Amber

Easy,Amber and Moody
 

In spite of growing up with dogs I always thought it best to wait to keep one till Munch was a little older and could learn to respect and love the animal.

After interacting with Aarti's two gorgeous black spaniels Moody and Easy, I decided  the time was right to keep a pet, so when she was making a trip to Chennai during one of the college breaks I requested her to pick up a  pup for us. She happily obliged and we were thrilled when she returned with a tiny black and white bundle in a basket. The little one was very listless, which I put down to the journey and a change of house, but a couple of days later, much to my dismay, he was dead! Munch was traumatised by the pups sudden disappearance and was told that his mama was missing him so he had to be sent back home.

On her next trip to Chennai Aarti complained to the vet that he had given us a sick puppy so he agreed to a replacement in the form of Amber, a four month old golden spaniel. This time round we were blessed with a happy and healthy baby whom Munch took to straight away and I was delighted to have a dog in the house again after so many years.
 My petite daughter could be seen galloping along after Amber in an attempt to  walk her but it was usually the other way around with Munch getting her daily exercise. I had to take over this duty full time after my little girl once tripped and was unceremoniously dragged down the road grimly hanging on to the leash of our over exuberant mutt.





Munch and Amber

I have never had a dog who had such an affinity for water. Whether it was a tiny puddle, a swimming pool or a stream, Amber could splash or swim for hours until she would have to be forcibly evicted from the scene. Watering the garden was always quite a task since she invariably pranced around snapping and playing with the jet from the hose. She would bark hysterically demanding to be doused by the spray and then would charge around and around in utter excitement!
She never gave us any trouble except for a year later doing naughty things with scruffy Tommy (pronounced Toe-mee) from the servants quarters. At that point Munch wanted to know why the dog was bleeding and I casually explained that all girls had to go through a 'period' when they were older. She then wanted to know if she would make a mess all over the house like Amber did so I showed her what a sanitary napkin was. When delivery time came it was Munch who was the most fascinated by the whole birthing process and was never in any doubt as to where babies emerged from. Thankfully she did not question  how they got where they did and that talk was had a few years later.

Learning about the birds and the bees the natural way - Munch, Aarti, Amber and Me

We had Amber for just over three years when she suddenly fell ill and was diagnosed with liver failure to which she succumbed in a few short weeks. I was quite devastated and swore never to keep another dog which over time I have discovered are the proverbial 'famous last words'.