Before three year we found three little puppies around our home with their mother. Children immediately attached with those three little puppies and given names Whity, Blacktail and One sone ( don't know why this name!). They were always with children. If Ashna goes for cycling they all accompany her until few months back suddenly One sone disappeared and never returned. Whenever they need Ashna's help, food or just want to play they make special sound for calling her.
Once Ashna went to Nature Club's sunday meeting and someone left 2 days puppy who lost mother in road accident...she brought it home. And two days after that went painful for all...puppy was little, crying continuously and we are probably not able to take care of it properly, Ashna was feeding it every 2 hour even at night and taking care but 'if puppy will not survive' making her tense & emotional at a time. Unfortunately, it died after 2 days.
Blacktail has given four puppies few months back somewhere in our society and this time they gave them names from books they were reading. But unfortunately they all crushed one by one under the vehicles. Children felt very sad and helpless, they already playing with them. Still miss their playful Sikander!
This time taking more care for safety Blacktail has given 6 puppies in our compound. Chidlren are very happy, they are taking good care of Blacktail and giving her enough food time to time....hoping naughty puppies not get out of compound gate before they grow up and live safely! Difficult to give name except one as all are looking same right now!
Like Nikhil, Ashna too likes dogs very much and every dog comes running to her like already know her! And you can find her taking dog-photo most of the times!
Till this everything is fine..........but they also want dog as pet whom they can bring inside home, on the bed. They are waiting for my permission. I'm not ready for that plus if they bring dog pet what about all these stray dogs with whom they are sharing such wonderful connection? We all know pets are beneficial to children's development but here will having dog 'inside home' make any difference?
Once Ashna went to Nature Club's sunday meeting and someone left 2 days puppy who lost mother in road accident...she brought it home. And two days after that went painful for all...puppy was little, crying continuously and we are probably not able to take care of it properly, Ashna was feeding it every 2 hour even at night and taking care but 'if puppy will not survive' making her tense & emotional at a time. Unfortunately, it died after 2 days.
Blacktail has given four puppies few months back somewhere in our society and this time they gave them names from books they were reading. But unfortunately they all crushed one by one under the vehicles. Children felt very sad and helpless, they already playing with them. Still miss their playful Sikander!
This time taking more care for safety Blacktail has given 6 puppies in our compound. Chidlren are very happy, they are taking good care of Blacktail and giving her enough food time to time....hoping naughty puppies not get out of compound gate before they grow up and live safely! Difficult to give name except one as all are looking same right now!
Like Nikhil, Ashna too likes dogs very much and every dog comes running to her like already know her! And you can find her taking dog-photo most of the times!
Till this everything is fine..........but they also want dog as pet whom they can bring inside home, on the bed. They are waiting for my permission. I'm not ready for that plus if they bring dog pet what about all these stray dogs with whom they are sharing such wonderful connection? We all know pets are beneficial to children's development but here will having dog 'inside home' make any difference?
5 comments:
Dear Sejal
I understand your predicament.....I have been going through the same with my son as he wants a pet, which I am not ready for as yet.....and by the way, I have grown up with dogs and other animals from very young! What I feel is that a dog actually becomes a part of your family.....another person....who you can take care of, fight with, play with, talk with....and their love is unconditional! For most parts of my growing up years, my best friend was my dog.....when I used to get upset or feel sad, I would hold her and talk to her and she would really listen! They are and always will be there for you no matter what. They take care of you too! And yes, you have to go through the same emotions as you would with a family member falling sick, dying, and everything else. But the joy would surpass everything else for sure. I think it would be great for kids to have dogs as pets. But what I feel is that there are constraints depending on one's resources , support systems, lifestyles etc. If you have space for it in your home, can take it with you when you travel, or have someone reliable and loving to take care of it when you are not around at home, then I think it s great....but otherwise, I would hesitate, and that is the same predicament I am in now. We used to have a mongrel we adopted after we got married and we used to take him every morning to my mom's house with bag and food on the motorbike....just like you would take a little child to a day care! But I think he did not like it after a point. Perhaps it was stressful for him too. he started getting sad I think and changed as a person....and then it was all downhill. So I feel that if one can really take care of them as much as they need, then one is justified in having them as pets....not otherwise.
