They say that a dog is man’s faithful friend, and my pet dog Timmy was someone who really proved me that, being with me for 13 long years. It was quite feeble for a while and today around 10.00 a.m. it had died a silent death bringing sorrow to everyone at home. This post is a small tribute to Timmy and I would like to recap some of the memories I have.
Timmy came in to my life in 1998 when I was in year 8. This was a time when we were taken from the school for the Junior National Badminton Championships. On the way back we stopped at our master in charge’s wife’s house and there were the cutest Lion Pomenarians I’ve ever seen. Having the need to own a puppy, I immediately decided to take one of them and I noticed this brownish pup that had a unique color. When I picked it up, I got to see the mother’s love in the dog world too. I remember how Timmy’s mum growled at the rest without letting anyone else come closer to me when I was holding Timmy, and when we got in to the van, she came closer looked me in the eyes as if to say “take good care of my kid” and then left. So, Timmy had the longest journey of his life on that day, from Homagama to Bandarawela which is close to 200km. Tough puppy, eh? :)
The first few weeks were not so exciting coz you know, I had to clean up half of the house each morning. Ah before I forget, there is a reason why I named him Timmy – I once had another dog named Timmy, and after a while we lost him. Maybe it was stolen or it wandered off. So, I named this pup Timmy to remember the previous dog.
Slowly time passed away, and Timmy grew to be a playful puppy, and my evenings were filled with playful moments with him. When teeth started coming out it was quite hard to keep the slippers coz Timmy bit in to each of them. However, after few months, it got quite sick and apparently it had got a phlegm problem. So, for few days we had to feed it milk and porridge along with the medicine. I remember how Manjula - my classmate back then – came and helped me do this drill after school. Fortunately Timmy made it through and from then grew to be a healthy dog.
After I taught him fetch we had a different consequence. He started thinking that it needs to bring back everything we throw away. So, every morning we used to have a pile of garbage at our doorstep coz Timmy used to fetch everything from the garbage pit. Anyway later on he got to know what exactly we needed, and became a very good fielder when my dad and I played Cricket at home.
Timmy was very intelligent. He is always the first to greet when any family member comes back after a journey. Even when my father came home in a different vehicle he had the instincts to run up and greet. Also, he was very particular about the meals he got. If he didn’t like it he used to topple the food over with his paw and fill the plate with sand using its snout. It wasn’t very fond of the bath and we had a tough time when he started understanding the Sinhala word for having a bath. Whenever he heard the word, he used to either run in to the kennel or go and hide under the car. So we used to set the bathing environment and lure it in to it by placing a biscuit trail like Hansel and Gretel found their way back :) . Anyway once it got the first splash of water it used to become cooperative.
Timmy has bit me twice. The first was during a vaccination. The needle might have hurt him, and it kept on gripping to my hand while the vaccine was injected. The second was actually my fault where I went and pulled the bone it was gnawing on.
Time went by, and once I left school and went to Colombo for studies and work, I missed the companionship. But whenever I got home Timmy was always there to welcome no matter at what time I got back. I remember how it runs up to the three wheeler to greet me, even when I reach home around 2.00-3.00 in the morning, and kept jumping up to me while someone opens the gate for me to get in. It is during these times that I was at home, it got a good brush to its coat and the occasional hair trim. We never had to chain him or prison him in the kennel for long hours because despite being a good watch dog he was extremely obedient and knew his boundaries very well.
The post can go for on and on with so many memories I have which keep flowing in to my mind on this sad day. Timmy wasn’t just the guard dog or our pet. He was like a family member to us, and in the alms giving we had in our house couple of months back we wished him good health and got the blessings too. I am sure that will have an effect and result in a pleasant afterlife for Timmy.
I wish I’d meet him one day as a friend – only if I could know it is him!
A true friend is tough to lose...
Specially when they leave a paw print in your heart forever..!
