H's story

I have three dogs. I have no idea what drove me to do this unimaginable feat. Maybe the repressed childhood dream of owning a dog had to be realised some day and since it was such an old and nurtured dream, I had to do it thrice. Hence the three dogs. Soon after I got my first dog H, I realised that you do not own the dog. The dog owns you. H was a playful little Labrador pup and sadly enough, she was sick. HM and I didn't have the faintest idea about her illness and we knew nothing about raising a pup. So we went to this quack vet (scum bag) who told us she had developed a slight rash which was common in puppies and it would go away soon. Well, it didn't. A week later it got worse and my poor little H broke out in boils. I rushed her to another vet who announced that we had just brought home a pup that was suffering from a severe case of scabies and that we should return her to the breeder immediately and also file a complaint against him. I was devastated. H had lost all the hair on her tummy and hind side due to the rash. The vet told us that the hair might never grow back and it was best to just return the puppy and get a new one instead. We came back home and H climbed into my lap to sleep. I looked at HM and we both knew at that instance that we were never going to give her back. She was now ours and we loved her. Thus began a series of expensive and time consuming treatments to cure H's scabies. Other dog owners wouldn't let their healthy dogs play with her when she went out for her walk. Poor H would wag her tail and look at them, longing to play. But the infection was highly contagious and nobody even wanted to touch her. I wanted to tell people to stop treating her like some sort of rabid dog. She was by far the most affectionate dog ever. Scabies or no scabies. But we had to put up with all that and I felt really sad for H who would continue to wag her tail at just about everyone who passed her by. Finally after two whole months of daily treatment at home, H's scabs fell off. These two months were very difficult. H was subjected to an hour of cleaning and medication administered by us on a daily basis. She also went through a rather scary and painful dehydration bout in the midst of it all. She had thrown up all over the house and when I took her to the vet in an auto, she threw up on me around 5 times. I'd always imagined I'd be extremely grossed out by stuff like that. But that day, I didn't mind a bit. I even cried when the vet jammed a needle into H's paw to administer saline. I never knew I could feel these things for a dog. But there I was, patting her and telling her that it would all be okay. And she opened her drowsy, tired eyes and looked at me like she understood every word. Another month later, we spotted very mild hair growth on her tummy and  hind side. HM and I almost cried with joy that day. Our baby was finally okay. Another two months later, H stepped out for her walk with the most luxuriant, shiny fur. Not a single bald spot. The other dog owners asked us if we'd gotten rid of  'that sick dog' and refused to believe us when we said that 'this beautiful dog' is the same one. H soon became one of the most loved dogs in the neighbourhood with a really long list of friends (dogs and humans both) and continues to hold the title of 'Most Adorable Dog' till date. And I know that H can't read this blog but I bet she knows that I love her tremendously and this one is for her. I love you, H. You're precious.
As for the other two, I will write about them soon enough. Each one deserves her own post. Till then,
Toodles, y'all!