Yesterday Aditya and I welcomed the newest member of the family, Kajol, to our home. She’s a seven-month old bundle of happy energy, as you can see from the blur that is her tail in the picture below. While her German Shepherd breeding is very clear from her coloring, the beagle is just a best guess, given her small size, facial features, and desire to sniff out everything while on walks – including things like bumblebees. Puppies just don’t have any sense, do they?
We were originally going to name her “Gobi”, which means cauliflower in Hindi. However Maa vetoed that idea: she refuses to call the dog anything so silly. Which I’ll admit Gobi is – but it’s also pretty cute. So instead the pup gets the slightly more dignified unisex Hindi name of Kajol, which means kohl. Kohl is the heavy black eyeliner favored by many Indians, Arabs, emo kids, and Jack Sparrow. And, of course, our Kajol, whose eye markings I’ll be studying next time the eyeliner goes on.
We adopted her from the Virginia German Shepherd Rescue, and, folks, they do some amazing work there. Kajol was rescued from a pretty bad county shelter, where she’d developed kennel cough and gathered a zoo of parasites. She came to us perfectly healthy and well-socialized, though she has the slight separation anxiety you’d expect from a dog that has had so many changes in her life. She’s a real sweetie, though, eager to please and smart as a whip. We’re slowly learning more about each other – for instance, I’ve learned how she signals that she needs to use the outdoor facilities, and she’s learned that jumping onto our bed then starting to pee on it will get her a quick escort to the backyard. *grin* It’s all part of owning a dog – but the good here certainly outweighs the bad!
Aditya’s family has always had German Shepherd Dogs in India, and he’s even shown them in the ring, so he’s very comfortable working with Kajol. I’ve never had my own personal dog, but my family has had dogs (currently a massive golden lab named Bear), so I’m also pretty at ease with Kajol. Despite learning about dog ownership in such disparate cultures, we’ve come to a quick agreement about how to handle our pup. Actually, our knowledge bases are quite complementary: Aditya knows more about the age & breed-specific behaviors that Kajol exhibits (mouthiness and quickly figuring out our training tactics), while I can inform him about American-specific training techniques and pet supplies (crating, dog seatbelt harnesses, and Kong toys). We’ll be taking her to an obedience class later this summer once she’s become comfortable with our household and routines.
I’m sure you’ll be hearing plenty more about Kajol in the future, but it’s time for us to head to bed. I’ve got a sleeping dog who will be wanting her morning meal and walk bright & early tomorrow morning.
28. June 2008 at 11:59 pm
Congrats! Yay new puppy! Kajol is a cute puppy! I love the name choice… The second picture she looks happy she’s found a wonderful home.. she has such a content look on her face while she sleeps.
29. June 2008 at 6:32 am
She is adorable! Congratulations, and good luck with the training.
29. June 2008 at 6:35 am
Awwww! Sooooo cute!
29. June 2008 at 10:22 am
Cute! And I think the name is perfect! Her body shape and markings look very beagle to me too. Which means between the two… you’ve got a VERY smart dog.
29. June 2008 at 1:41 pm
Congratulations on the new addition to the family. My mother once claimed she named her German Shepherd Gina after the bitch in Dynasty. Nice…
29. June 2008 at 7:43 pm
AWWWW, such a cutie!!! I’m sure she has found herself a wonderful home! I am not sure she’s crossed with a Beagle though. We used to breed Beagles, but I DO think she is crossed with one of the hound breeds. Her coloring looks typical more of a German Shepherd than anything, but she is very beautiful. Plus, she got the German Shepherd smarts, you don’t want the Beagle mixed with that hehe. They are such hardheaded little booger-heads
30. June 2008 at 12:28 pm
She is gorgeous! Lovely legs. I like the name too. In principle I don’t object to dogs being called cauliflower, but I think kohl suits her much better. Lucky you!
And I have finally found a scrap of time to look at someone’s blog other than my own … only get to the internet about twice a week now, so I have to cram a lot into those few hours.
Hope I can come back for a longer visit soon,
MaameJ
30. June 2008 at 4:21 pm
Dogs can be a lot of fun. They’re a lot of work too. Are you going to teach Kajol any tricks? Other than using the outdoor facilities?
25. August 2008 at 11:47 pm
Puppy update:
Ara, we don’t think she’s a beagle mix either, anymore – she’s grown too tall! And she uses her legs to great effect; so far she’s the fastest runner I’ve seen at the dog park we frequent. She’s also a good jogging partner, although it is a little disheartening to come home dead tired, take off her leash, and then be faced with a puppy who is still full of energy and ready to play.
Overall, Kajol has done very well in transiting to our household. She learned her name in a couple of days, and has since learned sit, down, stay, and drop it (mostly). She’s also learned all of those commands, as well as a handful of other words, in Bengali – Aditya likes to joke that she knows more Bengali than I do (lies!).
3. September 2008 at 6:37 pm
I have the same type of dog
im just wondering how big he’ll get.
his name is Cujo not from the killer dog but the goaly
in toronto.
4. September 2008 at 9:38 am
Matt, right now (at 9 1/2 months) she’s about 55 pounds, and almost has the height of a regular-sized Golden Retriever or German Shepard. She’s built on much thinner lines, though, thus the relatively light weight. We’re still waiting to see if she’ll fill out or not.
8. December 2008 at 1:49 pm
I have a 2 year old Shepard/Beagle mix, at least thats what her papers say. She is a rescue from D.C.
She looks almost identical to Kajol, which is funny because her name is Katje.
Her vet does not think she is mixed with beagle though (and also does not have any suggestions) so I would love to know if you have anymore information on her other “half”.
She is about 55lbs and on all fours about 20in tall.
10. December 2008 at 6:01 pm
wow… that’s amazing! At this point, we’re pretty sure it’s some kind of hound mixed with german shepherd… we havent had any hints from the vet either…
do you have pictures of katje???
13. December 2008 at 1:06 pm
I do indeed have pictures of her…
How would you like me to post?
23. December 2008 at 2:08 am
Congrats! I don’t know if I’ll ever convince my Pakistani husband that we should get a dog. There is just no concept of domesticating dogs there, and I’m not sure he’s been here long enough!
29. December 2008 at 3:59 pm
This has to be the ugliest dog i ever seen.
9. February 2009 at 7:50 pm
so nice dog
15. March 2009 at 9:48 am
I have a German Shepherd Beagle mix and He looks identical to that. 55 lbs, 20″ tall. I can assure you, that's what this dog is.
3. May 2010 at 3:18 pm
Well, when I was younger, we had a dog. She was a German Shepherd mixed with Beagle. She got huge, by huge I mean her ears went past the couch. She just wasn’t big enough to stop a car. When she was on her back paws, she stood taller than my dad. Sadly, she died, by a car. I think your dog will be smart enough not to chase one down the street, though. Your dog looks as if it will be huge, too. Good luck! (Your gonna need it.:))
8. May 2010 at 1:41 pm
I have the same dog that looks like that his name is Oliver with such the long legs
8. May 2010 at 1:42 pm
8. May 2010 at 1:43 pm
this is just the cutest dog (SORTTA) I have a dog so yeah and he looks like this but cutter
22. November 2010 at 2:56 pm
I really appriciate this post. I’ve been looking high and low for this! Thank goodness I found it on Google. Thx again