Thank you Priya...what they just miss is dog inside home !, otherwise they are sharing all the joy and friendship with these stray dogs. They talk,play and take care of them and dogs are also seems understands all these and they unconditionally loving them,..even th they are stray dogs they behave like they are toilet trained. It's difficult for me to take more responsibilities/work load right now otherwise space and other requirements we can fulfill.
No advice, just wanted to say hello, this is quite an interesting predicament you have here... Lovely photos!
Sejal, much of what your children look for in a pet of their 'own' is probably a fallout from what they have seen from pet/ animal movies or have read from story books. Cuddling is natural human process of expressing warmth and bonding "through touch". I guess that since the canines at your home spend more time outside than indoors, you and the kids are probably in defensive mode when it comes to cuddle them. My daughters cuddle our Rushi when ever they get a chance to do so behind my back. But, even if I catch them doing so, I let them cuddle the pup but ensure that they change and wash their hands thoroughly after. I must admit here that I too cuddle the pup every weekend.
Some pet owners I've spoken to have felt outraged when I have told them that I don't allow my pet in the bed. I believe that the way as humans we have a lifestyle of our own, animals have a lifestyle of their own. Unlike the canines or their cousins, we don't crawl on all fours or walk bare feet in the streets... do we? Animals have an immunity that protects them from infections and they can roam around bare foot or sleep on the roads. Something, which if we did, would make us sick. So no matter how much we would like to cuddle a pet, we have to exercise precaution while handling them.
Rushi is most excited when she gets a chance to climb up our beds, but we let her do so when its time to wash the bed cover.. and she invariably reciprocates by peeing on the bed.... :p, well, first time she did so resulted in discarding of the mattress, now we put a couple of oilcloths before letting her on the bed. By the way, We have a sleeping bag, which is laid on the floor of our bed room as a mattress and Rushi loves sleeping on it, and, she knows its her bed.
Coming to the issue of a new pet, well, personally I don't think there is the need to have one for snuggling into the bed. The children already have such wonderful pets why do they want these angels to be treated as lesser pets. You may allow the canines indoors once in a while and after giving them a thorough bath and of course after getting the canines and yourselves vaccinated against rabies (this is a must).
The canines would also need to be De-wormed. De-worming injections are available and they need to be administered every 3-4 months... If possible after the canines have been vaccinated for Rabies, you may get the pets registered at the local municipality, where they issue a Dog token/ License... not too expensive (its 20/- per token per dog in Delhi). Its not mandatory to get them registered, but if registered it can save you form lot of problems in an unfortunate mishap or a dog catch drive. Also the cost of vaccination and registration for the existing canines put together would probably be lesser than the cost of buying a new dog.
If you bring in a new pet, it will be stressful not only for the ones already at home but also for the new comer. The ones at home may accept the new comer out of fear that if they don't do so, the Master may be angered, but like human beings, if preferential treatment is meted out to them, they, like human beings, will certainly be less happier... they will always treat the new comer as an intruder in the house who has stolen their master's unconditional love for them. So, whats the need of getting a new pet? Before ending I'll recount a personal experience with Rushi: once in a while, my children and I cuddle a stuffed puppy, with Rushi witnessing it... immediately she starts craving for our attention. she resorts to all kinds of antics and when she is too tired to do anything more, she will crouch on our feet and remain that way till we pick her up and cuddle her, and then as she looks into our eyes, her eyes have always looked a bit more watery than usual...
Canines have emotions too... can we afford to hurt them?
Oops Forgot to mention Mistral is my pseudonym.
Sunaabh Sarkar
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