That puppy in the window!

All the posts labelled That puppy in the window! are dedicated to the dogs who are worse-off due our mistakes, intentional or not!  Being a new pet owner myself and having learnt some very harsh lessons, I feel obligated to share them with you.
So you decided to get a pet? A puppy or a kitten possibly. Is your mind conjuring up a “cute” puppy??


How would you go about it? Would you just go to that shop near your house and get one? Or ask around for a  person who sells puppies and pick one? Or would you check for puppies online and find breeders in your city that sell pups?



In India atleast, from what I have seen there are 3 major factors that determine this choice – Breed, looks & price!

Let us quickly review these criteria:

Breed – Often, too little thought is put into the breed of the dog. Breed is often selected based on size and appearance. The importance of choosing the right breed cannot be discussed in this one post but heres a quick summary – at the very least you, need to think of the following when you are choosing the breed of your dog:

1. Do you want a working dog?
2. How big is your house, how much yard space can you give your dog?
3. How big do you want your dog to be; saw its mom? 
4. How much exercise does your dog need daily? Can you provide it?
5. Are the the weather conditions in your city suitable for the breed?  
6. Would you want dog to be a guard dog?
7. What will you do if the dog gets too big and powerful to handle? 
8. Are you a lap-dog person?
9. Are you willing to put up with a dog that sheds hair?
10. Do you want a "show dog"?

Although it should not be the deciding factor, take a breed selector quiz online, it’ll give you an idea of the factors that the choice of breed should be based on!

Appearance – possibly the most misleading criteria. Like they say appearances can be deceptive; but in this case, it can not only be deceptive but potentially quite disturbing for both you and the dog  if you base your choice solely or mainly on the appearance. Consider these things when you are considering getting a puppy thats “cute”.

1. How was this puppy bred? Did the breeder test the parents for genetic defects and health before breeding? Or is he/ she a backyard breeder? Genetic issues like Degenerative Myelopathy can show up later in life and be very painful for both the dog and you!
2. Is the puppy registered? Are the parents registered? In India, the puppy (if coming from a responsible breeder) will mostly be registered with the Kennel Club of India! Pure-bred dogs will usually have their pedigree on the Pedigree Database!
3. Is the puppy socialised? Is the breeder aware of puppy imprinting?
4. Does the puppy confirm to the breed standard? Does the puppy’s mom confirm to the standard?
5. How did the breeder choose the two dogs for breeding?

In India, where the dog industry is actually quite undeveloped for the most part, you may find that the breeder has no idea what you are talking about when you ask these questions. If you are buying from a family who keeps dogs and doesnt bother with the above, I’m not saying it is bad. I’m just saying you should be aware and prepared for the issues the puppy may have! Our two puppies were bought from a puppy mill, only we didn’t know it then. It doesnt make the happiness our dogs bring us any less, we love them just the same. But we all need to be aware. The other thing that goes into  this decision is – for every puppy we buy intentionally from a puppy mill for whatever reason, we are endorsing the practice. Do we want to do that?

Price – Price is important, not just the price of the puppy but also the cost of maintaining it. Do your homework on the probable expenses of every kind – food, vaccinations, vet visits, medical emergencies, kennels or yard fencing, etc. Regarding the price of purchasing the dog,  the lower a dog/ puppy is priced by a seller, the harder you need to inquire why! I’ll leave it to you to figure this one out! :)

Image Source - http://www.alegoo.com

It depends! Does it?

For some reason, I really resent it when people, especially at workplace say "It depends!" with an air of knowing!  

What does that mean anyway? It doesn't in the least answer what you are asking. For example, the other day, we asked someone does a door-to-door health intervention (spraying anti-malarial insecticides on walls of houses) - How many houses do you cover in a day? 

"It depends" came the answer.

"On what?" I persisted!

"On many things like the size of the houses, the number of rooms, the type of walls, etc".

This type of an answer helps no one. But sadly, lots of people talk like this!

He couldve simply said " Around 10-20, depending on the type of houses".

I really don't get why people cloud things - why they settle for being ambiguous and obscure where they can be a little more objective and say something concrete. Its almost as it is either:

1. They don't know

2. They don't want to tell you

3. They want to make it seem like its something complex when it is not. 

4. Its too big a load on their brain to think about it and come up with an answer. 

Hello again !

