I woke up next morning to the melodious sounds of birds heralding a new day and the sun peeping at me through the slits of the closed blinds. At first I felt very disorientated as I looked around the strange room seeking out my birth mother Cutie. But then the thought hit me like a bolt of lightening. Cutie wasn’t here. This was my new home!
Once I realised this, some of the butterflies in my little round tummy subsided somewhat, and so I stood up on my little four sturdy paws and looked around the room with interest. Last night I had been too tired to check it all out, and besides it had been dark anyway. Now I could see clearly the comfy little soft bed with my favourite blue blanket that I had been sleeping and dreaming on, and I noticed that my basket bed had been positioned on the floor on one side of a big grown up’s bed. Later I was to learn that it was on the side that my new Mummy slept on! Which would mean that each morning I would be able to wake up sleepily, and stare first thing into her beautiful brown eyes gazing always adoringly ay me.
I gazed up curiously at the top of this bed that I was next to then, gazed up straight up into the smiling face of my new Mummy Sharhara. I had forgotten how beautiful she was! Or maybe I had been so overwhelmed by all of yesterday that I had not realised how lovely it was to stare at her tender, smiling face as she gazed down at me at the same time. Unknowingly to me, she must have been watching me possibly for some time whilst I slept and then awoke from that deep slumber.
“Oh Rambo my son, you are awake!”. On hearing the calming sound of her voice, all the butterflies completely disappeared and suddenly I felt excited again. A new adventure was about to begin! I could also sense the excitement in Mummy over me, her new adopted four legged son, and that made me happy!
Mummy bent over to my basket and picking me up, gave me a big kiss and placed me on top of her (flat) stomach. “Oh you beautiful boy”, she cooed, “you are sooo handsome and you are all mine!” Well once again I felt this pride surge up somewhere inside of me, and I puffed my little chest out and skinned with contentment under her patting hand.
“First thing’s first”, she said. “We need to toilet train you. You’ve been asleep so long, and it being your first night away from Cutie and all that, I didn’t want to disturb you but now it’s time”. I had no idea what she meant but I just knew that she already loved me and so I trusted her.
Scooping me up in one hand, she elegantly tossed her legs over the side of the bed and carried me with two hands carefully out of the room. As she carried me I looked around with further interest. I remembered those three pairs of piercing eyes staring at me yesterday when I arrived and so I turned my little head this way and that, but they were no where to be seen. Maybe, I thought, just maybe it was all a dream! Oh the joy that flooded into me on this thought!
I turned my (flat) face up towards my Mum’s, and gave her what I thought was my most adoring gaze, trying to widen my big eyes even bigger! I’m not sure what made me do this, not that anyone had taught me this, but I knew even then as a puglet I had great big eyes, and that they were in time to become one of my many assets. Mummy laughed at this look I had given her and ruffled the back of my neck.
We were walking down stairs and down a long corridor. I didn’t know the house was so big!We entered what I was later to find out was called the laundry, and she opened a door and the next moment we were standing outside under a beautiful blue sky and the sun was shining so warmly on the green, green grass of home!
I saw this tree next to us. It was very large. It looked old, but despite her seemingly old age shall I bark, with pieces of her own bark (!) peeling away here and there, there was a certain elegance about this tree I could sense if you know what I mean. Almost like I sensed, that it didn’t matter one aorta what anyone thought of her. That She was firmly rooted in her own self belief. Or that’s what I was thinking anyway.
I was later to christen her “Tara”. Tara the Tree. I just knew that Tara’s strength was such that she would just easily bend and flex in a storm, flow with the currents of life, and yet still be standing there straight and proud and tall after the storm had subsided. That I had no need to ever worry that one day I might come out to visit her, and she would have gone with the wind or something like that so to bark. Later this tree and I were to become firm buddies. Very firm buddies indeed with nothing to ever come between us. Actually though I did not know it then, but it really happened from that very first meeting. But that was all in the future, the love I mean between Tara and I that would grow daily as I tenderly watered her, and kept her soil moist and fertilised with my true love for Tara and all of nature.
