Oliver Finds His Pack

Oliver Dog was the most playful and popular dog in the lane.

- Dr K Rani

Every morning, as soon as the sun rose, he set out into the lane with his friends Tommy, Coco, Milo, Rocky, and Buddy. Oliver enjoyed his friends, but sometimes his popularity caused him problems with his friends.

Oliver especially loved walking down the lane as someone would be sweeping outside their house, someone would be delivering the milk, and someone would be off to drop off a child at school.

Oliver recognised everyone. As soon as he saw a familiar person, his bushy tail would wag so fast that it looked like a propeller. He would immediately jump up and cling to their legs.

“Oh, Oliver, move away, you rascal!” they would yelp.

People scolded him but laughed too. It did not matter to Oliver because he received love. Ten-year-old Meeta, who lived at the end of the lane, particularly liked Oliver. Whenever she went out for a walk, she always had some food item in her hand. Sometimes biscuits, sometimes a sandwich, and sometimes bread. All the dogs loved Meeta. They came close to her as soon as they saw her.

“Get in a line,” Meeta would say with a smile.

But the line was only for namesake. Oliver was always at the very front and pounced to take the first share. Meeta knew Oliver liked biscuits very much, so she often bought biscuits just for him while handing bread to the other dogs.

“Why does only Oliver get biscuits?” Tommy grumbled one day.

“Because his tail wags the most,” Rocky joked.

Everyone laughed upon hearing this. They also knew that Meeta had special affection for Oliver. His brown spots on a pure white coat looked very pleasing to Meeta. His stature was taller than the others, and his ears always stood straight.