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It’s funny how me and my rehabilitated stray, Mishka, work. She’s not really a pet, but rather a friend of mine. Sometimes not even a friend when she becomes afraid, instinctively acting on impulse to flee from humans. At times, Mishka loves me. Other times, she seems to forget me. One minute she’ll be there for me. Other times, she resorts back to her past ways. It’s slow progress and Mishka tends to bounce off of my moods. When I’m down, lacking patience and understanding with her, the results are terrible. Yet things always work out, we muddle through and try again another day. There’s always tomorrow.

Mishka is a gentle soul, but her past makes her difficult to understand and she occasionally makes sporadic bad decisions. I see these as a direct result from her traumatic past, which has left behind bad memories and fears. Often, she will run when approached by one dog, yet play eagerly with another. She might bark fearfully at an approaching stranger, yet want all the fuss in the world from another. She is fine with fireworks, something many dogs fear, yet petrified by the sound of a gun being fired. Her reactions are bewildering to decipher! Cows she barks at, horses she runs from, sheep she herds, some cats she’ll chase, while others she adores.

I guess it’s fair to say that all dogs have their quirks, faults and fears. However, some dogs can seem human-like, with their fear behaviours almost overriding their canine instincts. In a way, we can see this in a positive light, as while it’s not always a good thing to see our dog as another human in the family, looking at how we conquer our fears can help us understand what our canine pal needs from us to guide them away from their unwanted safety behaviours, and towards a happier way of living. Imagine being faced with your biggest fear. Say it’s heights and you’re being asked to climb up a tall tower. You’re scared, but the more you fight going up, the more you get yelled at for not moving. Nobody is helping you, you feel anxious and eventually, the need to get away takes over and you try to flee the situation. Now imagine being called up the tower with gentle words of encouragement, a reward on offer and perhaps someone nearby to climb alongside you. Feels better, huh? You might not achieve the goal of climbing to the top entirely, but you’d certainly feel more comfortable trying, right? It’s the same for dogs. Mishka works well with force-free training and it can be a great way of bonding with a fearful dog. There are many ways in which we can take force-free action to help our dogs, but all require understanding and often, unfortunately, a great deal of patience! Fears can develop quickly and take a lot longer to overcome. One bad experience can scar a dog’s mind for life. Slow, steady introduction of a fear into a dog’s life, known as exposure training, can be extremely beneficial in improving a dog’s quality of life and will, as a result, lead to a happier dog and a happier owner. For example, a dog afraid of people needs a staged introduction to a wide range of people, beginning with who they find least scary, say children, to the most scary, perhaps a very tall or large adult. This training, of course, must be taken out with precautions as a scared dog can be an aggressive dog. There is a high risk of injury if safety is not regulated throughout the entirety of exposure training sessions. All work should be planned and carried out with the support of a professional and every session should be adjusted according to the dog’s current mood and needs. Much like humans, dogs will have good and bad mood days, and those bad days could make for detrimental results if training should go ahead.

As well as exposure training, a method that works well with some dogs is reward based training. Dogs just love to please, and for a reward, even better. Rewards lead to a positive association with a subject or an event, encouraging them to respond in the same manner on the next encounter. Eventually, a dog may completely overcome the fear of something just from repetitively learning that the subject or event was nothing to be afraid of. In fact, it also meant being given a nice treat.

A dog may become unruly and excited if expecting a treat every time, and though we want the dog unafraid, we also want to see normal behaviour, rather than too much excitement. Random reward, on occasions that the dog behaves well during exposure to a fear, will leave the dog eager to act similarly in its presence at all times as he will learn that a reward may be on the cards. Mix up the treats too, as it all adds to the lottery of excitement in our dog’s mind. Dogs, after all, love a good game.

An important aspect to consider, and one which I mention time and time again, is patience. It is so important that we consider our own situation before trying to work with a dog in need. Feeling well rested, optimistic and confident before training will ensure that we stand the best chance of a successful session. Never begin a session if feeling tense, stressed, angry or negative, as the dog will no doubt pick up on this and the session could end badly for both of you. Always end a session with a big reward, such as treats, favourite toys, cuddles, whatever your dog loves most, to thank them for trying so hard.

