Dogs are Love!

It was Feb 2020. COVID was still a largely unknown concept in India. I was sitting in my Study, and a thought struck me. Why don’t I have a dog? Yup! That was exactly when I decided to get a dog. I asked Akash (my flatmate) about it. He was also quite intrigued by my suggestion and told me to look for it on Facebook. I created a dummy account, searched for dogs, looked around, and even messaged a few people. It was clear that I want a small dog and he/she must be cute. No scary big dogs.

How we got Casper!

The next day, I had college. During the lunch break, I again logged in to the FB with that dummy account and found that I had got some replies. I showed them to Rashmi and she was honestly unimpressed. She suggested that I should go for a Pomeranian, as they are small and cute. So, I searched for Poms that were available near us.

By 3 pm, I found one. It was cute. Very cute indeed. I called the guy. He confirmed that it was available. It was a male. I asked some questions regarding the dog’s health and stuff. Answers were satisfiable. In an hour or so, I and Rashmi agreed that we should take it. I asked Akash and he affirmed too.

So, I again called that ‘dog’ guy. And, as fate would have it, he did not answer. I tried again. Still, no answer. That was bad. I was very excited to get that doggy. We waited for a while in our apartment, and called again, still, no answer. Dusk was about to fall.

We knew the city where the ‘dog’ guy resided. Akash suggested that we should leave for the guy’s place, and he will probably pick up the call when we will be on our way. So, we left our apartment for his place. He thankfully picked up my call and agreed to give us the dog, that very day. We were elated.

We agreed to meet in a market. Now, it was just a matter of another 20-30 minutes and I had my dog. We have named him – Casper. It has been more than 1.5 years since I got him and he is a real cutie.

Dogs are amazing.

You can talk with them just about anything, and they never backbite. When you return home from work/college, they are the ones who show the highest excitement. Casper does this thing with his ears when I return home after a while. He drops them down, then starts hugging my legs, or moving around me in circles. He continues this for literally 10-15 minutes. So, that’s quite a welcome I get.

You never feel alone when a dog is around, and your privacy also stays intact. Unless I mess with Caspie, he just keeps sleeping near me. And whenever I feel lonely or bored, I can always play with him. Dogs, especially the cute ones, can attract eyeballs when you go out for a walk with them.

People with dogs have lower blood pressure and are less likely to develop heart disease – just playing with dogs has been shown to elevate oxytocin and dopamine, creating positive feelings and bonding for both the person and their pet.¹https://nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/February-2018/How-Dogs-Can-Help-with-Depression

So, in conclusion, dogs are amazing, and you should have one.