The World without Sweepea

Once there was a little black puppy that was taken from his mommy by some kids and dropped at another unknown place. The little puppy was a happy guy so instead of finding the new place a scary big world he decided to make it his new playground.

His enthusiasm towards life and love towards other dogs and humans made him a famous little guy in this new area. Most humans loved him to bits. One such human named him Sweepea. He was also known my many other names like Oreo, Blacky, Chotoo, Raja and so on.

He was not a fussy eater, ate whatever was given to him like pedigree, chicken, mutton, dal rice, milk rice. Although, he did prefer a particular Pedigree food over the others. He would not touch the chicken n vegetable variety and his favorite flavor was meat and rice.

Every morning when the humans would walk their furry buddies, this tiny bundle of joy would run along in the big field and play with those dogs and their humans alike. There was never a day when Sweepea would not greet them with a big woofs, ear-to-ear smile and super fast swooshes of the tail. So it was rather out of the ordinary when yesterday the humans did not see this ever smiling big baby greeting them in the morning.

By evening they figured out that the boy was ill and needed immediate medical care. Some of these good humans took Sweepea to the clinic and after fighting with death the entire night young Sweepea took his last breath early morning today.

As one of Sweepea’s humans I have this gut wrenching feeling that I cannot get rid of. I am devastated.  I realized that the most painful and helpless feeling in the world is to see someone breathe his last in your arms but you cannot do jack shit to keep him alive.

I understand the basic concept of life that whosoever is born shall perish eventually. Though it will still hurt incredibly I can come to terms about someone who has lived their entire life and have died of natural causes. However this is the case of a 7 to 8 months old healthy puppy who dies consuming something poisonous. 

He was loved by many and everyone stood teary eyed at his burial and we bid him goodbye with a heavy heart.

Rest in Peace Dear Sweepea!!! You shall be missed.... 

Photo courtesy - Radhika Borkar

Prepping for Diwali!

Yes, you read it right… I’ve started my Diwali preparation from now only. And NO, I don’t mean by cleaning house and shopping for Diyas & Kandils.

My Diwali preparation begins with making the festival as comfortable as possible for my bachlings. Loud noises scare the heebie-jeebies out of them. They do not eat, they shiver, they find places to hide like under the table or bed. They have elevated heart rates and poor guys look mortified for those few days.

“The few days” range between one-week to one-month as people have enough money to burn on firecrackers for a whole f@#$ing month. Though I love the festival of lights, I absolutely detest the smog, and the noise created by the firecrackers! Oh and I also hate the drunken people on the roads who consider being a jerk as being somewhat of an item.

My only aim during the festival is making lives a little less scary for my babies. Things I am doing to make life a little simpler for these guys are;

Ordered Anxocare from Himalaya

It is an ayurvedic medicine which I will start from after Dussehra and will continue till November.

Ear Muffs

My cousin is creating crocheted ear muffs for the guys with Styrofoam and what not. I understand that the noises will not be drowned out completely but it would be less. So I am very hopeful for that.

Changing their walkie time

Normally they’d go at 9:30 AM and 9:30 PM and once in the afternoon if they are dying to go. But during this month we try to change it to early evening and early morning as the crackers noises are less and the smog is at this lowest as well.

Keeping windows closed

Since people in our area are so work-less that they start with the crackers from a week before the actual day, so the windows will be closed and thick curtains will be drawn from evening till late at night until the noise stops.

Preparing their favorite meals

I have created a plan for their meals. Usually they eat kibbles for lunch and home cooked meal for dinner. For these days, they get yummy home cooked meal during the day so that they can peacefully and happily eat their nom noms and pedigree will remain un-spoilt for a longer duration at night in case if they wish to eat after the noises have stopped.

Staying with them during those days

Like every year, I’ve made plans to be with my babies for that 1 week. Since 2010 (when I got Ole home), all my Diwalis are spent with Ole and since 2 years with Thimpoo as well. I strongly believe that the babies should not be without their trusted humans on those scary days. This, in no way means I will be stuck to them. Nope! Nada! Nien! I don’t molly coddle them when they are scared, else they’d know it is good to be scared.

What I do is, I stay with them in the same room, but they have their hide outs and spaces to chill wherein I keep their toys (for Thimpoo, Ole does not care for toys), pillows, blankets etc… anything that helps them keep calm. I keep on talking to them in a normal tone and continue with my work.

Each year I request people everywhere (in person & on social media) to say NO to crackers and sincerely hope that someday they will listen!

Image Courtesy - www.pharmacy4u.gr www.tumblr.com www.thepequodblog.blogspot.com

Note: Images used are strictly for representation purposes only!

Signs that you've become a Crazy Dog Person!!!

There are dog lovers & dog owners and there are these crazy people who would rather spend their entire waking hours with dogs instead of human beings. 

Here are 5 signs that would confirm if you've transitioned from a dog lover to a crazy dog person. Once you've become a Crazy Dog person, there is no point of return!!! You are one of us now!!!! Hee Hee Haa Haa (evil laugh)!!!!!!!!!

You congratulate your dogs by saying that he/she is a good boy/girl and you are proud of him/her when they complete their poop mission everyday; even though he is 6 and she is 2 1/2 and have been house broken for around 5 1/2 and 2 years now.

When you wear something fancy, you ask your dogs for an opinion on how you are looking. Their opinions matter the most.

When your dogs are in a barking competition with the neighborhood dog from the window, you politely ask them to use their 'inside voice' and they do!!!

When your important and unavoidable weekend plan is giving your dogs a full body massage and you  get mighty upset if that has to be canceled due to something else happening in the house. 

When you are staying in a hotel or at a friend's house, you cannot sleep well at night, because you are not hugging your dogs. 

All Hail The Crazy Dog People!!!!

Photo Courtesy: www.canstockphoto.com www.thegraphicsfairy.com  www.cliparts.co www.germanshepherdadventures.wordpress.com 

Dreams...

I am a weird dreamer... My dreams range from being animated to horror and lovey-dovey to downright psychotic. Then there are these anthropomorphic dreams wherein I have regular conversations with Ole, Thimpoo and other canine and feline buddies of mine.  

Baby Muttley

 Few nights ago, my dreams went on to a whole new level altogether. I saw my brother’s furry baby Muttley sitting somber and singing “Let it go” from the movie Frozen. He had his head high up to achieve the voice range and it was an A-class performance.

 In my defense, I was neither drunk nor high and did not even hit my head anywhere. It was just another uneventful day.  Also I haven’t watched the movie ‘Frozen’ in the near past or anything. 

Muttley in his Goth days

Anyhoo, Muttley baby performed awesome and made my night... I don’t think I am forgetting this dream anytime soon. 

Big Boy Muttley