Mumbai INDog-mix pups need good homes

Remember Max and Cleo? Their photos appeared here in an adoption appeal on 30 November 2007. They are still being looked after by Charu Shah. They are one year old now and both need good homes. The black and white dog is Cleo, and the handsome white one with light brown patches is Max.

Cleo had puppies on January 30. They will need homes soon. They are all females, except for one white male. If you'd like to adopt any of them, or Max or Cleo, please write to
at-shahcharu76@yahoo.com

Rick and Spike

Rick and Spike are of the same litter. They have been together since they were born. The darker one is Spike and the light golden one is Rick.

I've read in many books that when two pups are adopted at the same time, they have to be fed in different rooms as there is competition for food between them. I tried doing this but it was not possible. They are both just inseparable. They need to see each other while having their food. Even if their bowls are kept in different rooms they drag them to each other and eat together. They exchange bowls at frequent intervals.

Once Spike had caught some viral infection and the vet suggested that we keep them in separate rooms while sleeping, so I kept Spike in my room and locked the door. Rick was made to sleep in my brother's room. I never thought it would be so difficult to separate them! The whole night Rick sat outside my room and cried to come in. I couldn't sleep, but also couldn't bring him in for fear of him getting the virus. In the morning when I opened the door the sight was worth seeing. Rick came running to Spike and they licked each other. The next night when they slept together they were very happy. Spike actually hugged Rick tight!

Both of them are bird lovers. They like watching birds fly. Every time they see a pigeon or crow they wag their tails and try to go to them. But my poor kids cant fly !!! (I've attached a picture of them while they were watching birds in the sky).


Prerana Sawant
Thane, Maharashtra







Rick and Spike were adopted from Charu Shah, who had posted their puppy pictures and adoption appeal here and elsewhere. Great to know these two got such a nice home!

Rajashree

INDog-mix pups for adoption, Mumbai

These six pups and their mother have been abandoned by their owner. The mother is hospitalized due to an injury. The pups are around a month old and adorably cute. The pictures hardly do them justice as they wouldn't stay still!!! They really could do with a nice and loving family and home. If you or any other people you know in Mumbai are interested, please contact me on +91-9920251603 or Mrs. Shobhana Pant on +91-9324665565/29203505.





Mukund Pant
Mumbai

New York INDogs - watch the movie!

Our NYC Club members Leela and India meet every Saturday to play. Watch the fun in this lovely video made by India's owner Caroline Walker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVyv_5LYz78

Who's the top dog?

Gorgeous pictures of Aditya Panda's INDog Robin bullying his other dog, the rottweiler Rex. Size obviously doesn't matter here!
































Photos: Aditya Panda, Bhubaneshwar

Tommy and gang

Manik Godbole sent these photos of Tommy, Chinky and Blacky playing on her terrace. They look great together - all with different coloured coats.








































Photos: Manik Godbole, Mumbai

Some natural remedies

It is now common knowledge that we can find remedies for various disorders right in our kitchens and gardens. Not surprisingly, there are many natural and home remedies for our pets as well.

The following ones have all been tried and tested by the dog owners who recommend them.

Please don’t use these in place of medication, treat them as supplements only. Also remember, things you may know of that are good for us are not necessarily good for our pets – dogs are a different species from us after all.

If you have tried and liked anything that is not in this list, do share it with us. Write to me on rajashree.khalap@gmail.com, or else post a comment here.

Constipation

Vishala Suvarna (Mumbai) recommends aloe vera gel, taken fresh from the plant. Give about one tablespoon daily. (Her own mix-breed dog Bobby was given this daily, for most of the 21 years of his life!)

My recommendation is okra (bhindi). For a regular sized INDog (13 – 18 kg) take about 5 bhindis, chop them into small pieces and boil in about half a cup of water for 15 minutes. The water will reduce and become brown and sticky with the juice from the okra. Add this to the dog’s food. You can remove the okra pieces if you like. In my experience most dogs (and many cats too) accept this addition to their food without fuss. If not, you can always force-feed it with a syringe.

