Articles by Sindhoor Pangal

It’s been a while since my last post. I have been travelling with a friend. My friend owns a grooming salon for dogs and she was participating in a contest. I went with her for moral support. What’s life without friends, right? The same holds true for dogs as well, as Tigger’s story will demonstrate. In November last year, I got involved with an animal welfare organization called Precious Paws Foundation (PPF). As part of my involvement I fostered a puppy called Rackles. Rackles stayed with us for a few weeks and soon found a home. Rackles became Mishka in…

In my last blog, I wrote about how dogs are survivors. Ever so often I am reminded of this by remarkable stories around me. One such story is of Raja and Vasudev. Vasudev meets Raja...for the first time When we all first saw a picture of Raja on the internet it was hard to watch the picture. When I heard of someone adopting him I reached out to that man and thanked him. Thus started a friendship with a unique man and a very unique dog. Both have made a huge impression on me. The love they share is one…

I have been terribly busy this month. I have a wee pup at home who is taking over all my time. I have been visiting CUPA during weekdays to work with troubled dogs there. One of the days, just as I was finishing my work, the guys at the shelter were standing around a little black mound and discussing how to transport that mound. I had arrived in a car and offered to do the honours. The mound turned out to be a listless little pup – the smallest pup I have ever seen. I gingerly picked up the pup…

As part of my “bite series”, I want to focus on the beginning – where it all starts. So, are dogs born biters or do they become biters? Do they learn to bite as they grow or are they born biters who learn not to bite? This question is a bit twisted. It’s like asking if a human learns to grasp another’s hand and break it or if a human is born with that knowledge. Most humans are born with opposable thumbs. They do have innate ability to grasp that they quickly learn to use in different situations. Depending on…

My post for this month is late. As expected, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I have been hit by writers block. But that’s not the only thing that was bound to happen sooner or later. I also got bit by a dog! A little introspection revealed to me that the bite was the reason for the block. I consider the season between Diwali and New Years to be one big party season. Time for merriment and in my mind, there is no merriment without food. So I wanted to write about food. But the dog bite did…

I am off for Diwali. Every year, we chose to spend Diwali in the lap of nature and pass up on the revelry in the city. This suits us and our dogs best. But for those of you who are going to be in the thick of all the celebrations, it is time to remember that Diwali is potentially a very stressful time for dogs. In my last two posts I wrote about the effects of stress on your dogs and how your dog may express it. Today, before I take off, I want to leave you with some tips…

In my last post I spoke of what stress is. In this post I want to describe how a dog could react under stress. We have often heard of the “flight or fight” response to fear or stress. In dogs there are actually, at least 4 responses to fear – Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fiddle. In this blog I want to describe each of these. Flight: This is the easiest response to recognise as fear. We see a dog running away, with it’s tail tucked between it’s legs and we know it’s fear. During Diwali, it’s not unheard of for…

Diwali is almost upon us and as most of us are aware, dogs’ stress levels shoot through the roof during this period. So this month I am going to dig deep into all my education that had to do with stress in dogs and put forth every bit of information that might help you help your dogs. To handle stress, we first need to understand stress. Obviously, the first question is “What is stress?” In very simple terms, it’s the body’s mechanism to cope with danger. This mechanism is activated either when danger is perceived or even anticipated. Hence, even…

In my previous post I wrote about sleep. So I think it makes sense that this blog is about the things a dog does during her waking hours. Like last week, I am reaching out to some good ol’ wisdom “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Well, frankly all play and no work does not, in most cases, do Jack too much good either. When it comes to our Fido, it’s pretty much the same. So is there a concept of “work” for dogs. Well…I am not talking about finding an income source using our dogs.…

Last night, I lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. Nishi and Tigger, my dogs, were curled up with me. I had been away for a month, getting my dog training education in Norway, from one of the leading experts in canine communication – Turid Rugaas. Ever since I got back from Norway, they are sticking close to me. As Nishi’s head pushed against my neck, I could feel her twitching and making tiny whimpering noises. She sounded afraid. I wondered what she was dreaming of. I went through all the things she had done during the day and wondered…