Adopting a Dog is Not Hard Work

There is an old quote Owning a dog is hard work. Every parent, at one point or the other has said this phrase to their child. I haven't heard this quote; not from my parents at least. Well, we chose to adopt. That is probably why I never heard this one :) Here is our story....

24th April 2012 :
A friend (Aditi Nair from Pet Owners and Animal Lovers) requested us to foster Zoey, a spitz puppy, for the weekend as her owners were going out of town. I was so excited, at last it was time to convince our parents for a dog. We went with Dave aunty to bring her home. Everyone was so delighted to see Zoey.

26th April 2012 : 

The weekend flew by and the day arrived for Zoey to return to her owners as they were back home. We were filled with sadness, and returned her with a heavy heart.

27th April 2012 : 

Loneliness  - I don't have a better word to describe how I felt once she was gone.. Our home felt empty and gloomy, as silent as a grave. That is when I realized, this might be an appropriate time to push for the goal of my life - A PET IN OUR HOME. :D

30th April 2012 : 

Aditi called and informed me that there is a Bull Terrier up for adoption as the owners were having some personal problems. It felt like GOD had finally answered my prayers! But still, she said as a first time pet owner, this breed would be very difficult to handle.

For the next ten days, there was no action as the owners were out of town and the dog was fostered by a friend of the owners. Those ten days were filled with anxiety and anticipation. I called up Aditi many times to know about the Bull Terrier and other dogs up for adoption. There wasn't a dog up for adoption at that time, so it was destiny that the Bull Terrier was meant to be ours. :)

12th May 2012 : 

Uff! Finally the wait was over. Aditi called me and said the owners are back and passed their number on to me. Without wasting another minute, I called the owner to fix an appointment to meet their dog. I was filled to the brim with excitement and joy that I couldn’t focus at work. My sister Aisshwaria and I went to get him home, but all this without our parents' knowing! We didn’t inform them that we were off to see a dog. :P

I have heard many talk about Love at first sight, but I had never experienced it..not until the time I met PUNCH! The doors opened, and there was my gladiator, PUNCH, standing and wagging his tail as fast as a rattlesnake shakes his rattle. He was so excited to see us. There he stood, with his egg-shaped head..and his almond shaped eyes gleamed as he saw us. Instantly, he pounced on my sister and me, and started teething my hand - he had already familiarized us. I wanted to take him home the same day but the owner wanted to wait for her son because he was out of town. So we decided to come back the next day for the first pet of our own.

13th May 2012 : 

Sleep was an asset. The excitement didn’t allow me to sleep the night before. The owners wanted us to come back in the evening at around 7PM. Time was ticking at snail speed! At last, the much awaited hour was here. Again, my sister and I were at their doorstep. The owner's son gave us some information about his feeding habits. We reached home and as expected,  both mom and dad were shocked to see us with PUNCH. They were so shocked. My sister and I went to the pet shop nearby to buy some stuff for him. Collar, Leash, Ball, (which is always his favorite) Chewing ring, Bowl (for his food and water) to start off with.

It took just 2 days for my parents to love him. Peeing and pooping is always an issue for a dog at its new place, so it didn't worry me as I knew that once he would adjust, there would be no problem. My only concern was his food habits as we are pure vegetarians and Punch was used to a diet of pure non vegetarian food. But he adjusted himself so well to our food habits. He never misses a meal to date! I had just one thing on my mind - to keep him healthy and muscular, as the specialty of this breed is their muscles, strength and stamina.

Dr. Hemant Thange helped us with his food habits. Started ofF with curd in the morning, rice or roti with vegetables for lunch, biscuits in the evening and again rice or roti in the night. He loves rotis with shrikhand or curd. Vanilla ice cream is something for which he will go to any extreme!

Exercise is needed, irrespective of what breed you have. So we started to take him 5 to 6 times downstairs so that he can get familiar with the building surroundings and building dogs. There are many strays in my building and we do take care of them from time to time. So we wanted him to get friendly with all of them to avoid fights and any issues in the future. It is always good to familiarize your pet with the other animals in the area that you stay in. It is always good to maintain a friendly environment among all the different animals.
As of now,we take him down three times a day.
His day begins at 5.30 am for a long walk of 45 mins. Mom and Dad have made it a habit to take him for his morning walk. In the evening, I take him to play fetch which is his favorite game. If there was to be a caption for Punch, it would be Usain Bolt runs because I'm the one chasing him. This sentence is so apt for him, as he never gets tired of running, chasing, playing or fetching. His energy and stamina are tremendous! The same caption was used for him in the PAL calendar as well!
A team playing against Real Madrid and Barcelona should have PUNCH as their Defender, he is sure to stop Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi respectively from scoring goals!