Helping your dog through bad behaviours born of fear can be extremely challenging. However, in the long run, it will be totally rewarding and will see you and your dog building an unbreakable bond. Many people struggle and often, heartbreakingly, have to re-home troubled hounds. This is not the end of the world should it happen to you, as rescue dogs can and do find new forever homes. However, please don’t feel you are incapable of helping your troubled hound before trying your very best to work through their difficult behaviours. Don’t give up hope, as one bad day isn’t the end. Stop, take a step back, understand your dog and try again another day. Maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow is a new day.

We came across the svelte and sophisticated Soesanti Oeij while surfing the internet one day for our daily fun diet, which almost always means rib-tickling dog videos. We saw this young and petite woman trying to feed not one, but seven Alaskan Malamutes and getting overpowered by the furry giants in the process. It was scary and funny at the same time. No wonder the video featuring the textile tycoon from Bandung, capital of West Java province in Indonesia, who also dabbles in villa rentals, amassed nearly 60,000 views online in no time. Oeij says, “It’s always a struggle giving them snacks or food at the same time. They always show the same level of energy every time I feed them. A lot of time they jump up and can push me real hard.” In the video you can see the bunch of excited dogs jumping around their feeder as if she’s one of the pack. Although it seems like quite a struggle for Oeij to keep up with them, it’s clear they don’t mean any harm to her. She says most people love to watch her feed the pack of, hold your breath, 13 Malamutes, and they get shocked by the scene as well! It’s no different when she takes them out for a walk with the giant puppers literally blocking the entire width of the street. “People are really amazed to see so many huge dogs together. When I walk them, I have to make sure the area is safe enough for everyone and there are no dogs or stray cats around,” she says, adding, “Nowadays because of Covid-19, many people come walking near our area, so it’s pretty hard to take them for a walk myself. I can only do it after work and I know many people come walking with their dogs too in the afternoon. It’s not safe enough. So I ask my caretakers to walk them at 5.30am everyday.”

Talking about her youtube video where she can be seen taking seven-eight of them together for a walk, Oeij says her caretakers help her in clearing the area first. “Only when it is safe, then I walk them out. They usually pull during the first 10 minutes of the walk, afterwards they are fine and relaxed walking with me,” she explains. Ask her how she manages the high-energy dogs on a daily basis, particularly all 13 of them in one house, and she says, “I keep them in three separate houses and I’ve also hired four dog caretakers to help me take care of them as I’m very busy during weekdays. But I still feed them myself. I spend a lot of time with them as well, especially on the weekend.” Oeij says all her houses are pretty spacious, so there’s never a crunch for more room. “One house is about 5,000 sqm, while another one is 1,700 sqm. The third is about 1,000 sqm and all of them have big garden areas as we stay in a hilly area,” she informs. “The weather is pleasant throughout the year between 18-28 degrees, so the dogs also feel comfortable and adjust well,” she adds. Oeij says as a kid, she always wanted a dog of her own but never planned to have so many. “I just had the first one named Puffy. That’s why I named my Instagram account as puffywolfpack. It was actually my daughter who insisted on getting a Malamute. So we got Puffy from a petshop downtown, Then I got another one and another until they were six in all. Then I started breeding, so finally I have 13 altogether. We used to have 14, but unfortunately one died due to blood parasites a year ago,” she says. But why only Alaskan Malamutes? “I really love their fluffy hair and cute faces and their characters as well. They are really friendly to people,” she informs, adding, she grew up in a multi-dog household full of different breeds, like collies, mini pinscher, and toy poodle. Since Mals are pack animals, Oeij says Hugo is the leader at one house, while Puffy is the leader at another house. Talking about their food, she says Malamutes should do well on high-quality dog food. “I feed them a mix of both dog food and home prepared food such as rice, meat, chicken, vegetables, eggs etc. I also give them milk, some snacks, vegetables such as carrot and long beans,” she says. But is there any time they leave her alone to do her own thing? “Yes, they stay in the garden, while I stay inside the house. Sometimes, I do let them play inside, but for just a while because their fur is flying everywhere,” she chuckles. Oeij says there are conflicts of interest among the packs and all isn’t well in the Peaceable Paws kingdom. “It’s mainly among the males. Like Hugo always growls at Goyard and Alfa, and Puffy can’t get along with any other male at all. That’s a big headache for me. So I’m forced to keep Truffle in the front garden, while Puffy is sent at the back, which he doesn’t like and feels left out and jealous and starts growling at everyone at home. So I talk to him, hug him, kiss him, play with him, spend time with him, and he is fine again,” she says. “He is very softhearted and needs more attention than the other dogs. Basically, I can say I give more attention to some who have behavioral challenges.” They also need to keep an eye on every male while they are playing in the garden. “I can say there’s a lot of drama among them actually. When a female is in heat, the drama only gets worse. Thank God, all the three houses are located in the same area, so I can arrange and rearrange their stay during such times,” she says. Oeij is happy that no dog has ever mutineed. “No, they are all fine. Except that the males have a bad habit to pee wherever they like. It’s annoying. I get angry with them. They seem to understand, they are afraid when I’m angry. But they repeat again,” she laughs. 

