Mylo is one strong dog. Prabal De takes him for walks and knows how hard he can pull at his leash. Mylo is also a possessive dog and won’t tolerate strangers approaching his loved ones. The combination of these two traits can sometimes prove costly for De.

“This one time, we were walking, and for some reason, Mylo suddenly jerked so hard and fast that I fell over. Passersby rushed to help me up, but they couldn’t because Mylo was snarling at them for coming too close to me!” De half-laughs as he recalls the pain of the injury.

Mylo was brought to this AE Block home from Park Street by De’s son seven years ago. “Pranit was a student at St Xavier’s College and found this helpless puppy next to a tea shop there. We have always been a pet-loving family, so he brought the pup home as a surprise,” says De.

The dog’s name is short for “My Love,” and he certainly has eyes only for his family. “When my son was getting married, there were umpteen guests overrunning the house, so we kept him at a friend’s house a few days,” De says. This acquaintance lives nearby, close to CRPF Camp Island but Mylo didn’t want to go and, even while he was there, he wouldn’t eat.

But it was most alarming when Mylo managed to escape from that house and make his way back to his AE Block home! “There was traffic, there were street dogs... Thank God nothing untoward happened. He was found, and we brought him home never to be parted from us again,” De says, heaving a sigh of relief.

Luckily, Mylo took to Pranit’s wife Sohini from the word go. “And of course, he loves my wife, Nandita, to bits,” says the corporate advisor and consultant.

The family jokes that Mylo has completed his MA in Bengali, for he understands everything. At the mention of words like “cholo” and “baire jabe,” his ears perk up and he gets ready to make a move. Mylo also enjoys a good workout; when De does his exercises, Mylo lies down too and raises his legs to mimic him.

The Indie loves snuggling, and when sleepy, he barks at De to quit watching TV and retire with him. “He sleeps on our bed and starts nudging us to wake up from 5am. But that’s too early for us,” grumbles De. “Nandita and I try to fool him by lying motionless, but by 6am he has had enough and wakes up the whole household with him.”