Anyway as I was thinking about this tree and her strength and elegance (a certain similarity to Sharhara my mummy by the way), I had in the meantime without even knowing it, been gently placed on the ground next to her large, barked trunk, and Mum said something about “Rambo you need to pee. We have to toilet train you beginning right now.”
Well I had no idea what she meant by that. At my birth mum Cutie’s house, my other three siblings and I had never ventured outside far enough to explore trees and pees before, so all of this was foreign to me. So I looked up at my beautiful Mum quizzically, but then, just then the urge to do what came naturally, well it came.
I lifted up my back left leg and shakily balancing on three legs against the tree, I peed. I actually peed on the tree! Well you should have heard Mum then. It was like she had won first division in Tattslotto or something, not that I knew then what that was. But she was smiling broadly and saying to me, “Oh Rambo, you my pet, are a natural yogini!” (My mum does yoga so she immediately recognized this natural gift in me) “Rambo, your tree pose asana was just so amazing for a little one as young as you. Perfect, just perfect,” she purred! I knew straight away I had done something wonderful and that Mum was very proud of me. So I started to puff my little chest out again in happiness at pleasing her somehow, but just then it quickly deflated as I ran and hid behind the tree.
Peeking out I saw one of those dreaded felines casually sauntering towards us. Mum looked a bit quizzical but then being the intelligent woman that she was (this on top of her beauty), quickly took in and assessed the whole scene and understood then my panic.
Meanwhile the cat had come and was now seated there not far away staring a me with her big green eyes.
I had to admit that for a cat she was rather pretty. Not just the eyes, but the long ginger hair that was fluffed up all over her body. She was a beauty, like a little lioness and she knew it the way she flaunted herself in front of me as she took her place next to Mummy, MY mummy and sat there staring at me disdainfully. I knew immediately that she wasn’t too keen on me, so the feeling was mutual then. Last night when I had briefly glimpsed the three felines at the top of the stairs on my arrival, it had been rather dark and I had been so scared of seeing them there that I did not have much time to really check them out and what they looked like. So it hadn’t been a dream after all! There were cats here! Once again I felt very dubious about coming here.
“Rambo meet my girl Milo. She is 11 years old Rambo, and therefore deserves respect and kindness from you as I have told her and the other two. Please try to be nice to her. Its hard for her too Rambo, because she has had me all to herself and now to also share. I was to later find out that Milo thought she owned Mum, and always slept on the bed with her. Every night it seemed.
I didn’t really understand human talk at this stage but I think I understood pretty clearly what Mum was adhering to. That I was the new boy on the block so to speak, or rather so to bark. That I was a dog. Which I was!
Milo and I gazed at each other quietly for a while, me waiting in nervous anticipation to see what she would do. The word “attack” was ringing very loudly in my little dark brown ears. But Milo obviously had been taught from an early age to be on her best behaviour when Mummy was around and to act her age. So, she stood up gracefully, turned around so she was facing the other way, and with a long, cool backward stare at me with those big, green eyes of hers, and a swish of her big fluffy tail in my direction she casually sauntered off away from us.
Hmmm. One cat down, that meant two more to meet. My morning seemed to be already turning into a nightmare before it had even begun! What had I been thinking to come here to this strange house so excited? But my thinking didn’t have any more time to progress before I was whisked up by mum again and carried inside, down the long corridor, up the stairs and into the lounge room.
“You must be very hungry my boy, your birth Mum Cutie’s adopted mum, (if you can get your head around that one!) has given me all the instructions on what to feed you and when to feed you.
Food! Now I did know this word very well! I sat there expectantly watching her in the kitchen. I was yet to learn the meaning of patience. In fact some might say 5 years later that I never learnt what patience was. But then those “detractors” of my beautiful personality IMHO I later realised were just showing that aspect of themselves that they tried to keep hidden from them selves but especially from others-that is jealousy. That awful emotion. Jealousy of my handsome puggy looks, jealous of…..but hang on, sorry but I have digressed here. That is another story. And breakfast awaits me!
