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Roscou - Our Pot of gold
Ongden Lepcha
Our pet dog was born on 05 May 2013 but came to us when he was exactly one- month old. With light cream coloured coat, the playful pup named Roscou by my wife would sleep in the laundry basket, pooping everywhere in our bedroom. As the days went by he grew in size and also started following us everywhere we went. I began taking him along on my morning walks and his indiscriminate pooping around the house gradually stopped.
As mischievous as pups usually are, he tore up my son’s school tie, curtain holder made by my wife, shred my slipper's elastic buckle which I still wear. Despite all this, we never yelled at him since we knew he was teething.
Anecdote 1: We were walking around in the neighborhood at Singtam with Roscou in tow on a leash. As we approached an ancient broken down jeep, a dog barked from underneath it. In seconds we were encircled by a pack of ferocious looking, feral or stray dogs. These four legged living beings sniffing the air, barking and growling angrily made me worried. I hurriedly picked Roscou and held him between my arms, close to my chest. To add to our woes, one dog was trying to leap up to my chest which made the situation even worse. It sent a shiver down my spine. With no other option, I asked people nearby in a low pitch to shoo the dogs off. It worked and we heaved a sigh of relief. A hair-raising experience never to slip from my mind.
Anecdote 2: One day, I was home early. As usual he jumped at me and wagged his tail. I commanded him to sit which he did, yawned and rolled over the cemented floor. I was surprised to see what was in his mouth when he opened his mouth to yawn. To confirm, I grabbed his mouth and opened it to get a closer look. To my horror, a piece of stick was stuck horizontally between his molar teeth on the upper-jaw. I immediately called my wife who gently pulled out the stick with her bare hands. It was a thin, carved piece of bamboo stick, approx 2.5 inches long. There was some blood trickling out of the base of his molars. She applied honey to stop the bleeding and also to ease the pain. The stick must have found its way into Roscou's mouth as he was chewing on it playfully.
Roscou is now fifteen months old, furry, light-gold, intelligent, friendly and looks like a Golden Retriever. He understands and follows a few basic commands (eat, sleep, go, no, come, sit, in-the-bathroom). He deserves a pat on the back for his intelligence and has become the talk of the house. We bathe him depending on how dirty he has gotten. Roscou likes to be blow-dried after a bath which is usually my wife's responsibility. I tried bathing him once but gave up after having poured some water on him. It is too complicated a job.
Roscou is never chained, moves freely and loves playing. He also hunts mice in the godown located on the roof of our house. Butterflies and insects are his other favourites although he never eats them. He still sleeps in our bedroom because we do not feel like letting him out of our sight. His loud barking at visitors also helps break the ice. While earlier he would often get car sick, now he prefers to sit by the car's window with his head hanging out.  Roscou is magnificent and full of beans.
What I like most about Roscou is his tail. It is furry, shiny, wavy, with a mix of long light-gold and white fur. This thick ball of fur reminds me of a plant miscanthus nepalensis, a native of eastern Himalayas. It is beautiful to watch the terminal drooping plumes (flower heads) of this plant when gusts of wind strike it on a sunny day. Immature plumes on the inside are light-gold and shiny which sway when there is a blast of wind - worth watching at close quarters. Our living room used to dazzle when it housed this plant in the past.
Roscou is lovable, faithful and brightens up our days when nothing else does.