Walk? No! Car ride? Yes!

Special bonds have existed between dogs and humans for a long time; what my pet dog Mia and I share is the same.

Mia is what we call an ‘indie dog’, she is small and has a brown coat. I still remember the day we got her about two years ago, when she was a three-month-old puppy put up for adoption at Care, an animal shelter in Yelahanka. We were greeted with great energy and a madly wagging tail when we first saw her. Right away, we knew that she was the one for us.

She does have her quirks and behaves differently with different members of the family.

She does her best to coax my sister and me into playing with her, while she just loves to cuddle with my parents and grandparents. Her favourite toy is a small white squeaky ball and she can play all day with that.

Most dogs love going on walks, but Mia is the complete opposite – she likes nothing better than sleeping peacefully at home or playing. When we try to take her for a walk, she rushes to her safe ‘hiding place’, which is under the dining table. However, she loves car rides and exploring the outdoors, as long as her family is with her.

She thoroughly enjoyed running in the beaches of Goa, and sniffing about when we went trekking in the hills of Coorg.

While travelling in the car, she loves to stand on the back seat and poke her head out of the window and allow the wind to hit her face. She also loves to sit in our balcony at home and observe all the activity that goes on outside. She is very clever and loves solving puzzles that fetch her biscuits as a reward.

She starts her day by waking us up with her cherished ball in her mouth, so that we play with her. For breakfast, she eats dry chapatis with a boiled egg, along with a glass of warm curd and water.

She then busies herself with a chew stick and then she goes to sleep. When alone at home, she sleeps the whole time and greets the family members with great gusto on their return.

She is very expressive – she communicates through barks, growls, snarls and howls to express her moods and intentions.

When she wants something, she whines for it; if she wants to play, she barks at us at a higher tone than usual.

She is also very sensitive to our moods and feelings; when any of us are feeling down, she licks our faces to cheer us up. She can sense when someone is stressed and does her bit to cheer up that person by cuddling with him/her.

Adopting Mia was one of the best things we did; her presence has enriched our lives.