Some dogs consent to donning hats or shades but it’s rarely for longer than the time it takes to click a few snaps. Often, they have to be bribed into it. But not Bhutu. This Pug loves dressing up so much that she wears — not one but — two necklaces around her neck, round the clock.
“We once put a bead necklace around her and she loved it so much that she wouldn’t let us take it off. Now she wears two of them all the time — only to be removed when she goes for a shower,” says Debasis Sinha. “And even then, she cranes her neck forward for us to put them back.”
Bhutu doesn’t mind being clicked either, be it by her family or by her fan club members on the streets. She especially loves girls who come up to her to pet her and click selfies. “It’s a different matter that she’s unable to go for long walks these days,” says Sinha. “It’s the heat.”
Bhutu is the lady of the Sinha household. “My wife passed away in 2015 — the same year that I retired — and Bhutu joined my son and me two years later. Now I stay happy and occupied looking after her. She’s great company,” says Sinha, who treats her like quite the princess.
For instance, Bhutu will not eat till Sinha hand-feeds her the first bite of her meal. “Then at night when she’s sleepy, she’ll gesture at me to ready the room but won’t walk into it herself. I must carry her in myself or the adamant little lady will remain in the living room all night,” laughs Sinha.
Bhutu doesn’t drink water from a bowl. She has fresh running water from the tap. “When she gets thirsty she’ll go to the washroom and summon us. If we don’t hear her, she’ll sit tight till we realise she’s missing and track her down. We must then turn on the tap and she’ll help herself.”
For someone who does not speak, Bhutu sure can communicate. “Her eyes are the mirror to her mind. For instance, when it’s meal time, she’ll stare at me intently. I don’t need a watch to know it’s time to serve her. She does the same at bed time,” Sinha says proudly.
So popular is Bhutu among friends and family that many people have made pre-bookings for her puppies, as and when they arrive. “But Bhutu does not seem interested,” Sinha shakes his head. “We’ve tried mating her twice but she simply looks the other way!”