"OhMyDog!"


That's what I said to a friend one day while chatting on Gtalk. I was telling her about how I wanted to start a dog sitting business and she showed me a picture of a really cute mutt! Call it a typo or some kind of luck, That's what I decided to call my dog sitting business. Gone were the ideas of Doggy Daze, Puppy-dog Tales, Guddog and No Barking. I printed out banners, spammed friends begging them to spam all the people they knew, advertised it at Vet clinics and Pet stores including Glenands on Church Street.
That's when I met Hercules. Yeah the lil rascal on the wicker chair is him. 6 months old and already almost a pony, he is a cross between a Bloodhound and a Great Dane. His owner Ridhima, was really apprehensive about leaving him at home with me while she attended her kids School Day function. Apparently he had a habit of tearing, chewing,breaking or spilling anything he could if left alone at home. Of course the fact that he is still a puppy and not a dog completely skipped her mind...

I promised to take good care of him and train him as best I can and we bid her goodbye at the gate together. Once I knew she was nowhere in a 20 feet radius of us, I started playing with Hercules. The nutty pooch jumped on me and knocked me to the ground in 10 seconds flat! We then found an old football in the garden and kicked it about in our own version of tackle football. Fairly tired out after that, we both guzzled down tonnes of water and sat down to watch a little TV.

At about 6 or so in the evening, Hercules decided he was hungry and started chewing on my toes. For fear of friendly amputation of toes, I hunted around for his food. Turns out that since he IS called Hercules, his food has to be kept well out of reach. Short person that I am, I had to climb on a chair to reach thee cupboard and get out his puppy meal. Pedigree Vegetables and rice, with a boiled egg and Soy nuggets put in a really cute bowl(or should I call it tub) with separate sections for each item. The tub(!) was big enough to fit a fully grown daschund in it! Once his meal was ready I was pleased to find him sitting patiently across the room waiting. I patted his head and said "good dog. yes!" but he wouldn't eat. I went up to him and knelt in front of him and he offered me his paw. That's when I realized that just because my dog at home waits for the command "good dog, yes!" doesn't mean all dogs work that way... I shook his hand and watched him literally Inhale his food... I wondered if he had ever learnt the word CHEW or if all food went straight from the bowl to his stomach completely bypassing his teeth! I took him for a short walk just outside the house after he ate and made sure he didn't mess the house up.
Once we got back, I found him guzzling water yet again... I guess the nutty puppy needs the fluids. We then decided to sunbathe together while he snoozed and I read my novel. Finally, Hercules decided that he was not grateful enough and slobbered all over my face and hands, just in time for Ridhima to come back and be knocked to the ground just as I was earlier that day. She was fascinated at how clean the house was and how happy Hercules appeared that she paid me Rs.550 for a lil under 2 hours when I charge 200 per hour or per session. OhMyDog! was on its way...
The next day she sent me an email which she CCd to all her friends with dogs. Very soon, I had a request to sit another dog- an Irish setter called Ruby. But that's another story for another day! remembering that session still makes me Dog tired!