Jerry, a black Labrador was our third dog. We brought him home in September of 1995 from a family friends place. Jerry was 12 days old, when his mother discarded him, his eyes were not open by then, and we fed him with cotton buds soaked in milk and formula for weeks. Buzo was grown and mature by then, he would come and sit by us, while we fed or looked after Jerry. At first Buzo tried to keep the focus on himself, but as time went by, he realized that this pup is going to stay and he accepted him, looked after him when we were not there. Jerry, for lack of knowledge accepted Buzo as his natural father, but I think Buzo didn’t mind the attention.

Jerry, in his first few weeks portrayed the same characteristics that Buzo had in the recent past. First several nights I had to pick him up from his box in the middle of the night and put him on my chest, to keep him quite and he seemed to enjoyed that. After several days I realized that he probably missed being in close proximity to something breathing along with him. I took a old desk clock, which my grandfather had left behind, wrapped it in a piece of cloth and placed it in his box at nights as he slept there. Surprisingly that worked, I think the rhythmic “tick-tock” made him think of a beating heart! He did sleep well since.

As Jerry grew up, Buzo grew old, he couldnt keep pace with Jerry’s antics all day long, and straightened him once in a while. Their relationship was that of a father and son, Jerry looked up to Buzo and followed him everywhere. Having Buzo around helped us a lot, as Jerry learned so many things that Buzo did (pottie training) or wasn’t allowed to do (climb on beds, couch, or roam anywhere near the dining table, when we’re eating) and imbibed them, without us trying!

By his first year, Buzo and Jerry were almost the same size, though Jerry outperformed Buzo at everything, as he had age on his side. Yet, they were a sight to be seen when I used to take them for a walk in the mornings. Most people stopped to look at them, waive at us. Several small dogs ran away from us. Jerry enjoyed “fetching”, as I would assume a retriever naturally would. He was sharp, could pick the right stone from a pile that i threw in. Though, he never really got the hang of his size, he tried to sit in my lap all the time, assuming that he would still fit, as he used to when he was a pup….

After so many years, my Dad really took interest in our dogs, he loved Jerry for some reason and vice-versa. Things that Buzo was not even allowed to do, were Ok if Jerry did them. He would let Jerry climb his bed and sit by him! which was very surprising for us knowing how he cared about cleanliness and order in the house. I think Jerry knew that too, he slept under his bed everyday and every chance he could. He was such a joy!

Unfortunately, Jerry didn’t live long, he passed away due to failing kidneys at a tender age of 18 months. I buried him in our yard. Buzo, along with us all was hit very hard. He missed Jerry, his best mate as much as, if not more than us. My sister was unconsolable and demanded that we replace him with a new one, or she’ll go mad. Well, our Dad couldnt bear it for long either. He asked us to search for a suitable replacement. We tried but we couldn’t find a black Labrador pup anywhere. We looked at Pointer’s, Boxer’s and several other breeds both never got the vibe we used to from Jerry. We kept looking hoping that soon we’d find one who could bring solace to our hearts.