Our dog Levko
Synopsis : He was a very good dog who was loyal, protective and took no nonsense from any one or any dog. He was aggressive to anyone he did not like including feral cats. He gave us a lot of joy while he lived. I miss him
Once we had a dog called Levko. He was a German Shepherd and had the personality and temperament of a pure breed meaning he was a good guard dog and did not take any nonsense from any dog in the neighborhood who were terrified of him and gave him wide berth.
He came to us as a puppy but even then he showed the maid who was teasing him that no one should mess with him and promptly bit her hand. We were getting tired of this worthless maid so Levko helped us get rid of her.
Levko did many good things while he was with us . He was kept inside the outhouse so he could not get out but made plenty of noise when a thief came in one night and stole something by cutting the wire mesh screen of the window. Had he been outside, I am sure the thief would have come to grief.
As Levko grew up , his ears stood up in a true German Shepherd way and his coat got shiny and mottled with gold and black .He was a big dog by now and fearsome to strangers .We had to warn our visitors not to approach Levko because he just did not like anyone and growled from behind the steel gate.
But keeping a dog like Levko meant a lot of work for us. We had to give him a shampoo bath frequently that he loved. I had to prepare his meal by picking all the sharp bones of the chicken head and mix it with rice and warm it up because he liked his meal warm. I had to make sure that he always had a bucketful of clean water to drink and kept the lanai area clean of dog poop and flushed it with water often.
But our maid was lazy and did not prepare his meal properly and did not give him bath so he got a lot of ticks, lost some weight and suffered so one day we sent the maid home and took over the care of Levko, got rid of his ticks and soon his coat became shiny and he rapidly gained weight.
He was a very loving dog and understood many words. When he made a lot of noise, I had to say Levko go inside and he would promptly go inside the dog house which is actually an outhouse we never use in the lanai and stayed there until let out. He was always from then on fed on time in the evening but one day we were delayed due to something so Levko banged his dinner plate to let us know that it was past his feeding time.
The feral cats that did not take Levko seriously learned to their grief that they should not have messed with him because one day he got a cat up the tree and sat there making sure that the cat stayed there. Now the cat was in big trouble and could not get away for a long time until Levko got tired of the game and wandered away. The result was that the cats stayed away from our house from then on because they never knew what Levko would do to them if he ever got hold of them so they did not like to take any risk.
One day a fellow who had a female German Shepherd brought her to Levko so that he may mate but Levko became so furious that the poor bitch went away with her tail between her legs wondering perhaps if she was not pretty enough. We often wondered at his lack of interest in any dog male or female and put it down to his aggressive personality. It is a pity because we were sure he could have made very good looking pure breed puppies if giving the bitch half a chance but Levko would have none of it.
The thieves also learned of his ferocious nature and knew that he was a terrific guard dog who was not chained and roamed freely at the backside of our house so they avoided our house.
One day we found him barking but sitting pretty in the lanai so went to see what he was barking at . Levko had cornered a snake about three feet long and blackish in color who was having a terrible time trying to get away from this monstrous dog. I am sure the poor snake had never seen anything so big and fearsome in her mundane snake life and was terribly afraid. I had to convince Levko with soothing words that he should let the poor snake go who did not mean any harm to him so finally he let the snake go to its great relief and it never ventured into our garden again.
He was not so patient with rats so he gave them a lot of trouble and killed a few to their great surprise because the rats think they can outsmart a dog like Levko but they were wrong and learned it the hard way.
On the whole Levko earned his keeps in spades and we were happy with him and maybe he was also happy with us if not with anyone else.
This reminds me of a dog called Sonia that was a pet of my brother in India except that he never had any time to take care of her and the duty fell on us to feed her and brush her long hair. She was a very hairy dog and shed it all over the house that had to be swept up every day. She was a poodle and was more of a show dog than anything else although she could bite some people she did not like. One day she got sick so I put her in the basket in front of my bicycle and pedaled to see the vet who gave her an injection and some medicine but she did not get well and got worse. So one day I brought her to a distant place and let her loose because she was dying and we could do nothing.
Our brother came home that day from his office and inquired about Sonia and when told that Sonia was set free somewhere far from the house, he choked up and could not eat his dinner. A house pet like Sonia or any dog needed a lot of care and grooming but he had no time for her.
Here Levko also demanded a lot of care but we were getting older and my wife felt that perhaps Levko should be given away to a fellow who keeps dogs and knows how to handle them. So this fellow came and rubbed Levko’s chain on his body so that the dog would get used to his smell. Levko like all other dogs had super sensitive nose so he smelled the fellow from a great distance probably suggesting the fellow should take regular shampoo bath like him.
So one day Levko went away with this fellow but looking back at us to know why he was being taken away. He probably thought that he was just going for a walk and would soon be back so he went happily because he loved being taken out for a walk or a free run. Once I made the mistake of taking him out and letting him have a free run but he got into mischief right away and grabbed a fat rooster by its neck because the rooster made the mistake of underestimating Levko .That was a big mistake the rooster made to its grief but it also taught us a lesson that Levko needs to be confined within our garden.
This fellow failed to take care of Levko the way he had promised so the beautiful and loyal Levko died. We miss him and look at his photos but we have made a promise that we will never get another dog because it is too much work and the dogs may be better off with others.
Now the feral cats are back with vengeance since they know that they face no danger from a dog. They pee in the veranda, poop under the car, in the lawn and fight just near my window creating a lot of ruckus. You should see how they fight with their very sharp claws and teeth and how much damage they inflict on each other but what can we do?
One cat somehow got inside our living room one day but did not know that we do not allow cats or dogs inside the house so I gave it a chase of its life .The poor cat got so scared that it peed all over the house while running that we had to clean up later. Levko knew that he was not allowed inside the house so he would just sit and not come in even if the door was open. He was well trained but the feral cats are a different story.
Now to chase out the mouse, we bring in the cats who make so much mess that we bring in the dogs. To chase out the dogs we bring in the elephant who then trashes the house so the mouse is back. I am open to suggestions on how to get rid of the cats. My wife thinks she knows a way and throws a mug of water on them. May be it will work and they will go away.
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