Roshni's story, told by Minna:
I've fairly recently moved to Hyderabad from Finland and seen a multitude of street dogs around the neighbourhood. They sparked an interest in me as I've been without a dog for almost a year now. I had to let my last dog go to greener hunting grounds in October last year and I still miss him. Anyway, my husband and I have been keeping half an eye on the streets for a couple of months now for a puppy we could adopt, without luck. Once I found this blog, I of course went clickety-click on the adoption links there and stumbled on a post about puppies for adoption in Hyderabad. One girl was still there, and the next day we brought her home.
She is 3-5 months old and is very sweet and gentle, and quite vocal when she wants attention. She hasn't been handled very much, as she goes into a very submissive pose whenever she's touched - hopefully we can change that with time. She enjoys her belly rubs and scritches thoroughly though once she gets over the initial timidness. After much thought, we've decided to name her Roshni.
This picture was taken 15 minutes after we got home.
This one was a few hours afterwards, with her in her fort - (aka bed - she refused to set foot out of it for hours, probably because she wasn't allowed in the house in her first home).
This one is Roshni in her fort again on the second day, with some of the treasures the little thief had dragged there. She seems to like flipflops a lot, as we keep finding out. Actually, anything that isn't nailed down or on a table eventually ends up in her bed.
She's a bit timid at times and doesn't really look forward to being picked up, but she doesn't try to wriggle out of it either. During the evenings she gets hyperactive and wants to play and bark and run around like she's on speed. She gets away with it for a while, until I decide enough is enough and catch her for some cuddle therapy. Meaning she gets bundled up in my arms and we lie down on the bed, she gets kisses, scritches and belly rubs and we get some peace and quiet!
Text and photos: Minna Lintu
Hyderabad
Text and photos: Minna Lintu
Hyderabad
10 comments:
Congratulations on finding your new dog! I found mine the same way .. through this site. I wasn't even looking for a second dog but when I read about him, his story melt my heart. :)
I wish you all the joy and new adventures with Roshni.
This is one of those few days when I have that rare feeling of being useful :-) Thank goodness for all the wonderful discerning people who adopt Indis.
Minna, I would like to say congratulations to you and I wish you the all best in raising this new and wonderful member of your family. But, I beg you, beg you, BEG YOU, when it is time for you to return back to your country, PLEASE take Roshni back with you!!! While I was in India for 3 years, I rescued TWO indian street puppies from Hyderabad, a brother and a sister that I have named Rico and Lucky, and I am proud to say that when the time came for me to return back to America 9 months ago, I also brought back my two four-legged children with me. There was alot of paperwork to do and arrangements to be made with Lufthansa airlines. If you need to know the name of the BEST vet office in ALL of Hyderabad, it is Dr. Lakshmi Ramana whose office is on Banjara Hills Road #4. When the time came for me to begin the offical government paperwork for the export of my 2 dogs, Dr. Lakshmi was without a doubt, a true expert, AND a supporting docotor that works in her office is the one that is in CHARGE of the exporting of animals at the Shamshabad Aiport. Get in touch with them. The reason why I beg you to take your dog back with you is because for the 3 years I spent in Hyderabad, I had seen MANY foreigners "adopt" street dogs and bring them into their homes, YET when the time came for themselves to return back to their own countries, these dogs were LEFT BEHIND with no one to care for them. Yes, you have done a great thing to bring this dog in, but I pray that you see to the care of her when it is time for you to go home. Remember, Karma follows everyone.
Sincerely,
Gino Santistevan - San Francisco, CA USA
PS. I am writing you this note, watching a movie in my living room, and while my two Hyderabadi dogs are happily sleeping on both sides of me.
What a sweet dog:)
Gino, nice to hear from you and glad to know Rico and Lucky are happily settled there! Minna did mention in her email that she would take Roshni with her. How sad to hear that people actually dump their dogs when they leave! I didn't know that. ALL the people who've contacted me over the past 3 years have been devoted to their pets and taken a huge amount of trouble, and spent a lot of money taking them home.
I have every intention to take her with me to Finland, assuming I am actually going back =P Also there's a minor problem called "rabies free Finland" which means I will have to figure out how to get a blood sample to an approved lab in Europe before even thinking of how to arrange her flight. Blood sample has to be taken after she has been microchipped before her last rabies vaccination. Lots of afters and befores there lol.. I hope that made some sense to someone else than me.
Thank you for the tip about a good vet, will certainly look into it when it's time :)
What comes to people dumping their pets when they become inconvenient, sadly that's a worldwide issue. They see a cute puppy or a cute kitten, their kids want a pet and voila, they have one. Once it grows bigger, possibly has never been trained, they move or something else happens - dump it. It seems the mentality is "it's just an animal". Makes me see red at the mere thought.
Anyway.. will not rant about something I can do little about so will give the latest updates on little miss Roshni.
She's learning to "sit" and "come here" - the first with more success than the latter, as she has automatically started sitting the moment she sees a treat. She's absolutely not thrilled at being on a leash, but with some patience we manage. Treats don't work outside yet, as she's terrified of the traffic, poor thing. So we have to find quiet streets to walk her on if we want to get anywhere. She has her own bed, but for some mysterious reason she sleeps in ours.
She's currently curled up on a mattress next to the computer table. Utterly sweet :)
Oh she's abandoned her "fort?" :-)
She's such a sweetie.
Kimaya learned "sit" by watching Lalee, but I bungled something in my commands and muddled up the "come here" and "sit" totally. Now I have to call "Kimaya sit," which will bring her racing up and doing a perfect sit in front of me. She expects a biscuit because that's how I taught her, but when I give it to her she spits it out. That is one dog who never follows the script :-) My old girl Puppy was terrible with the leash at first and would just dig her feet in and stand like a statue. Then I started carrying a biscuit and showing it to her from time to time and feeding her pieces of it. She accepted the leash beautifully after that. I also house-trained her by giving her a treat immediately after she made puddles outside. I don't know if that's a good habit but it's the only thing that worked! She's a greedy girl and the best way to teach her things is with food, like Kung fu Panda.
June Basar had the same problems with getting blood sample to an EU approved lab, when she took her dog Picolo to Denmark. It's complex but can be done. There's another Indi in Denmark, Randi Lildballe's Otto, and one in Helsinki too. I'm sure all these owners will be happy to guide you when the time comes.
Minna, I know two Indian dogs in here in Finland and if you need any advice just let me know. I can give you their contacts. It's expensive but not impossible to bring a dog from India. Anyway, these people know all the details.
Hello again :)
Nope, she has definitely not abandoned her fort - she uses it as an alibi whenever she's done something she shouldn't have. She hears the "no" and sprints off to her fort and lies down and gives me a look that says "what? I haven't set foot out of here!". Also she still carries all her treasures to it for vigorous destroying. She seems to enjoy empty toilet paper rolls the most.. at least they go to a good use, even if it means there are bits and pieces everywhere afterwards xD
I've had a tiny bit of luck taking pictures of her, will send you an email once I have a handful of reasonably decent ones :)
Roshni is absolutely adorable!!! Mina, Congratulations on your new pet. Gino- our family brought our street dog from Bhubaneswar to San Diego, CA almost a year ago. I'm in San Francsico frequently and would love to come and meet Rico and Lucky.
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