I visited my parents home in Oct 2007 and was greeted by my siblings favorite pooches very dramatically Bambi a German Shepherd had me pinned to the wall and was smooching me as if I had just returned from the dead and the other Gucci (I am sure Gucci is turning in her grave right now) a pert little beagle was barking her head off as if she had just come across a intruder, to this day I thank God that I was home at a respectable time. Gucci was also pregnant with her babies and her delivery due in Nov. Well she was enormous but was so agile that one would doubt if she was pregnant. In any case after a very loving and a boisterous welcome we settled . I started talking to my very stunned siblings , who were not aware that I was flying to India for a visit. A few hours of chat a little walk down the street and some food later I told them of my plans which was to go to my in laws place first and then be back in Delhi in Nov just in time to welcome winter. My sis was ecstatic that I was going to be with her for her Birthday this year. I went to Bangalore for a month and was back to Delhi by mid of Nov.
Two weeks later Gooch had her babies one evening, none of us had any experience in this but quickly we lined a cardboard box with paper and a sheet. My very nervous little sis ripped open and cleaned the little mite which was still encapsulated in the pouch , then held it in her hands which she extended to Gooch. Gooch started licking her babe this was a good sign and we quickly bundled our little pet into the car and took her to our vet. By this time Gooch was busy licking her first born Rocky. I had Rocky wrapped in a towel and in my palm all the time till we reached the vet’s place, since we had to keep the pup warm all the time.
My sis was concentrating on calling the vet and making the last minute appointment so that things would be ready to deliver the litter.My sis kept Gooch busy and I was holding Gooch’s pup to her face so that she could concentrate on her pup and be distracted from all the pain she was going through. By the time we reached the vet’s place Gooch was all set for her 2nd. some 4 hours later Gooch had her final contraction and had her 8th little pup all alive and by grace of God healthy. Our vet was amazed that a Beagle gave birth to so many pups, a very rare occurence, and all being alive and healthy was rarer. Gooch in fact very proudly showed us her darlings as if saying “look at my babies are they not beautiful?” She posed for a pic. Anyway we bundled the little darlings into a box and brought them home we had a nice little pup cage kind of thing lined up with quilts and sheets so that the pups could be warm and snuggly but somehow this did not do well so now all the 8 pups were hosted up to my sis’s bed and were cozily tucked there for a few days all these little pups did was eat and sleep. We would feed them then get them to pee and then they would get back to their business of sleeping. This was turning up to be a great adventure, but this was just the start, the tough part was now beginning to stare at our faces ….. 2 weeks later we found out that these little darlings who were on the way to becoming little brat-ish devils had found the use of legs and boy was the adventure turning to a nightmare quickly.
By this time my sis firmly put them in their little cage ‘cos running after 8 little furballs was beyond testing human patience. Our routine changed we would take 2 or 3 pups out at a time and then have them pee first then feed them and again have them pee and then put them back into the cage. Now there were some real smart ass pups out there who thought they could fool us and get out the second time and sometime they did get out a second time. Sometimes they would stand right next to the door all the time and jump out when we opened the little gate to get some other pup for the routine and these little rogues would not just jump out illegally but once outside they would whizz past you in such a speed that the idiom raced at the speed of a bullet would fall flat on its face. By this time we could now recognize all the pups by their facial features and the marking on their little wiggly tails, so the fooling the masters times had ended.
Then came the solids food time some liked the food some did not like the food, some got so thirsty after eating the food that they would drink water like they had never seen water before , some would eat a little food –then drink water- some food- some more water, and some ate from their momma’s bowl. In any case now they also found out they could communicate and boy did they communicate every morning at 6AM religiously food time is no time to play around ..... you better get up and feed otherwise all of them will start barking in unison bringing the house down. So we would be at the edge every morning sometimes even one little whimper was enough for us to be up for their routine, we had to live in the neighborhood even after they were gone.
The pups were one frisky lot 5 of them had abundant energy while 3 were just happy to be left alone, they were the ones that were quiet, waited their turn patiently and never made a fuss. The other 6 made up for these 3 in their enthusiasm, naughtiness and perkiness. Oh did I forget to mention we also found a stray pup about a week old so that brought the brood count to 9, we named him Tiger. As they grew older they also became one naughty group there was one particular pup who was very tiny and would often get beaten up by the rowdy boys and so we would get her out sometimes to save her from the abuse. And boy this girl after stepping out would become one royal queen she would go near the cage and then start egging at the boys that they were locked up and here she was free. Then one time she got a little bone as a treat she actually ran up to the cage and showed it to everyone out there that look what I got .... she was named very aptly the princess and nicknamed “chutki” or the little one she was the tiniest of her siblings. All the little ones now had their little dresses that they wore quite proudly, Tiger meanwhile hated it quite vehemently he would be the first to strip… he was quite a stripper though I must say. He then went on to strip Princess which Princess hated and very loudly protested to, we would give a stern warning to Tiger and he would quietly skulk to a corner but will be back at it after another half hour. Then there is Pogo he too hated the outfit, so often times he would not be able to strip fully and would only be able to extricate himself from one arm looking like a toga wearing roman senator ready to give the speech – Friends, Romans, Countrymen…..Pogo had a unique voice, a voice that would scream murder every time he opened his mouth,there was no decibel format at all there was only one pitch BARK you better hear me now!
By now we knew when they wanted water, to play around, eat food or just goof around. We also came to know exactly when they were going to pee; anyone going for the half sit position would put our minds on alert and we would immediately put the pup into the grass to finish his/her business in their little jungle. The water and restroom time was fixed to every 6 hours. Food every 8 hours the routine was like clockwork, never changed. When the pups became frisky and shouted for no reason their mother Gucci would walk up to the cage and bark at them disciplining them and they would shut up for a while at least, before their momma had to make the next trip. Ofcourse tiger would vehemently protest stating that she was not their mother and Gucci would go and slap tiger for disobeying her. Well that was her punishment to all her kids who disobeyed her one little tap on whatever available body part of the disobeying child, seemed to work wonders.
By now we were into December and it had started to become colder and now the pups started to keep their clothes on and removed it only if it got too hot for them. We had to sometimes switch on the fan to keep the little ones cool. We were now fast approaching the 4th week and this was time to have the pup’s adopted so we now started to look for homes for the loveliest devils. Princess was adopted by our Vet Doc. Then Luna was adopted by a couple. One of the pup went to the dog breeder who gave his Beagle male dog for mating. One by one all the pups got adopted Pogo stayed with us and Tiger too, there are not many people who want a local dog but tiger is not just a big dog he is one of the most loving , loyal and fiercely protective dogs , if anyone ever decides to adopt him they shall be very lucky owners. But till then he will be our guest-pup.

Gucci now often gets visits from her Guccilets.....