Dipanwita Bakshi and her son Rishi always wanted a pet, but husband Sandeep was dead set against the idea. “Now he’s the most attached to Mylo,” laughs Dipanwita. And the clever Beagle knows exactly how to work it!

When the family settled into their AD Block home, Sandeep picked up a sofa-cum-bed to relax and watch TV from. “Alas! Mylo captured it,” says Dipanwita. “Now he takes his treats to eat on that coach and naps on it while we’re out for work. I know, as I spy on him over CCTV in between my classes,” says the teacher at IEM Public School Salt Lake. “And Mylo’s internal clock is so accurate that 10 minutes before I return from school, he hops off that couch, heads to the balcony, juts his head through the grill, and waits to greet me.”

The CCTV, in fact, catches many of Mylo’s antics. “While we’re at work, our domestic help feeds him lunch, and I watch on my phone as he bolts to a room post-meal to wipe his messy face on the bed!” she cringes and giggles. This room, by the way, was meant to be the master bedroom, but Rishi and Mylo decided to take it over.

“Rishi is now in college in Bhubaneswar, and Mylo was very upset when he first left,” Dipanwita recalls. “But when he comes on vacation, Mylo goes berserk — jumping chair to chair and bursting with joy he can’t contain.” With Rishi away, Mylo becomes mummy’s little helper. “At the ring of the doorbell, he races downstairs, accepts parcels from the delivery boy through the grill, and brings them up to me!”

In his puppy stage, the Beagle had chewed up much furniture in the house, and so the legs of his favourite table are covered with cloth. “He would also chew up leaves from the plants on the terrace, so I had the pots moved to the driveway,” Dipanwita says. “And when clothes are put out to dry in the sun, he pulls out something small, comes to show us and then runs, asking us to chase him and play tug of war.”

The Beagle loves outings, so Saturdays are reserved for his Salt Lake tours. “We drive to our old neighbourhood — BL Block, as well as those like CF Block — where resident street dogs greet him cheerfully,” says Dipanwita. “We even pick holidays these days — not by local attractions but — by the availability of pet-friendly hotels. Mylo’s comfort is paramount.”