As an avid football fan, I love to watch football on TV. But in Punch's case, he loves to watch live football! Punch can sit at the window for hours together and watch the kids playing in the garden!

We use vessels to cook food, but my brother (PUNCH) uses them to show off his skating skills. He keeps his front paws on the vessel and will go around the whole house, banging into walls and furniture, but will not stop until he reverses the vessel. This is a really fun sight to watch, and makes everybody laugh!

Courage and strength are the two characteristics which a dog never lacks. I thought for an 8-month old dog it would be very less. PUNCH proved me wrong. I took him to his usual place to play fetch, but there were two packs of dogs fighting over a piece of land - normal territory fights. That is when my warrior ran off in between those 7 to 8 dogs. I must have skipped a heart beat when he went off in the direction of the fight. If it was a one on one fight, I was pretty sure he would have come out unscathed, but one against 7 to 8 is an impossible task (He is not RAJINIKANT after all). Still he stood his ground when one of the dogs came charging at him. Seeing a new dog being so brave, the others got the point very soon and stepped back. He made me realize one thing, courage and confidence is a huge part of life and we must all display it in every situation. 

Character of any living being cannot be determined by its looks. Because of his muscular looks, people feel that he may be ferocious. But, in reality he is very loving, comical and loyal. He is the best dog I have seen in my entire life!   

He never likes to be left alone. Even during the night, he likes somebody to sleep with him. Every now and then he gets up to make sure if someone is sleeping with him or not. 

He hates bathing. If he sees anyone taking his towel to the bathroom, he will go and sit under the dining table where it is difficult to bring him out from. He puts on his innocent face and giveS us a look with his puppy dog eyes. It is one of those moments when we have to muster all our strength and not melt. Be Strong, I say to myself and then pull him out for his bath. 

His Birthday was a special occasion for all of us. He was finally a year old and we wanted to celebrate it in the best way possible. We contemplated having a party and inviting other pet dogs and many such things. But then, when we thought about it, we realised that his best friends and the ones he met everyday were the ones who lived in our complex. So, we decided to do something for them on Punch's behalf. We celebrated his birthday by cutting a non chocolate cake (Doctor had advised us never to feed chocolate to him ever!)  and vaccinating all the dogs in our society against Rabies. This was one of the best ways to celebrate his birthday, we felt!

He has a long list of pet friends and followers as well. Tyson, Caspy, Pebbles, Peeper, Zoey, Snuffy, Daisy, Ginger, Buzo, Bamby, Dharam, Blacky, Par, Whitey  and the list goes on and on.

Our family of four (Mom, Dad, Sister and myself) always have 4 different opinions about any issue. But the arrival of Punch, the 5th member of the family, has somehow changed that. Now we all take decisions together and we stand together in each and every issue. He has united our family and brought about understanding among all of us. We now stand united as a family with our fifth member Punch being the glue of love between all of us.

He is a year and a half old, been with us for a year and has become mature enough to support our needs. In spite of that, I feel he is still a kid at heart.

I had goosebumps while writing this article thinking how things have changed this past year. Instead of saying "Dog has found his lucky home", I would say We have found our lucky dog. Even if I had adopted some other dog, I am confident he/she too would have been loving like PUNCH, but I think Punch was destined to come to our family and fill it with love. 

I would like to personally thank many people for supporting us throughout our journey with Punch, too many to name!
Still my family and I would like to thank Pet Owners and Animal Lovers for changing our lives by letting us adopt our handsome Punch.

The post is written by Avinash Raghunathan who is a member of Pet Owners and Animal Lovers. He and his sister Aisshwaria Raghunathan are rescuers and care takers of many stray animals. Avinash takes care of animals not just in his vicinity, but also in certain far away areas where he goes on a daily basis to ensure that they do not go hungry. 

