K-9 World

Now, this is what I call LIVING!!

2008-01-25T16:39:00.000+05:30

Prateek Mittal, a 21-year-old student of dental surgery from Anand, is one of the few people I really envy. He is not just any other K-9 lover. He has 22 dogs in all and this figure is likely to grow. His army of dogs include a Great Dane, a St Bernard, a Shar pei, Labradors, Pugs, a Neapolitan Mastiff along with others, some of them shown in the picture above.

In a recent Dog Show his dogs won 11 awards, with Tarzen, the St Bernard getting the top three prizes. Few of his dogs have been imported along with some really hefty price tags. The most precious dog in his den is the St Bernard, which was imported all the way from Switzerland for Rs 1,10,000. The Great Dane came from Russia with a price tag of Rs 80,000. The Shar pei was bought from Italy for Rs. 45,000. Along with the prices which can literally burn a hole in one's pocket, Prateek spends over Rs. 15,000 per month over the maintenance of his dogs. His love for animals doesn't end at dogs. He also has 30-40 parrots and more than 100 fishes.

I'd really give anything to be in his shoes.

Things to learn from Dogs :)

2008-01-21T14:44:00.000+05:30

Got this in a forward some days back. Makes a perfect post :)

Be like a dog and,

- Never pass up the opportunity to go for a ride

- Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy

- When loved ones come home, always run to greet them

- When it's in your best interest, practice obedience

- Let others know when they've invaded your territory

- Take naps and stretch before rising

- Run, romp and play daily

- Eat with gusto and enthusiasm

- If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it

- When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently

- Thrive on attention and let people touch you

- Avoid biting when a simple growl will do

- On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree

- When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body

- No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout...run right back and make friends

- Bond with your pack

- Delight in the simple joy of a long walk

K-9s on Facebook

2008-01-10T14:22:00.000+05:30

YES!!! I finally figured out what to do with the many dog pictures I have on my mobile (I just love my phone). I made an album and uploaded all of them on Facebook :). Here is the link, Facebook Album.

It has pictures of pups I've come across recently, some being from Gurgaon, some from the IIM-A canteen & some just seen on the streets.

Hopefully, this is just Part I of many more doggie albums to come :)

Ibow

2008-01-08T16:44:00.001+05:30

Meet Ibow!!
A one and a half year old pure breed Pug. Sahil (the guy in the red t-shirt), my best friend and Ibow's owner (lucky bug*er) has been after me to write a post about Ibow since I first met him. Finally!! here it is.

I had heard so much about Pugs (especially after the Hutch ads. I don't know why people fail to remember Frank, the Pug in Men in Black 1 & 2) but never actually got a chance to meet one. Ibow was the first pug I ever met. Our first meeting took place around an year ago and it became a memorable one. Ibow came in front of us wearing a bandanna (an american flag) on his neck and boy did he look dashing ;). I had heard and read that Pugs have less stamina and they get tired very early. The very obvious reason being the face features, the small nose and a few other medical terms for which to refered to Wikipedia. All these facts were immediately refuted when I saw Ibow for the first time. Though out the hour I was there, the little bandanna clad dog didn't stop even for a second. Imagine this, a square room, 2 sofas, a lot of empty space and a small dog going round and round the room continuously. He kept climbing the sofas, getting off, then running and then back on the sofa again. They get tired early? NO WAY!! This guy wasn't ready to stop. Sahil & I got tired trying to catch him in that room. Eventually, when we gave up and sat down, the clever rascal stopped,barked and teasingly came and settled in Sahil's lap. Unfortunately, time was short and so the first interaction had me and Sahil running around the room to catch him. Just 7 months old, his presence was felt all around the house. Numerous torn clothes, many shredded mattresses and pillows, few tattered cushions, one blown football and 5 action figures, all clearly depicted his teething terror.

I had a chance to visit Ibow several times after our first meeting and every meet turned to be better than the previous one. However, the last 2 were really memorable ones. The second to last meeting (when i took this pic) was a month back and apparently it was when he was having some breathing problems. However, those problems weren't enough to stop him from giving us a chase this time too. We were 4 people this time and still Ibow managed to outrun all of us. The circus, which went on for about an hour, this time in the garden also had a prop, a football! A new one, cause evidently he managed to bite the crap out of the old one in a very short time. So when the running and chasing stopped, it was time to play ball! Ibow, who was one year and 3 months old now had a great time chasing the ball as Sahil & I kept passing it back and forth. Right from the time he made us run behind him till the moment we left we could constantly hear his snorts and 'reverse sneezes' (a problem all Pugs generally suffer from, Wikipedia yet again). The sounds we could hear were really scary but clearly failed to stop him from being his usual self.

