We did not realise it, but our last post was our hundredth!
A Hundred already? Now, that certainly calls for some celebration!
When we set out to blog, we never actually fully appreciated the vastness of the blogosphere or the expansive realm of knowledge, friendship, fun, comradeship and responsibility that blogging encompasses.
We started tentatively initially. We were sharing Mummy’s blog, just posting a few posts of our own now and then in between Mummy’s regular musings.
Little did we imagine that the tables were about to turn soon!!
The idea of a blog all to ourselves had already been there in our minds for some time, when one day Mummy stumbled into the amazing world of ‘Doggie Blogging’. It was a whole new world, an entire universe by itself.
Mummy believes that a Dog has so much to share, so much to give, so many stories to tell. To add to that we are two very adventurous, gregarious labradawgs always full of energy and new life and everyone here agrees that it would be a shame if our stories were to go untold.
So ‘Pawprints in the Sands of Time’ was born.
Amongst our earliest friends were Lola, Bookerman and Asa, Rudy, Anna, Sugar, Dozer & Coop, Mango, KT and Lady, Teddy bear and Sierra, Chewy, Scottie and Khyra.
Through their blogs we ventured forward into this amazing world and the rest, of course, is history!
We can never be grateful or thankful enough for the wonderful friends we have found over time. It isn’t possible to mention everyone, but we would like to say a huge ‘THANK YOU” to each and every one of our friends, followers and visitors.
‘Pawprints…..’ is what it is because of you all.
We think this is the best time to pass on these awards that we were given by our friends ROO and HERO. It has been quite some time now since we were awarded, but we haven’t officially acknowledged it.
So here goes…
Thanks HERO & ROO for thinking of us. We love you. And we would like to pass on these awards you had given us to all our lovely Bloggie friends as our HUNDREDTH-POST gift.
Please accept these as our token of love and appreciation.
We are, today, all the more aware of the different cultures, foods, histories across the world thanks to blogging. We have learned about the habits, health problems and personality traits of different breeds of kitties and Doggies and we feel our feelings of compassion, comradeship and empathy towards our less fortunate anipals are stronger today.
That is the reason we would like to dedicate today’s blog to our homeless Indian Dogs.
There are hundreds and thousands of them on the streets everywhere, braving the torrential monsoon rain, scorching summer heat, the bitter winter chill.
In India, there aren’t enough shelters that take in healthy street dogs. There is a no-kill policy due to which the shelters only take in limited numbers of animals, with preference given to injured animals.
The rest are left to fend for themselves on the streets.
Though there is a law about sterilization, it hasn’t been very successful due to lack of initiative. Most pawple are content with blaming the authorities and often chasing pack of strays away from their neighbourhood.
Small groups of compassionate people do sometimes come together to initiate a sterilization and vaccination drive and make sure the group of strays in their colony lead a comfortable life.
There is a law about provision for a small clearing in each colony where dog-lovers can come and feed the strays.
But unfortunately not many pawple are aware of it and sadly, the numbers of people who protest are aplenty.
We, on our part, try to share a part of our food with strays that live around here.
Of late, we have befriended a handsome, young fellow who must be about 4/5 months old.
He is of a very pleasant disposition, always wagging at us as we drive by.
He knows our car and everyday follows us home whenever we are back from our outings. He seems to be extremely intelligent, very gentle and friendly.
Mummy tried teaching him a few things and he has already learned to sit, down and roll-over!!
We always ask to play with him but Mummy wouldn’t allow us because he is, poor boy, ridden with ticks and fleas.
But the other day she did relent and we played a little. And of course we came back with a lot of those parasites that we all fear. Daddy had a hard time cleaning us up.
(Look at him holding the bag to stop it from slipping!)this makes Mummy really, really happy!
Our hearts go out to our street-friend. We desperately want to bring him home and make him a part of our family. But Mummy says it is just not possible now. For one, he is not house-broken which means he will be messy around the house and with Mummy and Daddy working full-time, there wouldn’t be anyone to clean up after him.
This wouldn’t do at all; we are very, very fussy about cleanliness. Besides he has been on the streets since birth which means he is in all likelihood carrying a lot of intestinal parasites . It wouldn’t be fair to let us get infected too, would it now?
We tried to find a help who might take care of him while Mum & Dad are gone but no one is willing to clean up puppy-poop.
So our little buddy isn’t coming home to live with us which we feel is rather sad.
But there is some consolation in the fact that he gets to sleep in the basement of an apartment house a few houses away. At least we know he gets some food there too and is protected from the sun and rain.
There are many more like him, at least five of them who live close by, but he is the friendliest of them all.
The Indian Veterinary Association is trying to implement a beautiful idea called ‘Leash one, Teach one’.
It goes to say, for each dog you have at home, try and adopt one stray on the street. Feed it, love it and help it in whatever small way you can, even if it is just letting him rest under your car to escape the rain and the sun.
We may not be able to bring them all home but we can make some difference in their lives.
We want ‘Pawprints…..’ to be the voice of these unfortunate homeless Indian dogs.
We are at an early stage and we do not have much support now.
But we hope to find like-minded people who wouldn’t mind spending a little time to help those dogs or help shelters, even if it is only in kind.
We believe that even a tiny group of pawple working for them can make a lot of difference and we blogging doggies only know this so well. We have read about many amazing acts of kindness that have changed so many lives.
One day, soon we hope, we want to bring home a stray. A girl preferable, Mummy says, so that we can prevent many generations of unwanted, neglected puppies from being born to live on the streets.
Phew!
That was certainly very long and we are tired. Thanks for staying with us till the end. We love you all and hope we shall be forever friends,
Wags,
, 