It Takes A Long Time To Get This Sweet

Being asked to write about your pet and the relationship you share with them is exciting and “easy” you would think, but if you actually get down to it, you will realize.. you don’t know where to start! You don’t know what to write and what to leave out, to go into detail about something or not, what if you over exaggerate or what if you don’t say enough while trying not to exaggerate? Well, here I go.

Two and a half years ago, we brought home a little rescued kitty from Mr Anand Siva and named him Kito. I am and have always been a dog person more than a cat person, but we went for a kitten because we knew we wouldn’t be able to handle the responsibilities of having a dog. 

 
Kito grew up to be a loner cat who didn’t mingle or mix with anyone except our family - be it human or animal. He would hide under/above/behind furniture when we had guests over, and would snarl and hiss at a stranger puppy or kitten if I ever brought home any. 

He was the king of our house when nobody strange was around.


 

July 23rd 2012. 
Aditi called me and said, “Come over, Scooby’s here and things are getting out of hand!” I get there, grinning all the way (not at the things getting out of hand, obviously) but because I was FINALLY GOING TO GET HOME A DOG! Yeah yeah, even if just for two weeks of fostering till he finds a forever home, I couldn’t be happier to finally have a dog living in my house! 
[Scooby is a Tibetan terrier cross who was found wandering the streets of Hiranandani Estate, wounded and bruised.] 
I didn’t have to convince my parents much about letting me foster Scooby, my love for dogs comes mainly from them, and they too were secretly looking forward to it even if they didn’t look like it, because they know if they did, I would shove all the responsibility onto them. 

I enter Aditi’s house, and as soon as I do, Scooby walks out of the bedroom and wags his tail and greets me so very happily. I am mesmerized by his beauty..his long grey fur, cute curled wagging tail, shiny brown eyes, smiling face.. The most beautiful dog I had seen. He followed me around the house and I enjoyed it!

 Scooby is an alpha dog, he does not like competition ie he does not like other animals at all in general. Scooby had also pooped on Aditi’s bed and they were having a hard time keeping him off the furniture. On seeing Scooby follow me, Aditi’s mom said, “He knows you’re here to take him, look at how happy he is!” We walked him home and everyone at home was delighted to see him! Everyone except Kito. 

He was intimidated by Scooby’s enormity..as also the entry of a stranger animal that was dividing the attention that only he received before. Scooby saw Kito from a distance, Kito saw him. No sooner than I could stop Scooby, he made a go for it! He chased Kito and Kito ran at lightning speed, jumped over the cupboard and sat there, hidden behind suitcases and boxes, scared out of his life! My heart skipped several beats as I had never encountered such a situation before. Kito had never really met a huge, stranger dog before. Thank gosh cats are that swift, or I don’t know what Scooby would have done with him. 

A few days later, I met a lady while on Scooby’s walk who said she would love to adopt Scooby when I told her he was a rescue and needed a permanent home. His looks and temperament could charm the hardest of hearts. He was friendly to anyone and everyone, even if they didn’t pay him any attention. It was like he would go the extra mile to please anyone that came his way. Anyway, I was more than happy at the time, that he would finally (hopefully) stop shifting places and have a forever family. Ever since he was rescued in 2011, he had been to two “permanent” homes and one foster home. That’s like three homes to him. I was his fourth. Now he would move to his fifth. The following Sunday, the lady came home to take him to her house, and this was just a week since Scooby came home. It hit me then. What had I done? I let that lady come home to take my Scooby away from me forever? Why did I do that? I was in love with Scooby, in love with everything about him. So was my family. It hit all of us, when she said, ‘Yes I’m ready to take him, let’s go’. We were all dumbfounded. He was going already? But he just came! But we love him! But he was supposed to be here at least TWO weeks.. But.. But.. I couldn’t believe it. I bawled my eyes out when it was time for him to leave, we even went to her house. But I didn’t stop sobbing. So much so, that with a little more drama, I brought him back from there. I coaxed my parents into trusting me that I would handle all his responsibility if only they would please let me keep him. They wanted to! I know they did. But they had to act a little reluctant so that I promise to keep my word. And within a few days of contemplating over it, they agreed. 

THEY SAID YES!!!!!!!!!!! 

I was over the moon! 

I HAD A DOG NOW! WHOOPIE!! 

It was almost surreal. Ever since I was a kid, I wished for a pet dog, and now I finally had one. One of the most beautiful ones I had ever seen, too.

