My Beautiful Mongrel

#MyBeautifulMongrel #SamApte #SamApteTheDog

I used to be so scared of dogs that I would change my route if I saw 2-3 dogs. But I guess things were meant to change for me.

This is about Sam and me, when and how we met and how he came into my life.

18th July 2017, I saw Sam for the first time. He was scared, hiding under the stairs of the building in front of my society. Looking back, I now understand his fear, but at that moment, I didn’t. So, when I saw him, I became scared myself. I think he saw me too and became scared of me as well.

19th July 2017 and 20th July 2017, a lot of things happened. Despite my fear of dogs, I bought biscuits and dog food for Sam. Initially, he was scared, but eventually, he began to trust me. I went to check on him around 5 or 6 times, and whenever I visited, I would whistle to call him. At first, Sam would peek from the side of the stairs and then hide again, but later, he started coming to me. Despite his growing trust, I never touched him as I was still afraid.

On 21st July 2017, in the evening, around 8 pm, I had a huge hand-to-hand fight with a guy who was throwing stones at Sam. A lot of people who lived nearby came to his support. Initially. they thought I would get scared, but they quickly realized otherwise, and no one dared to touch me. Fortunately, I managed to keep my ego in check and listened to their concerns. They had a complaint that because I am feeding the dog, the dog is not leaving the place. The dog is also scared because he is new in the area and might bite some kid out of fear. They pointed out that since I was away at work all day, I was unaware of the situation during daytime hours. They informed me that earlier that day, Sam had attempted to bite a 5-year-old child who had approached him. They asked if I would take responsibility if something happened to a child. In response, I promised to contact an animal welfare group the next day to have Sam relocated. The remainder of the evening went peacefully, similar to the past two days.

22nd July 2017, Saturday, though a weekend, I had to go to the office because of work commitments. Because I was busy with, I completely forgot to call the animal welfare NGOs about Sam. When I returned home, it was already late, around 10 pm, and fortunately, no one was around to inquire about the calling animal welfare NGOs. I brought food for Sam but had to leave within 5 to 10 minutes because it started raining heavily. It was the monsoon season in Pune, and that night, the rain was pouring down.

On 23rd July 2017, a lot of things happened, things that changed my life.

At around 10:30 am, I went to see Sam. He was completely soaked from the rain. The way he looked at me, it felt like he had been waiting for me. I was still scared of him, so I sat around 6 feet away from where he was lying down. He came and sat on my lap. Surprisingly, him coming to me and sitting on my lap didn’t scare me. I said, “Let’s go home”. We began walking towards my complex, but Sam got scared and and refused to enter the complex, and I had no idea how to make him.

I went to a pet shop and asked the shopkeeper to come with me and see if Sam is okay to take home and how I can take him inside the complex and my house. The shop guy was very sweet, he kindly agreed and accompanied me to see Sam. Upon seeing Sam, the shopkeeper said “Sir, this is a stray dog”. I was, “Yes, can’t take him home? Please be honest, I have no idea about dogs”. Him, “Yes sir”. I must say, guy was good with dogs, he immediately made friends with Sam and began playing with Sam. After a few minutes he said, “Yes sir, the dog is good. You can take him home”. However, he cautioned me, “But remember sir, these dogs are stray desi dogs, they are difficult to train. These dogs are not as smart as Labradors or Golden Retrievers”. I had no clue about dog training so I asked, “We need to train dogs??”. He said, “Yes sir, all those commands like sit, stay, etc. you need to train the dog. Don’t worry, there are a lot of trainers, but not sure if they will train these dogs”. I said, “Ok. But let him get inside first”. He said the dog won’t go inside just like that. I need to put a lease on him first and then slowly pull him inside. We returned to his pet shop, where I purchased a leash, and then went back to Sam. He put the lease on Sam in just 3 – 4 attempts. However, despite his efforts to lead Sam inside, Sam remained too scared to enter. After several unsuccessful attempts, he gave up, pulled out the lease and gave it to me and asked me to try later. I took him back to his shop and thanked him for his time. I offered money, but he kindly refused.

I came back and sat with Sam and asked him not to be scared and come with me. To my surprise, when I attempted to put the leash on him, he didn’t resist, and I successfully leashed him on my first try. I was so proud of myself! However, when I tried to take him inside the complex, it was the same thing. He was scared and resisted, refusing to enter. He just froze at the gates of the complex. I took off the lease and he immediately ran back, clearly not ready to enter the complex yet.

