Loving Loony

For most of my life I thought pet dogs were sweet but only from a distance. I just couldn’t see a dog fitting into my life, my home. Loony changed all that!

Loony lives in Bellevue near Seattle. Our daughter and son-in-law adopted her from a shelter when she was three years old.

The day Loony arrived

A cross between a German Shepherd and a Blue Heeler, she’s a beauty! With her gorgeously thick soft coat that is a mix of tan and black, people often think she’s a German Shepherd puppy although she’s fully grown.



The first time my husband and I visited our daughter after they got Loony, I was anxious. How would it be with her living in the house with us? But right from the moment she took her first excited leap (of faith?) when she saw us………… the most natural thing it seems is to have Loony in our lives. Her gentle ways, her expressive eyes, her sharp intelligence, her beguiling streak of independence together with her well-trained, easy to manage behaviour makes her appeal irresistible.

To my surprise I found it was easy getting involved in her life. At a basic level this means giving her food, taking her for walks and becoming nimble at cleaning up after her. The first one to wake up most mornings I am usually half way through my coffee when I hear her dog nails on the wooden floor and find myself smiling in anticipation.  It fills me with joy to see her sprint up to me her tail wagging. Some mornings she makes a more nonchalant entry and after throwing a casual glance and tail wag my way, she goes straight into her kennel to have a doze before her day truly begins.

Walking Loony can get exciting.

 She starts her walk sniffing around everything. Plants, the corner of the steps leading to the driveway, dry leaves, a parked car……..what can be so interesting I wonder? Suddenly I feel her leash pull. I look and see she’s crouching, as if ready to pounce. She’s just spotted a bunny! But luckily the bunny is out of Loony’s reach. At first, unaware of Loony watching, the bunny is munching on something but then suddenly freezes in fright and stays that way till I pull Loony away. She reacts this way to squirrels, cats too. Is gentle Loony briefly reconnecting with her dormant predatory instincts? I wonder what she’d do if she actually did get close.

That pesky squirrel got away! 

Some days we meet her ‘friends’, dogs from the neighbourhood. She’s all excited and loves to play, which basically consists of both dogs just running madly at each other or running madly in circles!

Sometimes I think Loony believes her calling in life is getting treats. It starts right after she’s had her morning meal. She gets on the couch, or her mattress or the bean bag, to lounge about alternating between light snooze and sleep. But the moment my husband and I get ready for breakfast she opens her eyes. She gets up, has a good stretch and comes towards us wagging her tail with the most appealing cute expression on her face. If I have a banana in my hand then she plonks herself at my feet and looks at me steadily, her expression a mix of eager expectation and entitlement. Of course, she gets a share of the banana.

Within a few minutes of my sitting at the dining table for my meal I can feel her wet nose on my knee. Then her face appears from under the table. There’s that super cute expression again. And I can’t help getting up to get her treat bag and give her a treat. One crunch of her teeth and its gone! She looks up again. One more. And this happens at every meal. Our daughter thinks Loony has us very well trained.


Often after a long nap or after ignoring us all morning Loony decides she wants us to play with her. She goes off and gets one of her little chewable toys.  For some reason we call all of them ‘ball’ although only one of them is actually round. The rule of Loony’s game is we have to get the ball from her but she won’t give it to us. My husband and I chase her around the apartment. Though we can’t get the ball from her we do get a top-up on our day’s work out. When we manage to get close to her she holds on to the ball tight with her teeth, her eyes twinkling with mischief. She will sometimes drop it but pounce on it if we try to take it. I tell her she’s now being the real ‘dog in the manger’.  All this goes on till Loony loses interest and goes back to lounging.


Going out with Loony is fun. Once she’s over the excitement of getting into the car she curls up on the seat and lets the movement of the car lull her into a drowsy state. But as soon as the car begins to slow down, she comes up like a Jack in the box! She’s all focused now looking out of the window. She knows we’ve reached the local drive-through coffee place that also has…….. what else, dog treats!  Once in a way she gets treated to a ‘puppuccino’ at the Starbucks drive thru. We often plan dinner out at dog-friendly restaurants and other diners come up to pet her. She gets a lot of “oh she’s so sweet”, “ooh she’s gorgeous”. Loony of course is always hopeful she can charm some treats out of her admirers!

An outdoor family

Loony likes to be around us, but she definitely also likes her own space! For a while she indulges my hugs and cuddles, but soon she’s had enough and jumps off. She gets into her kennel, out of my reach and more comfortable, lying with her face flat down on the mattress as she watches me. I tell her she is my precious pet in the whole world. Her deadpan look says, “whatever”. For us Loony is a person, a very cute person. So, we have real conversations with her.  My husband explains to her that we live in Bangalore but cannot take her there as she doesn’t have a passport. We inform her when her “parents” are delayed at work. I let her know when I’m going to grind coffee beans or use the pressure cooker and tell her to please not mind the noise. She is watching us and probably thinking “are you both nuts?”.


The thing about Loony is she’s so endearingly affectionate. If we go out leaving her at home, she expresses unreserved joy when we return. Sometimes when I am least expecting it, and to my utter delight, she will suddenly roll over wanting me to give her a belly rub. I feel so privileged to have her love.

Back in India I miss my Loony baby more than I miss my children. I now play with all the dogs in our apartment complex in Bangalore. I find myself watching birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bees and beetles and other creatures around me with fondness. Earlier I felt fearful of stray dogs, now I feel compassion.


Loving Loony has changed the way I look at the world.