the middle dog
the day i got my driver's license, and the puppy i came home with instead.
4439 days ago, on july 9 2014, i got my driver’s license.
more importantly, i got scooby.
two of my friends were with me that day. somewhere between the driving test and everything else going on, we went to pick up a puppy.
except the puppy we initially picked wasn’t the puppy we came home with.
a doctor took one look at him and told us he was too young. he then showed us two other puppies.
so, for a brief moment, there were three puppies lined up in front of us. the one we had originally picked, and the two the doctor had shown us.
scooby was the one in the middle.
we picked the middle dog.
he was this tiny, inquisitive, slightly confused ball of fur who seemed to have absolutely no idea what was going on.
for the first few days, his primary activity was sleeping.
his secondary activity was eating, during which his stomach would visibly grow. he’d eat a meal, acquire a cartoonishly round belly, sleep it off, and repeat.
he also couldn’t climb anything.
the couch was an obstacle.
the bed was an obstacle.
stairs were completely out of the question.
even the tiny step at the entrance to our house required assistance.
and whenever the world presented scooby with one of these impossible challenges, he had one response.
he squeaked.
he squeaked when he wanted something. he squeaked when he couldn’t get somewhere. he squeaked when something confused him. for a while, squeaking was basically his entire vocabulary.
his world was also very small.
for his first couple of weeks, he only knew the ground floor of our house. there was an entire house above him, but as far as scooby was concerned, the known universe ended at the stairs.
i don’t remember much of the difficult puppy stuff anymore.
i’m sure there was cleaning. i’m sure there was crying. i’m sure there were nights when someone had to stay awake with him.
for whatever reason, that’s not what stuck.
i remember the puppy kisses.
i remember him sleeping on my chest.
i remember that whenever something scared him, he’d run to me.
that one got me.
i was surprised by how quickly this tiny animal figured out who his people were. he had known us for days, sometimes hours, and somehow he already knew where to go when he was scared.
he made me feel wanted.
twelve years later, i’d like to think i’m his best friend.
i know he’s mine.
not bad for ₹9,000.