I went to my flat. I Google “nearby dog trainers”. After calling a dozen of dog trainers, one agreed to come and check if Sam would be suitable as a pet dog and if he could help me to bring Sam inside the complex and then my flat. But he demanded a fee of Rs 500. I agreed. He came after 2 hours, around 3 pm. When he arrived, Sam was already gone. I panicked. He asked, “where is the dog?” I said he was just here. Maybe he ran off because I was trying to take him inside the complex, maybe he got scared. But the moment I finished my sentence, I saw Sam. He went to bushes on the other side of the road. I whistled. Sam saw me and came running to me. Trainer said, “Brother, he is a stray dog”. Then asked, “he is a he or a she”. I said, “I don’t know”. He checked and said, “He is a boy”. Then he asked, “You called me for this stray dog? I thought it was some pedigree dog and that’s why you are ready to pay even 500”. I asked him, “What is a pedigree dog?”. He said, “Labrador, Golden Retriever, etc. that you see in movies, those are the pedigree dogs. If you want a pedigree dog then tell me, I have contacts, I can get you one”. I said, “No, I want this guy. Maybe later I will get a pedigree dog. But right now, please check if this dog is okay for home and should I take him in or not. One guy was saying that these dogs are not intelligent and difficult to train. What do you say?”. Then this guy said, “Sir, all dogs are intelligent, and all dogs are good. You are a good person. I have never seen any person who is trying so much and so hard for a stray and desi dog. People run after pedigree and foreign dogs just for their status’ show off. I would say just take him in. Don’t think about anything or listen to anybody. There is no problem with him. God bless you sir, you are giving a house to an orphan”. OMG, those words coming from a dog trainer cleared all my confusions and boosted my morale, giving me confidence that whatever I am doing is good. I thanked him. Then I put on the lease on Sam and gave the lease to him. He tried to get Sam inside. But Sam being Sam, he didn’t enter. I told the trainer that I will try tomorrow. Maybe it will work tomorrow. I gave him 500 as promised. But he returned me 300. He said, “I don’t do this, sir. Because you are giving a home to a stray, an orphan, I am returning you 300. Don’t give up, sir”. Then he left.

I took off the lease from Sam and told him I would come back later. “Don’t go anywhere,” I said. I went inside my complex, thinking I would return later in the evening to check on him and maybe try again to take him inside. When I reached my parking bay, I saw my bike and an idea clicked. I went to my flat and took the keys and went to parking again. Took the bike outside, put the lease on Sam and and attached the other end on the mirror arm. I rode the bike slowly inside the complex. Sam followed without any resistance. Finally, he was inside the complex. I stopped only after reaching my parking bay.

So, it was 23rd July 2017, when I brought Sam home. When I got him inside my complex, the first place I showed him was the parking area, and he seemed so happy. It was as if he was asking, “Will I be staying here from now on?”. Maybe he thought I lived in the parking area. Then I brought him inside my flat and showed him all the rooms except the kitchen :P. I think he realized then that I live in a house and not in a parking area :D. The look on his face of realization that he had a home now, it’s impossible to put in words. He couldn’t stop looking at my eyes and cuddling with me and licking my arms.

Later, I took him outside and sat on the stairs watching people on the road. It was then that I took these pictures. These are his first official pictures.

Look how relaxed he is. But I was not relaxed. We never had a pet in our whole ancestry. I am the first one. I didn’t know anything about dogs, and I was staying alone. Thinking I might not be able to take care of him, for the next 3 days I tried to give him away.

24th July 2017 – 26th July 2017, these 3 days I spent trying to give away Sam. I contacted several so-called dog lovers who were looking to adopt a dog. However, nobody wanted him because he is a mixed breed desi dog and was a stray before I took him in. Most of them didn’t come after knowing the breed of Sam, and whoever came, after looking at Sam, they said no. They said, if “it” was a pedigree dog then they would have taken “it” and even given me some money too for my effort. That day I realized something. I won’t say it though because it will hurt a lot of so-called dog lovers. But I will say this, each and every word that trainer told me three days back turned out to be true. That day, 26th July 2017, I told Sam, “Aaj se tu mera beta hai aur aaj ke baad tu mere saath hi rahega (From today, you are my son, and you are going to live with me forever)”. He looked at me, and he jumped to lick my face as if he understood what I was saying.

It’s been more than 5 years now (23rd July 2017 – 23rd July 2022) since Sam came to my life. Life changed for the better. He is the boss of the house now. And we both are waiting for his mom to arrive in our lives.

Fast-forward to 2019. In 2019, I decided to move to South Africa for my career. A lot of people, friends and family asked me not to take Sam with me. Some even said I can get a new dog, a pure breed in fact, because it’s not worth spending hundreds of thousands to take a mixed breed desi dog from India to South Africa. But to me, from the beginning when I decided to move to South Africa, not for a single moment it come to my mind to leave Sam behind. I spent all my savings and brought Sam with me to South Africa. It was Oct 2019. Since then, we have been here and enjoying this beautiful country.

Some interesting facts about Sam

1. I didn’t give Sam his name. I named him first Mohan, then changed it to Goldie. It was my eldest nephew who named him Sam.
2. The first 15 days, I kept Sam tied in the night. I used to think that if he feels hungry in the night, he will kill me and eat me 😀 😀 😀
3. When I found Sam, he was around 7-8 months old. So, considering that he must have been born in November 2016 and because I brought him home on 23rd July 2017, I consider his date of birth as 23rd November 2016.
4. Sam is neutered.
5. Most interesting. Sam is a fast learner. In fact, after some research, I found that these so-called ugly stray mixed breed dogs are very smart and are fast learners. I trained Sam after watching dog training videos on YouTube. During training, he was responding within 3 – 4 repetitions. In just 1 month, he learnt 8 commands – his name, sit, stay, up, down, stand, spin, jump. And in 2nd month, 5 more commands – left paw, right paw, high 5, speak and bark.
6. Sam is versatile. He can love you and cuddle with you like your Golden Retriever, but when the time comes, he will protect you like a German Shepherd.
7. Sam has a natural guarding and protection instinct. But I still got him trained in protection. Hired a professional trainer. His name is Sahadev. We became very good friends. I had to come to South Africa, so Sam’s protection training stopped in the middle. So, Sam is half protection trained.
8. Sam learnt a new command – Bang!

Sam on Social Media

Instagram: @mybeautifulmongrel

YouTube: My Beautiful Mongrel

Facebook: You will find a lot of post of Sam’s pictures and videos on Dog Friendly Pune