[swiftnfurious]

My friend in Mumbai is looking for a pet dog and I suggested him to pick one that may be up for adoption. If any of you come across a pet dog for adoption, please do quote me.

To give a background, he bought a lab pup which was just 60 days old and the poor thing died 2-3 days back after getting infected. He was treated by a good vet, but couldn't hold on. My friend was quite dejected, but he is a lot more knowledgeable (thanks to the doc who treated the pup + some of us also gave him some additional info).

It was quite evident that heartless business minds had parted the baby from it's mother quite early and since I hate such pure money minded business, I suggested my friend to go the adoption way (and not buy "pets") and he is convinced.

Originally Posted by shashanka

....Our earlier pair (Darth & Daisy)...

It's lovely to see all the pics and the captions in those.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

My friend in Mumbai is looking for a pet dog and I suggested him to pick one that may be up for adoption. If any of you come across a pet dog for adoption, please do quote me.

To give a background, he bought a lab pup which was just 60 days old and the poor thing died 2-3 days back after getting infected. He was treated by a good vet, but couldn't hold on. My friend was quite dejected, but he is a lot more knowledgeable (thanks to the doc who treated the pup + some of us also gave him some additional info).
...

Unless your friend has the infrastructure to look after dogs full time, discourage him from getting a pet, especially hyperactive dog like Labrador. What a large dog needs is
. Walk twice a day, preferably thrice. For a large dog 3-4 km/day.
. Balanced diet. Ensure that the dog does not over eat (Labs are famous for eating upto thrice their daily intake at a time). That means some one to cook and serve the meals in time.
. Regular visits to the Vet, at least the first five years for vaccination and general checkup.
. Daily grooming and checking for Ticks and Mites. If you lapse then once the dog is heavily infested it will be extremely difficult to get rid of the parasites, as they would have spread all across the house.
. Regular baths if the weather is hot.

In short a lot of time has to be devoted to a pet. I have seen people getting a dog and after the initial euphoria of getting a new member has evaporated, the dog is neglected. If you get one, be prepared to give the dog time, as kids and wife will avoid regular responsibility involved.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

.............It's lovely to see all the pics and the captions in those.

Thank you, @swiftnfurious! Yes, I must confess that we (my wife & I) lead dog-centric lives. They have given us more devotion, joy & happiness than we

have any right to expect. And we try, in our own way, to reciprocate the best we can. We feel sorry for your friend and his loss, but what @Aroy has said in

his post above, makes good sense. I assume your friend lives in Mumbai and if (like the vast majority of us) he lives in an apartment, then that restricts his

choices. It maybe prudent if he goes for one of the smaller breeds (a pug, e.g.). We tried keeping our first pair of boxers (we have stuck to one breed, since

we are quite convinced that nothing else comes close!) in our Mumbai flat. And despite taking them twice a day to the nearest open space to give them

sufficient exercise - like I said, nothing else comes close to a boxer's hyper-active athleticism & sense of boisterous fun - we realized in a couple of months

that this wouldn't do. So we shifted them to our Lucknow home, where they (& their successors) have lived happily since.

I wish your friend all the best in his search for a pet.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

My friend in Mumbai is looking for a pet dog and I suggested him to pick one that may be up for adoption. If any of you come across a pet dog for adoption, please do quote me.

Had it been Bangalore I could've helped. As Aroy has said already.. if your friend is living in a flat then a Labrador will not be too happy in it. I myself have seen Labradors in flats but they need a lot of exercise.. a km or 2 of walking at the very least and/or playing fetch etc. They will also require high-quality food like Eukanuba/Royal Canin to maintain health. Labs develop knee problems when in old age specially if they haven't had a healthy happy life. Its also essential to control their diet as they tend to put on too much weight otherwise, which is bad for them.

Adoption is the way to go, breeding is an evil industry and there is no love in it at all. If one is keeping a dog, budget also should not be an issue.. for example Pedigree might seem like a good choice for food but in reality it has only 30-35% actual proteins in them per kilogram, rest are corn-filler. You need better brands as I mentioned above which are about twice the price but have 70-75% proteins, have ingredients to improve their skin and clean the teeth. Also one must NOT tie the dog up unless its being taken for a walk, they are as human by emotion as we are. I saw many episodes of Dog-Whisperer in NatGeo, its hosted by a famous dog trainer Cesar Millan and according to him any dog behaviour problem is either because they haven't received the 3 essentials - discipline, food & affection in that order.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jby0OQyv_I8

All pet owners must watch this guy in action.

