Legs in the air with a smile..!

A few years ago, when Pluto, the stray I'd adopted was alive, I walked into his room: He lay on his back, all four legs in the air. I looked at his face, his eyes were shut and as I peered closely, I could have sworn there was a smile; that's if dogs smile, which I'm sure they do.

I'd adopted him, when I'd seen him injured on the road. His injured leg hadn't healed well and he walked with a limp, but that had never deterred him from pottering around proudly next to me, and telling the world he belonged to me; lifting his head in a half bark, half howl quite often when I returned from my morning walk. That day, I looked at him as he lay on his back and knew he was smiling because he was happy and content.

My younger daughter who'd got a beanbag as a birthday present a few years ago found Pluto loved lying in it and decided to give it up for him, and that had become Pluto's bed: Imagine a stray owning a beanbag; but not a day went by without Pluto telling us in little ways he was grateful for his own special place.

There was a heat wave in the city and my other dog, a German-Shepherd, insisted on sleeping in my air-conditioned room. Every night there would be a scratching at my door, and on opening it, I'd find my huge fellow outside, 'You...