Doggies Home Alone

There were times when people lived in mansions, enjoyed backyards and had humane working hours. Those were the times when their dogs too enjoyed these luxuries, chasing birds and squirrels, barking at cats who sat high up on a tree branch; and when tired they enjoyed quality time with their families. Doggy Heaven! 

Well, let’s snap out and picture our own city lives. We live in smaller apartments, backyards and lawns seem to be historic extravagances and work occupies us round the clock. So, in such a scenario what do our canine friends do? They sit at home all alone, with lesser space to run around, spend lesser time with us hence leading to separation anxiety. 

Come to think about it, we have working hours of a minimum eight hours, commuting time in today’s mind boggling traffic adds another two hours to that. Sometimes social obligations, craving to watch a film, a coffee with a long lost friend or dinner with relatives who taunt you of not having time for them adds a couple more hours to our busy schedule. The brunt of this is borne by our pooches back home.

Since the good old days will not come back and there is no escaping the work pressure, let us discuss some tips on leaving our dogs at home when we are out for long hours.

1.     For the love of our dogs we should set our alarm to an hour early. Spending time with our dogs first thing in the morning is the best way to kick-start our day. A brisk walk and some play not only will keep us and our dogs healthy but will also exhaust our dogs and they would like to come back home and sleep for a couple of hours.

2.     Toys and chewys work great to occupy them.

3.     Keeping out a fresh bowl of water is a must before we leave.

4.     Do try hiding a few treats around, dogs love the treasure hunt.

5.     Another trick is to leave the radio on with a low volume; a dog will feel less lonely with a sense of voices of people around.

6.     Getting a dog walker or a volunteer to come in at one time to check on the dog and take him out for a walk is quite necessary. Usually our house maid or help is the best option; the dog knows the person well and not all of us can afford professional trainers and walkers.

7.     Also, it is better to leave the dog in a space where he spends most of his time or is comfortable in, the bigger room in the house maybe. Make sure you do away with any sort of wires which are a great attraction to chew off!

Try these few tips and make your pooches happier dogs :)

Let the reason be Love!

Love, it is said is unconditional. Shakespeare dubbed it blind and enough has been said about the purity of emotions that are experienced in a loving relationship with any person, animal or thing. In case of dogs and the much-celebrated love between owner and pet, can we say the same principles apply? Especially in the context of desi, ‘stray’ dogs?

Hero

Tanya Palta thinks so. The Delhi-based writer and editor is a self-proclaimed (and rightly so!) expert of desi canine breeds, having raised ten dogs in her home. As she happily rattles off the names of her brood (from the oldest, 14-years old Cheeta to the 3-years old Hero and Poli), Tanya also shares how she developed a strong bond with the stray dogs around her house after their first pet, a golden Labrador came into their lives. She became a die-hard dog lover and that involved feeding dogs in the vicinity of her house and eventually adopting dogs that she particularly bonded with or who were abandoned/hurt.

Poli, Tanya's Handsome Indian beauty

Siddharth and Shagun, a young couple based in Dehradun also share similar experiences, having taken in eight, of which one passed away but the others are now over a year old. Siddharth and Shagun were returning home on New Year’s Eve in 2010 when they rescued the little fur balls who were about 2-3 weeks old. Winters in Dehradun are freezing and that night was unforgiving as rain lashed down, slowly filling the dry gutter where the pups lived. 

Tanya, Siddharth, Shagun and many other people who have raised desi dogs understand that the discrimination against the Indian breeds is just another reflection of a society that is obsessed with status, money and class. Siddarth and Shagun share that the Indian breeds have stronger immunity than pedigrees while Tanya talks about how her brood is incredibly adaptable, very responsive to housetraining, gentle and responsive. Much more, she affirms than the pedigree dogs.

While it remains true that the important place pets hold in the lives of us folks should not be measured on parameters such as status or class, another contrasting truth that must be probed is whether our affection, as pet-lovers extends only to the fancy breeds, or do we love all dogs- desi or pedigree- for the wonderful blessing they are...