Mum looked on expectantly, as she placed the bowl on the ground in front of me. I took one look with one eye at my food bowl, sniffed the air and delved in. But it was somewhat a bit difficult eating. I hadn’t noticed that last night being so tired and all that. The reason that it was difficult was because I have, well, some might say a BIG, flat face and the bowl that my new Mummie had placed my food into just didn’t quite let my whole face fit into it.
Mum obviously realized the problem too ,and whilst nothing was ever said about my face being too big and too flat and all that, the next day there was a new shiny bowl that was much bigger than my handsome face and so from then eating or rather gobbling quickly was never a problem.
I drank thirstily from the water bowl that was I was later to find was the communal drink bowl for my three feline siblings and I. That didn’t worry me, though I am sure they found this all rather distasteful,l but what could they meow about anyway? I mean water is water!Whether it happens to be in one bowl or three or four.
I was later to find out to my dismay that the felines seemed to have a 24/7 dining restaurant right there in the kitchen, where they could eat as much as they liked and any amount that they liked whilst I was limited to portion control-twice daily. For my own good I was told. To keep my weight down, to help me breathe easier. To stop me from snoring so loudly. Oh yes there were many excuses given over the years as to why I had set meal times and the others didn’t.
Oh the unfairness of life sometimes I would grumble to myself as I would gaze with a bit of sadness through Mum’s legs as she stood guard, whilst my felines sisters and brother on the other side in front of Mum, would eat away at their delicious smelling food, looking up haughtily at me now and then and with I think a bit of glee as if to say, Sorry Rambo, but we are special you know-we are FELINES! But I have to bark that later I devised this plan that worked very well. Mum would often get bored and distracted waiting for the cats to finish their food. They ate so slow and daintily! And so one day I realised that if I read Mummy’s body language very closely whilst they were eating, I could tell when she was briefly distracted, and with one leap and a big bump to the rear of the cats’ little bottoms, I would slide them out of the way and stick my big gob into their communal food bowl and grab as much as I could in a mouthful, before Mum even realised what had happened. Of course she was never happy about this. Neither of course were the cats. But I was and I would have a little laugh to myself in these moments before I lay down for a little nap at their astonished faces!
But I have got a bit ahead of myself here. Well quite a lot actually. Now where was I? Oh yes that’s right, I had just finished my portion control brekkie and drunk like a good little boy plenty of water to keep myself hydrated, as I gazed up adoringly at Mummie. “Good boy Rambo” she said in that soft voice I had already grown to love hearing so very much! “You can go exploring your new house now. You are yet to meet Bailey Boy and Maggie who are around somewhere but don’t worry about them if you do come face to face. I’m sure they are aware of their manners and will do the right thing!”
I wondered what “Do the right think meant” dubiously, but I was excited again. Playtime! But…I had no friends here of my fine vintage, and I sort of missed My birth Mum Cutie and the way that my three siblings and I would roll over each other as we played in the indoor playpen.
But being the little trooper that I was, I knew that I had to move on, that these were lovely memories always there to cheer me up if I wanted to reminisce, but that there was the NOW to live in, and that life would give me many challenges. But also give me many gifts. That, I was learning fast. But more importantly I had already learnt that I was very much loved by both Mummy and Daddy! And really in the end that is all that mattered – love.
Anyway my siblings had also all been adopted out and so I just knew I had to be grateful and make the best of it all and just by doing this, I would later manifest all my heart desires! Life was good so off I trotted as fast as my little legs would carry me around the room!
Yes it was a big house all right, quite spectacular with all its angles and curves and high ceilings. My old home had been well rather boring when I now compare. Though I know it’s wrong to compare. Because even at this tender age, I was already showing signs of my greatness, of my connection to something bigger than I! And I don’t mean by this my eyes or my face! I think that I knew even then that I was destined for some sort of greatness. That was why I was born. That was why I was here.
But I was to also learn that one should never compare oneself to another for always there would be greater and lesser persons than I! I was smart in so many ways even then, no denying it though these traits were yet to be recognized! After all I was only ten weeks and two days old. And I still had so much growing up to do!
Secret Pug's Business 