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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

My rendezvous with Pooches at Petspace

My interaction with a dog goes way back to my school days when I used to pet my friend’s dog once in a while. I volunteered for an animal shelter for a long time and I used to spend time bonding with the furry ones and healing them. Petspace was the place where I boarded my Furry boy Max for the first time. I was so apprehensive and tensed about the whole scenario of making him stay while we were out for a vacation. The reason was that Max was a rescued German shepherd and I had no clue about his past. What he feels when he is around dogs, what he feels when left in a boarding place , his temperament around new people, how he would be around his handlers at Petspace etc. So I came there with all the stress inside me and met Hema. She convinced me that he would do just fine. We dropped him and went off for a break of five days. We came back only to know he did exceptionally well, mingling with all the dogs, being extremely calm around his handlers and we were oh so happy.

 Months ahead, I joined Petspace as an employee. As an outsider, my description of Petspace would be of a place where i)the dogs roam around freely- which they never get to do while in a home; ii) are happy resting in the shade when they are tired and iii) a place where they are well taken care of. So can there be a better place to work ? No!.  So my tryst with Petspace began. My mornings began with all the dogs running around and coming to greet me first thing in the morning as I reach the centre. Can there be a more beautiful sight? There have been so many dogs that I enjoy spending time with here, but there are some who have left an impression in my heart. I don’t have many years of experience with dogs, but whatever I have , I can share it openly.

Even though here there are a mix of Indies and pure breeds that come in for boarding, I have always established a deeper, stronger bond with the indie dogs. They take more time to bond but their bond is very deep and emotional. The Indian dogs have an innate resistance towards male humans ,but they bond better with female humans . They say dogs sense vibes very strongly so they are the best judges of purity and wisdom. So no two minds about declaring Women Rule!!

Coming back to Indian dogs; they are more serene, gentle hearted, docile, soft with humans. But if it comes to a dog- dog interaction, a tiny sized indie can give a fight to a full grown St Bernard !! They know whom to bond with and whom to stay away from, whom to ignore. They are the most intelligent breeds ever ! I love almost all the indie dogs that have come to petspace but the ones whom I bonded closely with have been Amulya – the white indie, Bachi- the brown indie ; Robin The senior indie.
Amulya- has been here for long so I have spent lot of time with her. She loves to be pet, is possessive around people, but looks very comfortable in her own space. She is a no- nonsense dog and every dog at petspace knows that ; no dog  can mess around with her!!
Bachi- The indie who comes from a home where she is loved and doted upon a lot, so much that her parents especially her mom was already getting homesick leaving her here. Bachi is a gentle girl who loves petting but is little shy to come near you. Once she trusts you, she loves being around you.
Robin is a 10 year old indie boy who has never been into boarding. He took his time to settle in, but he is a gem. He loves being petted by female humans but once he trusts you, he wants to stick around with you all the time! He keeps whining for attention till you call him by your side. With dogs, he knows his place in his domain and can get a little naughty too!

I also got to meet and bond with two cute buns Ginger and Kiki , they come from the same house but were mere opposites of each other. Ginger is one fun loving, naughty, storehouse of energy even with her tiny size but can bug any of the big sized dogs too!  Kiki the mini girl is a virtual canine saint. She is so calm and peaceful that one can mistake her for a soft Toy !! She can be carried and she doesn’t budge from your hands!! They spent a whole lot of time here and had a complete blast gaining popularity and getting oodles of love and affection from the Petspace team and practically all the visitors here!!

Another dog I bonded well was Fluffy the Shih Tzu. As the name goes, he is a true fluffball . During his long stay here, he made sure that he practically owns the petspace office! From sleeping near my leg to roaming around the office, or jumping onto the chair and climbing up the office table- he has done everything. He looked very comfortable being in the office as if he owned the place and loved his stay here. He didn’t mind other dogs around but he made sure no one bothered him too much.

At Petspace, the dogs love the free space and lazing around in the sun or the shade whenever they want to. Dogs have been animals in the wild and it’s in their instinct to roam around and explore. That’s what they get to do here. Also it’s a place where hyper- active and energetic dogs get to play endlessly with other dogs. Especially the Labs and Goldens of any age and the Young German shepherds have loads of never- exhausting energy in them . Also, there are lots of dogs that get dropped for the day where they get to play around and burn their energy ; so when they get back home they are tired but happy to see their humans !
There have been dogs that take time to adjust, do not like being around other dogs or humans but here we make sure they remain as comfortable as they would be at home. We provide them a separate space where they can roam around freely, with the basic, minimal interaction as they would prefer and let them feel at home in their own space.

I would describe a day at Petspace as : A place where I come to work and get greeted by lovely doggies all jumping their way to make me smile and feel loved ; followed by bonding with them, making sure they are well taken care of and have no inhibitions being here or being in their comfort zone (as they would be at home).

Just to add that there have been dogs who have come out of their shell and have become free spirits and have improved their interaction with other dogs over a period of time . So much to these Happy souls !!!!

Praveena Sanjay

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