..........................................................................................welcome back!

I was told by the vet that dijo's diet would be cerelac & lactogen for at least 6months. Every 2hrs he has to be fed like he would have from his mother. I became his surrogate mother, giving him the regular feed, vitamins and sponge.

A wonderful experience of an un-wed mother!

The whole family bondage got rejuvinated and concentration shifted wholly to the kid!
My mother's pressure reduced - the success of pet therapy was evident from the very start. My activities became more constructive - spend my spare time with dijo and not the "idiot box".

I started reading about "caring for pups" and learnt the nuances.

There are few points one has to be careful before adapting a pet:

1. Choose a breed as per the size of your home - bigger the size of the dog, bigger the space they need to grow healthily because one thing is for sure - once a pup is not always a cuddly pup! The best family dogs are Retrievrs but they need some extra care.
2. In India, the climate being normally hot it is advisable to keep short coated dogs, long coated dogs like Lhasha, Golden Retriever need special treatment.
3. Do not chain pets as you wouldn't your child - they tend to grow aggressive and always let children play with pets at home - it is internationally proven to be the best way for a child to grow as a responsible & caring adult. It is also a proven fact that pets are the most successful alternative treatment for people with heart disease, cancer, depression.
4. Do not adapt pets if you feel that in the long run they are a burden - you cribb that you cant go out! Always have the future palnned when you paln to get pets. Once Dijo came in our family we made it a point not to leave him alone even for a day - that is not a sacrifice by compulsion but by choice which you need to measure with the happiness you get out of the pet.
5. Pets are not for fashion - they are living beings like us with a brain and wonderful heart which "gives more than it gets" - something we should learn from them.

With my strong convictions and belief, I developed and grew with Dijo. I could feel at every step that I was turning into a new person - more responsible, caring, sharing. It was no more "me" but "us".

........................................................................................................be with me.............

dijo

It was a sultry day. The date 13th May. The year 1996. A day in my life if measured in scale would record the highest excitement level - even after 10 years goosebuds appear thinking of that day.

The journey in the auto itself seemed long and winding. We reached our destination - mother, me, my friend and our guide. It was a modest looking house with a big garden.

There were three dogs who welcomed us - two Golden Retrievers and one GSD............and four pups!

My love for animals specially dogs was from a very early age. All these years I have been yearning for a companion - man's best friend! My prayers got answered only when I could convince my parents that I was responsible enough to take care of a "life" - that also when I was in college! Now I understand why parents can never grow off the thought of thinking that their child is always a child!

I succeded!!

di - diya

jo - joyeeta(my friend)

DIJO was born for me! A Golden Retriever pup!

Life's meaning always changes when you cease to live just for yourself (new mothers will second my thoughts) and live for someone else. A reckless becomes responsible, a careless becomes careful - no wonder parents always think of marriage when children go astray!!

...............................................................................................................come back next week......