 There were a few problems we had to deal with in the beginning. He would pee and poop on the beds very often. But as I had promised, I cleaned everything without making a fuss. The second problem was, he wouldn’t go out for walks. He would walk till the gate and pull us back..and then do his business at home instead. 

With his strength, it’s not possible to pull him out or carry him either. If you’ve seen him, you’ll know he’s large! This went on for a few weeks. It was a new environment for him, he still had to adjust. But the biggest problem of all - Kito was still living on the cupboard. I was terribly worried about him. Would he live all his life on the cupboard now? Because of the entry of a new pet, and him living at such a height, Kito was being neglected. Of course, this was unintentional. He got his food and water on time, but we couldn’t spend time with him anymore. He would come down once in a blue moon, but then hurry back up on hearing Scooby outside. 

I felt miserable, was I the cause of this? Was Kito depressed because of me, my doing? Will he live all his life in fright and fear of Scooby? Will I have to send Scooby away? What must have been going through Kito’s mind at the time..how neglected and isolated he might have felt. 

 
How unfair I had been to him, by not considering his feelings and needs before bringing in Scooby forever. If only I knew, that wouldn’t last long.

 It’s been 9 months now since Scooby has been part of our family. All the problems have vanished, in fact they have been replaced by the delights and pleasures of having pets. Scooby no longer pees or poops in the house, he has learnt his self control well. He willingly comes out on walks, though not for long ones because of his weight and because he’s lazy. People are always staring at him and giggle at him from their scooters and cars. 

 
Little children point out to him and tell their parents, see that doggie! Of course, I feel proud to have such a different dog, I feel prouder that I don’t just have him, I saved him. Many a time, people stop their vehicles to click pics with him and ask me which breed he is. Once someone even asked me where they could “buy” this dog. 
What I feel like saying at such times is, he’s a rescue..and that is one unique breed you will never find in any pet shop. :)

  



This 9 month journey has taught me so many things, and this is basically what I wanted to bring out by writing this post, I got carried away exaggerating the rest (I warned you!).

 



I know why Scooby is so friendly to every stranger he comes across. At least I think I do. Somewhere, deep down in his mind, he still thinks he will be moved to a new home. He thinks it best to please everyone who comes his way, so that someone some day, eventually will take him and keep him forever. Not discard him again. Probably every time he was sent to a new house, he questioned himself. 

 “But what did I do wrong? Did I not wag my tail enough? Did I not tap to ask for attention enough? Why does nobody want me? Why does everyone get bored of me? Am I not fun? When will I stop moving houses?” 

I see it in his eyes sometimes, his bright brown eyes, he is still scared. He still wonders, its like he’s almost waiting for it..almost waiting for Aditi to come and take him to his new home again…

 

“So when are you going to move me? Aren’t you bored of me already?”

  

Still, he is always happy to see Aditi, happier than he is to see anyone. Even though the only times Aditi went  to meet Scooby before was to move him, even though he might have registered that Aditi coming equals to new house, he never stopped wagging his tail for her. Greeting her by following her around. 

 It’s like he’s thinking, 

“Aditi, please take me to a forever home this time.. I’ll be as good as I can, please don’t shift me again.”

Scooby is so friendly, that my mom and I joke that he would even welcome a thief into our house. 
The building dog Lolly is a female stray who sometimes accompanies me on his walks and we assume is Scooby’s girlfriend. I tell Scooby sometimes, if anyone comes to attack me on our walks, I know you might welcome him, but Lolly will protect me. 

I under estimated him. I was out on a walk with him today at 11pm and the street was quite deserted. Just as Scooby got comfortable to poop, a drunk man came walking towards us, walking very unsteadily.  











Before I could do anything, Scooby started barking very loudly at him, and it sounded louder at that time of night. The man walked away, while my heart continued to beat fast out of fear. He forgot about pooping and we went back. Tears welled up in my eyes and I apologized to Scooby for never believing he would protect me. He is very friendly, but as a grown dog, he knows whom to be friendly with and with whom not to. I will never under estimate him again.

Secondly, I know why Scooby used to poop and pee after coming back from his previous home. (He didn’t do this before coming to Aditi’s place just before I could take him). He was rebelling. And why shouldn’t he? We have been moving him around, family to family, city to city, not being able to give him a say about whether HE wants to move. 