Any tips on running a multi-dog household harmoniously? “Basically, they are just like humans…they want you to hug, kiss, talk to them, spend time with them. You also need to understand their characters, each of them. So you will learn how to handle them,” she says. “I always make sure that every one of them is happy. That’s why I let them play in the garden from morning until 7. I keep them at the kennel for about 15 minutes during mealtime only. Then in the evening during bedtime. So the whole day they meet people, play and run around. They are happy.”

Pet lovers everywhere know that paying tribute to your furry friends can be the ultimate way to show how much you love your four-legged companions. No wonder some of Instagram and Facebook’s most-followed accounts actually belong to animals. Meet Mumbaikar Meghna Amonkar, who helps you take your love for your four-legged to a different level altogether. She   works with you to capture your pet’s personality to deliver a completely bespoke work of art! The pet-traits, as she prefers to call her work, start at Rs 8,000 and come in three sizes (8×11 in, 16×24 in, and 25×36 in). They are based on photographs of your pet and lovingly created into stunning artworks. “Pet-traits was born out of a passion for drawing and a love for animals,” says Meghna. “I’ve grown up in a family of dog lovers and got my first dog, a small Lhasa (who I believed was a lion) when I was 8.” When it was time to choose a career, however, she took up the science stream because she wanted to become a vet. “When I was in Class XI, I visited the animal hospital and could not bear to see the plight of so many sick animals. I cried for days and felt that I was not strong enough to handle it as a career. I completed my 12th, but decided to switch to Fine Arts as nothing else interested me. In 1996, I graduated from Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai, after completing a Diploma in Applied Art.” Talking of her professional journey, she says right after college, she landed her first job with Tata Interactive Systems (an eLearing company that was a part of the Tata group) as a visualiser.

“I found the idea of working in a digital medium very exciting. My journey in the corporate world began there and continued for 22 years till I reached the position of VP Communication Design,” she informs, adding, “I loved every minute of my long and satisfying career, but felt that I needed a new challenge. By then Taco, a rescued Indie, had entered into my life. We adopted Taco when he was five months old. He has challenged me and taught me so much; not just how to be a pet parent, but also how to slow down and be more patient in general.” She says Taco does not trust humans easily (with good reason) but gets along extremely well with other dogs, especially other Indies. “Because of him I started spending a lot of time with the community dogs around our place, observing them, understanding their unique personalities, their pack dynamics, their body language and just how much they communicate without saying a word,” Meghna tells us. “My love for animals had grown greatly because of him. I took a week off from work to figure out what to do next. My family was not in town so I had a lot of time to analyse and reflect. With some SWOT analysis techniques and a lot of soul searching, I decided that I had to do something that combined my two passions and that’s how Pet-traits was born.” She credits her husband, Nikhil, for always standing rock solid behind her for everything she decided to do. She says, “He supported me completely even when I was having second thoughts. I was going to give up a well paying job to go into a completely uncharted territory with no real preparation. I had graduated with illustration as my major subject in college, but that was decades ago and I had never worked as an illustrator in my professional life.” Meghna submitted her resignation with nothing other than an idea and the domain name ‘pet-traitsonline’. “One week after my resignation, while I was serving my notice period, I spent a Saturday afternoon painting a watercolour of my muse Taco. That was my first pet portrait and it gave me the assurance that I still had it in me,” she informs. Now, she’s close to the half-century mark. “Each one is unique and close to my heart,” she says. “Each portrait, or pet-trait as I like to call them, has given me the opportunity to get to know a new animal… look deep into their soul. I don’t feel satisfied till I capture its personality, that special look in the eyes that is unique only to that animal. I feel privileged.” Her claim to fame, however, remains the pet-raits of the Bombay House dogs. “In August 2018, when I read an article about the kennel especially created for the dogs sheltered at Bombay House, I did something impulsive and wrote a heartfelt letter to Mr Ratan Tata thanking him for everything he did for the streeties. I had also heard about the animal care hospital that the Tata Group was building and expressed my desire to be associated with the initiative if they felt that my skills could be of any use,” she recollects.

