Chiki died, and Angel was the one happily wagging her tail and expressing her delight at Chiki’s cold body when people came to our house to mourn Chiki’s death. I promised from that day to look after her, just like her mother would have done, and I hope I have kept my promise.

Stuffi, a fawn-colored Labrador, 16^th February, 2013-5th September, 2019

Mumma Stuffi , my ladli

Stuffi was just like her mother except for the fact that she was not an obese dog. The few months of her life were with one of my mother’s friends, but later Stuffi refused to go back to her owner. She loved me so much, and I loved her more than ever. I am crying while writing about her. It hurts to remember my ladli is not with me anymore. Stuffi was the most possessive pet, or rather a true Mumma for me. She was an expert when it came to holding my wrist with her mouth and taking me for a walk from left to right and back again till my wrist hurt. She would never let any of my pets be near me after I returned home from school and was a skillful master when it came to sitting on my lap and shooing all the pets of my house away by sitting on my lap and showing her beautiful Colgate smile. Stuffi considered me as a shield when she did something wrong by hiding her face on my lap with those beautiful eyes glancing at me to prove her innocence. Her death was a pathetic one too. After saving her from incessant nose bleeding twice, we failed; the medicines didn’t work. Her blood failed to form iron, and she suffered from several cardiac attacks for the past three weeks before her death. The first one started when she just had her lunch and came to me to have my company when suddenly she collapsed on the floor with white froth coming out of her mouth. On the last day also, she didn’t forget me; in her unconsciousness, she had her lunch and placed her head on my lap with her eyes hating the presence of her sisters near me. I had to scold all of them till Stuffi left secure with me. I miss her, my ladli. She is the permanent in my phone’s wallpaper till date.

Elsa, a black Labrador, 16th February, 2013- 7th April, 2024

Elsa a.k.a. Kumro

Elsa, our kumro, or pumpkin, is the only dog to be blessed with the intelligence of her mother, Chiki. She was a master within two months at climbing up the bed and shred my Aggarwal Mathematics books into pieces with teeth bites.  She is the naughtiest of all when it comes to ruining the sofa in our living room and surviving the deadly disease of parvovirus. Elsa is the one whose eyes are an inspiration for me to write. Her age has made her weak, but once she starts to rub her head against my body, it is impossible to sit on the floor until my head hits the ground. Elsa will have a lovely time sitting on my body. Every morning, I must give her medicines due to her high blood pressure because her panting will wake me up like an alarm clock. She is the one expert at competing with her sister, Sandy, when it comes to getting my love and attention. Elsa and Sandy love to have their lunch and dinner together from the same bowl of food, like the people who have the bowl of jhal muri, or puffed rice, together in the evening. Elsa is special; she is loved, which I realized later only when I saw her suffer before her death. 

Sandy, a black-colored Labrador,  27th September, 2013 - 16th December, 2022

Sandy a.k.a Hati

Sandy turned out to be as special as she is beautiful, like her parents and sisters.  If one can have a look at Sandy for a long time, he/she will end up confusing her with Stubby. She has the same annoying feature as her father when it comes to having her food. While having her bowl of rice, she will drop more than half of it on the floor while chewing the rest. She is obese like Chiki. Her belly moves from one side to another while she walks, just like Chiki. Her weight is around 85 kgs when the ideal weight of a Labrador is 35 kgs, but she is a foodie like her mother. It cannot be helped. Sandy will have her food only when I return home from work, and with her dilated pupils, she will enjoy her food. Sandy is jolly; she always blinks her eyes and, at the same time, wags her tail happily, sometimes using it to slap her sleeping sister, Elsa, or the kittens in our house. Whenever I hear the thump-thump sound of the paws, I know it's Sandy entering my bedroom while I am studying. She always waits for me while I go to the washroom near the door. She has the same innocent glance as Stuffi and resembles her with her innocent glance and hiding her face on my lap if she did something wrong. She is often referred to as Hati or the elephant. She is loved, and her desire to sit on the sofa is always fulfilled by helping her to climb the sofa despite her weight.

