[khaadu75]

:( .. I don't know wether I should post it or not -- but last eve ' Duke ' moved on to his next life . Maybe a lot of you will not understand but then a lot will -- that the bonding that was shared between us was very very strong and losing him creates a lil vacuum in our lives .

I still remember that day when he came to us as a lil ball of fur along with his sister .... picked of from a litter that was born by the road side during the winters of '94 !! Infact the very next day it snowed and they probably might not have made it as they were very weak . He and his sibling were cuddled up together abondoned by their mother in a lil bush , trying to weather the icy cold winds of Dec . I probably wud have never noticed them if it hadn't been for my 2 pomeranian dogs ' Roger & Annie ' !! They went running into the bushes ... and I thought they had probably seen a wild hen as they loved chasing them . So thats how it started ....

And over the years they grew up into 2 beautiful dogs ... trained themselves ( don't ask me how ) to be useful and helpful in our farms . When I say helpful I mean .. that they somehow realised that stray cattle & monkeys were not welcome inside the boundary , so strangely if they did wander in .. they wud make sure that they chased them out as quick as possible . Also they wud only chae them till where our boundary ended , I wonder how they realised where our farms ended and the neighbors started :-) . Duke survived a leopard attack in the winters of '99 , half his neck had been gnawed of by the leopard and if it hadn't been for a lil spitz named ' Azeeza ' , that probably would have been the end of the road for him . Unfortunately his sister ' Blackie ' wasn't so lucky a few yrs later and she was had by the leopard in 2004 summers .

Whats so special about them is that they woule meet me with the same enthusiasm even after I was away for long periods ... I went to Cyprus and didnt see them for almost 2 years , but it was like the gud ol days the min they saw me . I have a lot of special memories of them ( also of others ) .. the ones that really stand out are

1. Blackie adopts a lil kitten whose mother vanished ... at the same time Blackie already had her own litter of 7 pups but she never complained once about the kitten drinking milk fo her . At times she would snap at her own pups but never at the kitten . They were best friends , the kitten would ride on Blackies back and stuff .. Unfortunately no pics to show the story .

2. One night she wakes up dad at 2 am ... and she got slapped by dad coz he thought she was irritating him . then she came to my side of the bed , and me being a HEAVY sleeper didnt realise she was trying towake me up . Finally she jumped on to the bed and started jumping up and down on me to wake me up , I still didnt but dad did wake up . He turned on the light and looked carefully in teh direction she was looking at and barking ... only to realise that there was a snake there . Thats when dad woke me up !!! Its only when we killed it did we realise it was about 7 ft long and poisonous .

3. When we first started growing vegetables , dad was worried that they would create a ruckus in the fields and damage the lil plants . So I sat them down and tried talking to them and explaining that these lil plants were gonna get us our bread and butter so they shouldn't damage them .. and LO -- instead of us being worried about them damaging the [plants they turned into saviours as they wudn't let other dogs also into teh fields . And if these two did enter the fields to chase out dogs , they wud run thru at full speed but without damaging a single plant .

4. Blackie was the smarter of the two ... she is the only dog I have seen who could open a door -- really , its true . Duke was more of her bodyguard and put himself to use when it came to matters of strength .

5. Duke jumping up to catch a monkey mid air while it was jumping from one apple tree to another .. Unfortunately they tore that monkey apart !!

6. They wud hear the Palio 5 mins before it reached home and come to greet me mid way .

7. Lost Blackie to a leopard ... but after that Duke adopted 2 lil kittens , notr at the same time but in a span of 2 yrs . You guys have seen that pic of his with the kitten on his back ..

many more such memories ... but then I guess they will stay with me for a long long time . All I pray for s that he's gone to a place which has wide open fields and lots of other dogs for him to be friends with .

A few of the pics that I have ....









Vll MISS YOU DUKE :( ..... But we shall always remember you and all those lil moments that you given us which made us smile . Somehow iwth you I can't think of one incident which had me get angry with you .

RIP ....
Cheers

[revtech]

i feel for you man....RIP duke....


Rev

[toiingg]

I know how you are feeling bro, i too lost 'Brandy' this monday. Spending 16 years together and moving on does leave a huge void in our lives.

[khanak]

Im so sorry about Duke Khaadu,

hes probably chilling in Doggyland with his sister, sipping on Kingfishers

[johy]

Khaadu, that was nice and sad.

It is so sad to lose pets. I lost "Autumn" and "Grizzly" last year. My wife had picked them up from a litter that was cold and starving and without their mother. They were just the normal street variety and grew up to be wonderful pets.

We brought them from Patiala by train when we moved back here. Grizzly shared my berth. Grizzly used to be the cat's friend and protector and often shared his rug with her. Autumn was always more independent and cleaver and would have probably survived even in the wild.

And yes, Grizzly, could open the door too, all by himself.

Sadly they passed away, first Autumn. Then I lost my mother a few months later to cancer. Then Grizzly was gone. I console myself that they are up there, frolicking and keeping my mom company.

May they all rest in peace.

[drifter]

They all occupy a very special place in our hearts, something which many humans cant. Rest in peace Duke.

Drifter

[noviceDriver]

That's unconditional love....RIP Duke, and Blackie too.

[mclaren1885]

Mountain boy, really sad to hear about duke. May he rest in peace. Also do put up that pic of duke with the kitten sitting on his back on this thread. One of the cutest pics I have seen till date.

Originally Posted by drifter

They all occupy a very special place in our hearts, something which many humans cant.

Very true. In my case though no human can take their place. They are a cut above the rest.

[V-16]

RIP Duke. Take care Khaadu. Loosing a pet is like loosing a family member. Its traumatic and somehow one cant associate death with an animal. REst assured buddy he's probably somewhere at peace, looking upon you, smiling.

[normally_crazy]

RIP Duke. I too lost my DON last week - a Great Dane - just 4 months old. I know how it feels.

[zucchero]

i know how bad it feels bro. rip....... duke

[Aditya]

I know how you feel. I find it difficult to stay even one day without my pet.
RIP Duke.

[faithless_1984]

Very sad to hear about Duke khaadu.
RIP Duke.

[Aditya]

N_C, I knew Don was ill, but, .... so bad?
I remember sitting on the floor playing with him.

[faithless_1984]

N_C - just 4 months old ? what happened ?