“I never expected a reply, but got one saying that they would reach out to me if there was an opportunity. A few months after I launched Pet-traits, I reached out to them again and got a chance to meet with Shantanu Naidu, who was managing the animal care hospital project. That’s when the idea of the Dogs of Bombay House series came up.” Meghna says she felt that the Bombay House dogs, especially Goa (who was already a poster boy in his own right) would be perfect to spread the message of ‘adopt, don’t shop’. “I spent a few hours taking pictures of and getting to know the Bombay House pack. Shantanu and his colleagues also spent time patiently answering my questions about each of the dogs which helped me decide on how to compose the portraits,” she says. “The highlight of this was when Mr Tata agreed to visit Starbucks to see my series! That was a dream come true and a memory that I will treasure for the rest of my life. He even signed my portrait of Goa. Someday, I hope to auction it and donate all the proceeds to an animal NGO.”

Prior to lockdown, we often took life’s simple pleasures for granted and forgot to take time out to appreciate such matters. Since lockdown, many of us have experienced anxiety, fear and also, negative thoughts of ourselves, lacking the confidence and motivation it takes to rebuild our previous lives back to their normal state. Our canine companions, however, see the world as ‘a glass half full’, optimistic and ever ready for new adventures. Maybe it’s naivete…They do not, after all, understand the current crisis and did not see the widespread panic we witnessed, the numbers of fatalities as a direct result of the 2020 pandemic. Much in the same way as infants, the minds of our pets have been, though not consciously as with children, shielded from the bad news which has had such a big impact on the minds of adults. They do though sense the change I’m sure. Mishka began showing signs of anxiety at the peak of lockdown as our routine had changed entirely and also, with the unsettling living arrangements during the moving process. She did, however, as dogs often easily do, adapt quickly to the new routine and surroundings. This is perhaps how we must become too, during such unpredictable times, to best cope with situations. I have indeed taken this onboard as a learning curve, trying to remain optimistic and positive even in the most difficult times. I watch dogs often when out and their behaviour and communication with other canines is a whole world away from ours and we really should consider adapting this into our own ways of perceiving the world around us. I’m not saying let’s play chase in the park and bark with our friends…Just learn from our dogs…Appreciate the simple pleasures that life has to offer. Positive mental attitude towards your outlook on life as it is…For now and for the future…And with our dogs forever by our sides.

I am Deeya Choudhary, 22, born and raised in Bhopal. I am a filmmaker, artist, and entrepreneur. I manage two agencies of my own – Soch Films and Publicity, where we produce films and ads, and Deeya Solutions which is engaged in digital marketing and website development work. I am also the president of an NGO, Ayaan Welfare Society, where we actively engage in animal welfare and women empowerment initiatives. Apart from that I have recently started my online store where I sell my designs printed on a variety of products. 

I live with my parents, my grand-mother who travels to and fro between India and the US every six months, my fiancé Shasham, along with three house helps, and of course our nine fur babies. We have a split-storey house, which means every half floor has a room or a hall, which now seems to be a bummer because there is only one big hall on the ground floor, and then stairs and rooms. There is enough space in our driveway and on the terrace for the dogs to move around and play freely. Three out of the nine are labradors – mother, father and daughter. The father, Yuvraj, suffers from hip dysplasia, which means he should not be climbing stairs a lot. For that we have a dog door on the ground floor, so that none of them climb the stairs., since I’m also concerned about the daughter, Miha, who could get it from her father genetically, although she is almost four years old now and shows no red signals, but better safe than sorry. So yes, there is enough space, but of course, any amount seems less when you have nine furries on the move.

We have always had dogs in our house, my parents and their parents, all of them are pet lovers. There has been no time in my life when there wasn’t a  dog in our house. Having said that, we always have one or two, and even though my parents are dog lovers themselves, nine dogs can get on their nerves sometimes. We work hard to manage things in a way where both the dogs and the humans are happy. 