So its been more than a year since I last posted! I usually post only when I have something to say. The past year has been very eventful with a lot of changes. Among the HUGE changes are:

1. I quit my job, the job I simply LOVED :(
2. I got MARRIED  :)

3. I moved to Ghana

4. I FINALLY have dogs - Yes, 2 lovely dogs called Bruno & Cherry!

While writing this post, I felt like pouring out everything on my mind and all the things Ive been thinking over this year, but fortunately decided against it. Nope, they'll be told in separate well-put-together posts and not a jumble of confused emotions! :)

Dole up!

My maid's family went to the local MLA to invite him for her daughter's wedding. He was not personally known to them or anything, it was just courtesy. He said he wont be able to come but gave them Rs. 3000/-. It seems anyone in their community who went to his house with a problem or difficulty would be helped the same way...Nice.... right? Why wouldnt they vote for him? And on the other hand, no commercial transactions above Rs. 50 lakhs can be carried out in the city without giving a commission to the "authorities"...

Really, the mass and the scale of corruption in our country is so huge that attempting to tackle it is more expensive for us than what we lose to the corruption!

The window!

Couldnt help writing about this....So first my dad sends me and my sister the following email:

This is a beautiful presentation of India.  Pl go through.

And attached was a presentation that can be read at

shikshanaakash.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/india_2.pps

And then my sis replies to me (thankfully not to Dad)

The very first sentence "India has never known slavery" reveals how we selectively pick facts that support our view that India is the best.  Who does these stupid presentations? We need to stop praising our past and acknowledge our present problems!!!!!And any attempt to say this will immediately label you unpatriotic and a bad person. Sigh sigh SIGH

Might is right?

I am sure we all have had our experiences with unreasonable landlords. I didnt realise there was an other side to it. The other day I was telling my parents that they had under-quoted the rent for a flat they owned and I asked them to revise it. They seemed reluctant to do so, despite the going-rate being slightly higher. At first, I thought they were just trying to avoid the hassle of searching for another suitable tenant but there seemed to be more.

Mom: See, we've chosen the medium-risk-medium return option.
Me: What?
Mom: We could let it out to someone at a higher price, but the more their ability to pay, the higher the chances that they'll create trouble for us.
Me: Its your house ma, if they create trouble, just throw them out!
Mom: What if they dont go?
Me: What?
Mom: They may refuse to leave.
Me: So? Evict them!
Mom: What if we cant?
Me: !
Mom: See, even here, high returns come with a high risk.
Me (not willing to understand): Whatever!

As if on cue, a friend told me the same day about having trouble evicting a tenant who hadnt paid even a day's rent. Why? He was in the Police, and they didnt want to take him on!

Its not that my parents are not well-connected or dont know the right people; they just prefer to not deal with such things, which is something I will never understand. 

Anyways, to me, all this is just another reason not to buy a house :)

Ex-pectations!

I think ex-boyfriends/ girlfriends are the worst baggage you can carry. They're never quite out of your mind and you hate the fact that they even exist. I hear about people being good friends with their ex-es but its never happened for me. Sure, we are amicable and civil but theres something that just doesnt go away.

I debated about whether or not to write about this weird exchange of messages I recently had. So this guy and I used to go out around 4-5 years ago. Hes married to someone else now and we've hardly talked since. We were friends on Facebook but I noticed him adding and deleting me continuously. I would invite him/ receive an invite from him, just to get deleted the next day.

Finally I got sick of being jerked around and decided to tell him off. The conversation below gives the gist of our discussion, though I dont remember the exact words.

Me: Dude, am sick & tired of your adding and deleting my name from your friends list. I dont know why you keep doing it - lets just not remain friends on FB or anywhere else ok??? I wont invite u and u too dont - we've better things to do.

He: Mind your business.

Me: Yeah, you too. Duplitious Creep!

He: Excuse me? Duplitious, what are you then?

I didnt deign to reply.

He: Listen here, you invited me, so dont blame me for adding you. I deleted you. There ends the story!

Me: Congratulations! You managed to come up with a story that is even lamer than you are. Wasnt it you who invited me the last time with a dumb "Veeeeeeeeee"? Anyways, I am tired of your pathetic games, so stay out of my face. Goodbye!

He: Yeah, right...goodbye!

Well, the good thing is we wont talk again, ever!