Misha, Rumer, Juno, Tu Fu and the Date family

It’s difficult to pick a favourite when Misha, Rumer, Juno and Tu Fu meet you at paediatrician Dr Sushma and Dr Jaydeep Date’s home
IMG-20160715-WA0001Everyday, when Dr Sushma Date returns from her walk on the tekdi, she has four dogs in all sizes obediently following her. That alone is reason enough for people to stand and stare. What adds to that is the bag she carries with her – it is full of litter she has picked from the hill.
A champion for the cause of dog sterilisation, an activist who is part of the clean ups on the hill and a woman who advocates ‘Adopt, don’t shop’, Date has it all. She and her husband, urologist, Dr Jaydeep Date love dogs. But when you go to their home, its difficult to imagine that the house has four dogs. Not a woof or a whimper! They are a very well-behaved bunch indeed.
Their dogs
Tyson was their first dog, a boxer who Sushma got for her family because of the high energy and the clownish behaviour the breed is associated with. Tu Fu the pug, named after a Chinese poet (who wrote about forests, rivers and wild flowers), came a few years later.
Right from the start, the Dates have enjoyed taking their sons – Varun and Ashwin- trekking. In Tyson they found the perfect companion. Big, burly and still a clown, his company on long walks and his antics at home put him a class apart. With the tiny Tu Fu who was as eager to go trekking as his big bro, the family adventures took them over many an unknown trail in the hills around Kudje and Mahabaleshwar.
A few years, later Misha (named because of her mouche) the terrier was found as a scrawny severe mange affected puppy near their home. They kept her in their compound as she recovered. The affectionate girl found her way inside their home soon. They lost Tyson in January 2015. Then Rumer the mixed breed came in (named after author Rumer Godden) and Juno the abandoned pregnant three-year-old boxer!
IMG-20160715-WA0003And no, they didn’t think about having so many dogs at one time. All of them were unplanned! ”We went to see pug puppies and came back with Tu Fu. I fell in love with Rumer’s puppy pic on Facebook and brought her home. I was fostering Juno when my husband fell in love with her and we kept her,” smiles Date. Juno had to fight her way into the pack because Roomer didn’t  like the idea of another girl in the house. Once the fights stopped, everything fell beautifully into place.
At their farm in Kudje, the Date’s have Chiki the timid mixed breed girl, two goats and some hens. “These four don’t let Chiki come into their side, chasing her to the caretaker’s home. They ignore the goats and have learned to ignore the hens. We love to sit in the verandah and watch them play,” she adds.
IMG-20160715-WA0005Every dog is different
“All our dogs enjoy their walks on the hills, even Tu Fu who though he is small is actually a lion packed into a pug. Show him a pack to attack and Tu Fu charges without a thought! Misha is the most lady like, gentle and well mannered girl, Rumer is a wild child and Juno is my husband’s lapdog,” says Date of her furry babies. It is the fact that each of them is so different that makes them unique. As children, Date’s sons were bitten by dogs. “But that didn’t stop us from getting them Tyson. If you are ready to commit, there is no pet like a dog. They want love and long runs in open places. Do that and they are happy,” she adds.
Advice
“Three of my dogs are rescues and they are perfect pets. Adopt a mixed breed, adopt and abandoned pedigree, don’t buy,” she stresses. As a paediatrician, Sushma explains, “Studies have proved that kids who grow up with dogs have a 30 per cent less chances of getting allergies. So do adopt a dog, just be ready for the commitment it requires.”  Think before you do, it is a life you are going to take in as part of the family.
11June_Pets_Uma headshot03Uma Karve Chakranarayan is editor and publisher of Tell Tail, Pune’s only petzine and partner, Petsworld, a pet food and accessories store. She’s fond of animals and is parent to two mixed breed dogs and a Guinea pig. She also looks after homeless dogs in her area.’Furholics’ appears every Saturday on Pune365.
Uma Karve Chakranarayan