Dry and itchy skin

Supriya Dasgupta (Bangalore) suggested two remedies:

“For dry skin, and itching I use the fresh gel from home grown aloe vera plant leaves. I break off a bit of the cactus leaf and split it in half, the gel being contained inside the thick leathery leaf. I just squeeze out the gel directly onto the affected part. It is an excellent moisturizer for really dry skin. My dog who has a host of skin rashes and runs into those ugly scaly patches on her rump and back thighs, seems to benefit when aloe vera gel is directly applied.

I also use coconut oil or sesame (til) oil on the dog's body as regularly as possible, though she licks off the oil – it’s tasty!”

Yvonne de Kock (New York City) applies neem oil on her dog’s occasional mange patches. She recommends the doggiesparadise site as a good place to order neem products (if you live outside India, of course).

Last year Lalee got itchy skin during the monsoon and scratched herself till she'd made little bleeding cuts on her skin. I applied a mix of crushed camphor, turmeric (haldi) and coconut oil all over her body. I kept her muzzled and tied up for 30 minutes, then bathed her with Margo soap (a very good neem soap). She stopped scratching immediately after this bath.

Parasites – intestinal worms

A few drops of fresh neem juice daily, for about five consecutive days every month, will help keep your dog worm-free. Crush the leaves till the juice comes out. I think half a teaspoon for a medium-sized INDog is enough. This is going to be very bitter, so perhaps you should mix it with something sweet and then force-feed it.

Lalitha of Adopt-a-Stray has something very interesting to share about neem: “Neem is awesome for deworming. Here is the wonderful thing about neem though...it doesn’t kill worms/parasites...it sterilizes them, so they cannot multiply. And it weakens them. Actually, neem is wonderful for fleas too. Unfortunately, because of the way neem operates, a flea will live through its cycle even though it cannot lay eggs any more. Any eggs that have already been laid will also hatch. So a natural way to deal with fleas is to treat them with methods like combing/diatomaceous earth to get the existing fleas and eggs off the dogs/cats. I am guessing it will work for ticks too.”

I supplement conventional deworming with one tablespoon raw carrot grated and mixed in food daily. You can also add one teaspoon of crushed/powdered pumpkin seeds (not the mix of four or five seeds most grocers keep – pumpkin seeds only). This provides roughage to push worms and eggs out of the intestines.

I’ve also tried fresh pomegranate juice for a cat – I’m mentioning it here because it may help dogs as well. I gave the cat about 5 ml daily, so for a dog I guess you could try 10 or 15 ml. Either the pink pomegranate or the paler one will do, though the paler one is said to have more medicinal value, for humans at least.

I know of one case in which wood apple (called bael in Bengal and elsewhere in India) helped a dog to throw out all her worms. We don’t get this fruit in Mumbai but it is well known in many parts of India and considered very good for the digestion, though it doesn’t taste too nice. Like many other kids in the north and eastern part of the country, throughout childhood I was made to drink a glass of Bael juice daily in summer. I have absolutely no idea whether it is generally suitable for dogs, but I do remember our servant giving it to our dog Elsa when worms were seen in her faeces. She instantly vomited (many kids would tell you that bael juice makes them feel the same way)! But the good thing is her worms all came out.

Conjunctivitis/eye irritation

Lalee had a very persistent problem with red, runny eyes. It seemed like an allergic reaction to something outdoors. She would come back from her walk with her eyes streaming, and visits to our seaside house always made it much worse. Finally she actually developed conjunctivitis, with inflamed eyelids covering most of the pupil. In addition to her medication, I started washing her eyes with tea water (I mean tea cooled and strained, obviously with nothing added to it!) It’s worked wonders and she looks quite normal now.

INDogs on the Martha Stewart Show!

Great news - our beautiful NYC members Leela and India appeared on the Martha Stewart Dog Show on February 7, 2008 - an episode which focussed on dog adoption.

Watch Leela wow the audience with her good looks and one of her yoga asanas! Click here to see the show. On the right of the screen, click on "Play entire show."

High time the media in India put the spotlight on this gorgeous native breed...

Coco, all dressed up

Two year old INDog Coco recently became a member of the Club. He lives in Mumbai with his owner Rochelle Vaz.