Epilogue 

It has been almost two years since the legacy of Labradors ended. But coming to terms with it was never an option until I had one realization after another. If I look back, my children are the ones who taught me love and raised me right. 

The journey of writing about my precious legacy of my Labradors is a way to make them cherished forever in the hearts of my readers. It is not easy to remember that we have lost so many of them. Whenever I reflect on my journey, I know that without the presence of Angel, Elsa, Stuffi, and Sandy, I could not have borne the shock of losing my Chiki and Stubby. I have many pets, but writing about Chiki changed my life. She is one of the pets who is responsible for making me the person I am today. At the end of the day, I enjoy being a stay-at-home pet owner and taking care of these adorable beings, which fills my heart with unconditional love.

No matter where I go and what I do, a part of me will always be empty until and unless I return my love back to them. On 7th December, 2025, I got felicitated by Tanishq Jewellers in India. The entire day is for Mumma Chiki and my other children. No man, no people, and no biological children of mine can replace them in my life. 

Sandy, too, died on 16th December, 2022, after fighting a long battle with kidney failure. She refused to have coriander juice, and her continuous drip of saliva was never-ending. I appeared for my exams a day before with constant tears in my eyes. I knew how hard it was to keep Sandy on one lap and my books on another and close my eyes to prepare for exams. I cannot forget cleaning the black stool and cleaning her rectum just before I left for exams. Just after I returned, I started to shave her fur with a trimmer to prevent any spread of dirt and germs. Maybe, I thought, Sandy will survive just a few more days, just a little bit more till my exams. But I was wrong; I woke up around 4am and found her dead. I hugged her all the time while Elsa sniffed her death. Later, after Sandy was taken to her funeral pyre, I could not even open the windows because I needed the obnoxious smell to keep her memories alive. The most important part is Sandy loved me, and she waited until I appeared for my exams so that she could die peacefully. Since then, I have made myself a promise to never neglect my studies, and I will do whatever it takes to keep her alive in my soul. 

Elsa’s death, on the other hand, was the complete ending to the legacy of Labradors in my home. Having 25-30 sweets a day is never a joke. It was a habit to wake up panting and stand near the door. She will steal the sweets placed near my mother’s forehead and have all of them until the shreds of packets are lying everywhere. No matter what I did, Elsa never listened to me, just like her mother, Chiki, who was adamant about having her bowl of rice. Just before her end, which we knew very well, I made sure to give her homemade rossogulla. It was how we celebrated her birthday on 16th February, 2024. Together with Elsa, all the women dogs in the house celebrated Women’s Day too that year by sleeping on the same blanket and clicking pictures. Her death was inevitable, but the love of her entire family is what imprinted my heart forever. All throughout my life I thought I never loved Elsa, but I was guilty about it. Now, I know what my feelings are towards them.  

Puppy a.k.a. Pappa Darling

Yes, indeed, I will never get back the legacy of Labradors. But that doesn’t mean my love ends here. The greatest truth of all time is that love is a feeling that remains within you. No matter how hard we try, death and separation are inevitable. Seeing your loved ones suffer will never be easy. Falling in love is what keeps me alive every single day. What if I cannot play with my Labradors? I can play with a shih tzu named Puppy next door, who does "goo-goo" just like Stubby. The Labrador just below the building where I live holds my hand just like Stuffi. That dog's name is Tyson. Whenever I go to my office and return to my home, I get to play with the Labrador, Tannie, whose eyes are just as innocent and shy as Angel's eyes. The biggest factor is that, despite being away from my pets, I have a purpose to live now. It is to protect and take care of a cat whose tail was amputated last year. His name is Phoenix. He lives in an NGO. Phoenix is truly a Phoenix who is the reason why I wake up every single morning and continue after one failure after another unapologetically.  

Phoenix, thank you for making me a Phoenix

I don’t know whether this emptiness will ever let me live properly or not. But I do know how to love and give love to all the animals, whoever they are. Till then, goodbye. Have a blast!

You can also visit this link to read about my blog, Memoirs of Some Rescued Animals.