It all started in 2013, when I gifted my boyfriend, who’s now my fiancé, an adopted lab puppy who we named Rihana. She was our baby and she travelled everywhere with us. Shasham also rented a new apartment because his previous place was not dog-friendly. Then one day while I was going somewhere, I saw two huge stray dogs fighting and tugging over a small puppy. I pulled over and saved her from them and took her to the doctor. She had a wound, which was the size of almost her entire body, and she was weak and unwell. I took her to Shasham’s place and we placed her in an empty room with food, water and a bed. She didn’t sleep and kept crying, so Shasham took her to his room and comforted her and massaged her to sleep. She sleeps in his lap, or near his neck ever since. Rihana and Miley became best friends. When we took them for their vaccination, we saw a lab puppy being shown to some customers in that pet shop and we fell in love with him. We sat there for almost an hour and played with him, which meant us massaging and rubbing him because he was so lazy. We came back home, but we could not get him out of our heads. We kept reminding each other the practical reasons for not getting him, but we just could not hold ourselves. Four hours after we first saw him, we went back and got him. And that is how in three months, we went from zero to three dogs, no fixed income, and not so friendly landlord. The first few months were manageable. The problem started when we were not able to take them for proper walks, and the flat was on the 5th floor, which gave them no place to pee and poop when we were out. Me and Shasham washed the entire house every evening. The area was such that we could not find a house help, and with them growing up, the neighbors became an issue. So Shasham decided to shift. We found a house very close to my house, which has a small garden, a driveway and was overall really huge. Life became a little better. Then again, the neighbours. We were handling them but they became a bigger trouble everyday. One of Shasham’s friends fell in love with Rihana and took her with him. It was really difficult for her but we figured it was for her own good since his house has a huge huge garden which Rihana loved. Shasham eventually had to move out of that house, so Yuvraj and Miley shifted to my place. We had a Lhasa-Apso and a Persian cat. They adjusted quickly and were way more happier than before with humans being around 24/7, and since Shasham also came by everyday, they were not missing him either. We always kept in touch with Rihana and visited her often, and almost every other day saw her pictures which the friend sent. After a few months, the friend started ghosting on us, was not sending pictures, and kept ignoring Shasham’s call. We tried for two weeks after which Shasham lost his cool and confronted him. Turns out he had given her away to someone in Indore. We forced him to get her back and the next day she came back by bus with a dirty jute rope around her and she was weak and scared. We got her home. My father saw her and said let’s just keep her and she should not go through more trauma. It took us a month to get her fear out, and to get her skin infections treated. We pampered her so much that she is now a brat. Then Rihana gave birth to her first litter, all adorable and healthy puppies, except one who had a skin infection on her back, which the doctor said was due to the deep-rooted skin infections that Rihana had earlier. So that baby got extra love and care since we were constantly cleaning her, applying meds and taking her out in the sun. At seven weeks old, it was time for them to go. I tried my best to find them homes, but failed and ultimately gave them to a trusted pet store who had agreed to take them all. A few hours after I left  them at the store, however, I got a call from the owner who  said that one of them was not eating and seemed ill. I rushed back and it was her, the one that had the infection. They were trying to feed her all sorts of things, and she rejected everything. As soon as I reached, she was jumping on me. I picked her up and she grabbed my neck with her paws and just did not let go. I sat there, tried to feed her, play with her, but she just did not let go of me. I brought her home, and four years later, she is still with us. And to tell you, she was not ill at all. As soon as she reached home, she was running and jumping and eating like no one’s business. So for three years, this was our family – Candy (the Apso), Miley, Yuvraj and Rihana. Last year in September, one of my friends saw a puppy stuck in a hole. He jumped in to get her out and gave her to me. I went to Shasham with a puppy face and he said okay. My plan was to keep her in our other house which is just a few houses away from our house, where all of our help and their families live. But she got attached to me and more than that I got attached to her. I was going through a bad phase myself and she just became my healer. So then there were six. And then in March this year, Miley gave birth to three fur balls. She is an Indie and she should have been spayed, but because of some medical conditions, we could not. The three babies were obviously very cute and adorable, because of which I kept away from them. I knew I would fall in love with them. My grandmother had already found homes for them, her relatives who live in a nearby city. They were supposed to leave when they were six weeks old, and then 2020 happened. We could not travel because of the lockdown for weeks, and during those weeks, I started spending time with them. As they grew up, they started moving around more parts of the house and my self-control failed. So yeah, they ended up not going either.