I visited him again last night with Sahil and 2 other friends. The moment we entered the gate, Ibow, who was sitting on the swing and resting on his paws(at the exact spot where I am in this pic) popped his head up like a guard dog to check who had just entered. The '2 other friends' were girls and as soon as they saw Ibow's reaction, the "aww! hez soo cute!!" chants started. They didn't end till the time I finally dropped them off. The 1/1 and a half hour spent with him yesterday didn't tire us cause apparently he was quite busy playing with the 2 girls this time. Sahil and I kept whistling, clapping, running, throwing the ball around, making noises & every other action we could do to attract him but all our efforts were in vain. He was having a ball with the chicks evidently, so much so that he quite easily ignored his owner and his blogger :(. Something good did come out of it though. I managed to get a lot of info on Ibow from Sahil's aunt. She told me lots of interesting stories about him. Some being that their mattress guy has surrendered and is not ready to mend any of their mattresses and that Ibow managed to tear Sahil's grandma's saree yet again, 10th one this time, also that they also found a huge stash of protein sticks in the back end of their garden, obviously buried by Ibow to savor them for a later time and that Ibow now has a girlfriend, a female pug called Pugli (still can't stop laughing. Yesterday's visit ended with the girls having had a great time cuddling and playing with him, Sahil getting frustrated and I getting a lot of matter for my post.

Ibow recently went for a competition and managed to win in all but one category. He scored marks that made Sahil very proud (much more than what Sahil scores in his exams) in every category except discipline, for which he got 0. All of this was enough to make Sahil realize that teaching him tricks or training him is seriously out of the question. Born on the 1st of July, 2007, this one and a half year old pug is undoubtedly a must-see/visit/play-with dog. I wish I could be in Sahil's shoes sometimes and really envy him for having such a great dog, but he is always kind enough to give me a 'no limit' play time every time I get a chance to visit Ibow. Its just immense fun to play with him. Just imagine a small, compact, hyper-active, wrinkled face cute creature trying to lick your nose every time you go near and you'll know what I'm talking about :)

Max a.k.a Maximus

2007-11-03T20:45:00.000+05:30

Meet Max!!
A 2 year old pure breed Labrador. Max is by far the most hyperactive dog I've ever come across.

He lives across one of my friend's house, a massive penthouse I might add, which obviously is a prerequisite for keeping such a big dog. I first met him when he was around 6 months old. A very cute little pup at that time. Cute but wild. He has always been like that. Dogs usually cause a lot of havoc when they are teething, this guy caused a catastrophe whenever he was around. Right from sandals to shoes, magazines, sofas, pillow covers, A bean bag (not the one in the pic) and even a plastic mug. All these things became casualties to his cute & innocent play time. And all this happened when he was 6 months old. So you can imagine what would be the extent of damage of his current play times. One thing that can certainly be added to the long list of casualties is a kurta. A long knee-length, saffron, khadi kurta, which just by luck belonged to me, and the kurta was from FabIndia I might add. This happened a month ago when I was at my friend's place. I forced her to call him in cause I really wanted to play with him. Despite of all her warnings I sorta trusted my old assumption that dogs really love me a lot. And I wasn't wrong, all he was trying to do was to play with me cause I had one of his toys in my hand. Innocent little Max jumped on me, bearing his claws right into my kurta and the rest, I really like to forget that part of the day. But what I do remember is that I had a great time with him.

In the picture on the right, he does seem to be doing what we generally call obeying commands, lie down is the one shown here. Surprisingly he followed it this time and that also only because Amishi had a biscuit in her hand. He gets visited by his trainer every Thursday and his trainer has been really doing a pathetic job. He doesn't follow any thing you tell him to. The life story of Max is that he lives in this huge freaking 5 room penthouse and for the entire day he is with the caretaker of the house, who is a very very old lady. I can take a fair guess that his hyper-activeness mite just be cause of that reason. Still, full credit to his owners for keeping him in such a good shape and maintaining him so well.
Hyper-active, wild, dis-obedient but really loving, playful and affectionate at the same time. In all, a great dog, one with whom anyone can have a lot of fun, amidst all catastrophes and one I'd love to have as a pet any day, anytime.

Going to Amishi's place I really look forward to meeting him and playing with him, even more than meeting her ;). Its always an adventure being with him. Just imagine a fully grown, really heavy, very fury and very loving dog trying to put his paws on your shoulders and you'll know what I'm talking about :)