..........................................................................................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.............