 
He probably thought, “I’m sick of being a good, neat boy all the time. They still throw me away and move me around. I’m going to rebel and be a bad boy now, they can throw me out again, I have almost gotten used to this!” There’s one thing I have to say to all newly-become or to-be pet owners - HAVE PATIENCE. Your pet has entered a completely new environment, with total strangers, and none of his own kind. Give him time, give him space. Give him love and accept him before you get fed up of him. He needs a chance to show you, he can be the best pet you can ever have. He is a child, no matter how old he is, and you must care for him in sickness and health, in childhood and in old age. Within a few weeks, Scooby stopped that habit. He hasn’t dirtied the house in months, I don’t even remember the last time he did. At first, we took him for three walks, so that he adjusts better, but now he works fine with two.

 The third big change, rather the third big accomplishment that was achieved, was a cat-dog bond. Kito was a scaredy cat and Scooby an alpha dog who wouldn’t tolerate any other animal around him.

 
The change this journey has brought about in the lives of them both, and that too for the better, is by far the best thing to have come out of this experience. 

 
They both are nothing like they were before they met each other. They get along well, I won’t say fantastically. They tolerate each other and live in harmony. 

 
No more chasing or hiding. I feel amused thinking of the earlier days now. Kito brushes himself against Scooby the way cats do it against a persons legs, isn’t that adorable!? He sometimes even tries to play catch-me-if-you-can with Scooby, by jumping at his face and then running away, as if challenging him to catch him. 

 
Scooby is wise and proud enough to not actually pay any heed to the little fellow’s challenges. They both get a little jealous when we pet only one of them at a time, and that’s natural. 

 
They will try to sneak into each others bowls if they think the others is tastier, but still they both know whose food is whose.  They will sniff each others noses from time to time and no matter how many times I see it, it will still be the cutest thing ever. 

 

All this was possible only because of patience and determination. Both from our side as well as theirs. If we had given up earlier, and sent Scooby to another home… I don’t even want to think about it! Or if they had taken a stand to hate each other for as long as they lived, what would have happened? But they opened their hearts to each other, and here we are today!

And the last, but most important one of them all, the reason why I named this article what I did..

I come across a LOT of people telling me they want to adopt puppies, not older dogs. On asking why, they say, “but older dogs won’t listen to us na? they must be used to other people. Plus they are not as cute as puppies, and they won’t be attached to us as they have already been with other people before”. 

 
I cannot tell you how wrong you are..and how sadly funny that sounds to a dog lover. Dogs are faithful, loyal and grateful to those who do good for them, unlike humans, who would search for an ulterior motive before lending a hand. 

 

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man,” said Mark Twain. 

Dogs are capable of being loyal to multiple masters and grateful to many people, all for nothing in return. They are selfless and self-sacrificing, no matter their age. I believe I was lucky to come across an older dog. 

 
Scooby must be 5 or 6 years old, and I have absolutely no issues with that. Pets, like fine wine, improve with age. There’s no chewing of shoes, tearing of rugs, breaking of glasses and waking up at three a.m. Since they are older, they are wiser. Yes, they may be slower and calmer, but they are less likely to drive you crazy. 

 
Less likely for you to then assign a dog walker and a dog trainer and then he’s confused about who’s his master, whom to obey and why his family doesn’t want to make time for him. He is ready to sit with you on the couch for long movies, or just let you rest on his back. He will go out on long, peaceful walks with you and knows when you’re depressed, and knows when all he should do is sit there and listen to you, let you hug him. I am so proud of having Scooby, and feel really very fortunate that I came across him and not any other dog, though I’m sure they would be great too.

Old dogs and cats have a lot of love to give, will you give them a chance?

The article is written by Eden Dias, a core member of Pet Owners and Animal Lovers. She is a dedicated animal lover and a young animal activist.The pictures used in this article are clicked by Eden and other members of PAL.

Smiling and Dancing Dogs!!

These are some clicks by some of our members! They are just too good to not share.

This will definitely put a smile on your face!! :D

Have you guys ever seen a Smiling dog?

Check out the picture below! 

Have you ever seen dancing dogs? 

Check out the picture below. 

Picture by - Eden Dias , Siddharth Dugha & Aviral Jha