[swiftnfurious]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I'll pass all these back to my friend too. He lives in an apartment & I did tell him about the diet & exercise & also the overweight part about a lab.

What other breeds would you guys suggest other than a pug?

[vamsi.kona]

Another heart wrenching tale of cruelty towards animals. This time it is even more barbaric that I didn't look at the video myself. just read it in the news.

I don't know where we as a race are heading when even boys can show such cruelty

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-...wiekd9Z1J.html

[centaur]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

My friend in Mumbai is looking for a pet dog and I suggested him to pick one that may be up for adoption. If any of you come across a pet dog for adoption, please do quote me.

A very very noble way to go. If he is okay with it, I would suggest you to ask him to take in an Indie pup or one of the stray puppies. They are extremely strong in terms of health and can easily survive in our conditions. I know of certain groups which organize pet adoption camps of dewormed and healthy pups in Mumbai. Also there are plenty of facebook groups/pages where even abandoned pets like labs, GSDs, Indies etc are put up for adoptions from foster care. Please do ask him to search on FB and I am sure he will be flooded up with options.

PM if need any specific pointers because I am a part of many groups as I am somewhat involved in animal welfare. I did be more than glad to help if a poor animal will find a loving home.

Just a suggestion - one another option he can try for sometime is fostering a pet. Many times, rescued and abandoned pets need a foster home till they get adopted. Apart from that some people look for fosters when they are going out of station and for some reason cannot take the pet along. There are volunteers who will help him understand how the pets need to be taken care of including feeding, exercise etc. That will make him more confident as well in case he doesnt have any past experience of having pets.

Originally Posted by vamsi.kona

Another heart wrenching tale of cruelty towards animals. This time it is even more barbaric that I didn't look at the video myself. just read it in the news.

I don't know where we as a race are heading when even boys can show such cruelty

These are low lives who cant really make much out of their lives anyway and they remove this frustration on the poor animals. Even if its an animal I feel a lose of life should be treated equivalent to a murder/homicide of the animal and the laws should be equally applicable. Its only then that this can reduce. There are a few states as well where they wanted to cull all the dogs. How insensitive and stupid is that?

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Thank you for all the suggestions. I'll pass all these back to my friend too. He lives in an apartment & I did tell him about the diet & exercise & also the overweight part about a lab. What other breeds would you guys suggest other than a pug?

Frankly, I wouldn't want to go out on a limb about apartment-friendly dogs. But among the few that we know who seem to be happy in their environment I'd say the Lhasa Apso seems to thrive with moderate exercise. As do Basset Hounds, Dachshunds & the smaller terriers (Cairn & Border). The Pomeranian too is very popular, but with inbreeding being rampant, it is a chance one should be prepared to take.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by vamsi.kona

Another heart wrenching tale of cruelty towards animals. This time it is even more barbaric that I didn't look at the video myself. just read it in the news.

I don't know where we as a race are heading when even boys can show such cruelty

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-...wiekd9Z1J.html

Its high time they start changing our laws. An animal who draws pleasure from cries of puppies is not fit for our society. Today it was those poor pups and tomorrow it would be a human. Such low lives have no right to move around freely in our society.

[ruchirtnt]

Let me present to you a very uncommon and a royal breed - South african mastiff popularly known as Boerboel

[ruchirtnt]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

I don't know where they are who has them. I am sure some TBHPian will have some more info on this (I would like that info as well please)

Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram

This one is indeed "Pakistani Bully kutta" which also goes by the name of bully kutta, indian mastiff but they all are same. they are large breed dogs and their ears are often cropped to give a fierce look. they are mostly used in dog fights and are often made aggressive.

[narendra.vw]

Sharing mine with pride.

[Asta_la_vista]

Sharing with pride my son's pic!!

When I first bought him home


When he was 6 months old


When he was 8 months old


Present (2.5 yrs old)


We call him Max!!

Cheers

Prasanth Krishnan

[nareshov]

Here's our tiger:



3.5 months vs. probably a month.

[nick17s]

Guys this is Bruno.

He will be 1 year this October. Got him when he was just a month old.