One of the best things about working for dogs is that you get to interact with a lot of dog lovers. The shared passion often always creates a positive environment and happy vibes. There might not be a great deal of discussion or conversation that takes places, but any chat on dogs is a fulfilling chat.
Dogs Come First
I’ve also experienced that amongst dog people, concerns for the dog far outweigh concerns for the human. If a long period of time has passed by between two meetings, the first point of discussion is always updates on the dog. You could well have had a new job, a new car, even a human baby(!), but I want to know if the consistency of your dog’s poop has changed or still remains the same.
Meeting with Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh
I’ve been lucky enough to meet dog lovers who are also very good at things other than loving dogs. In this instance, it’s mainly playing cricket. It is so wonderful to hear stories about Dhoni meeting with the security dog at Pune’s cricket ground and Sehwag chilling his dogs on his farm.
Of recent, I had the chance to meet with Sehwag while on the set for the show ‘What The Duck with Vikram Sathaye’. It was incredible to see Sehwag sport ‘The Dogfather’ tee on the show, and telling crazy stories alongside Anil Kumble. Welfare of stray dogs is always on my mind and hopefully a few ideas come to fruition with the help of the cricketing great.
A few days later Harbhajan Singh also wore the Dogfather t-shirt. I remember him saying that if Sachin is god of Indian cricket then Harbhajan is dog of Indian cricket. My love for the off-spinner instantly doubled.
There are plenty of cricketers who have pet dogs. They begin their adventure in England for the World Cup, and BCCI has allowed wives to stay for a few weeks. However there was no limitation for dogs staying around and I hope the dogs get to witness the world cup for the entire month and half! Hopefully our the players are able to ‘catch’ as well as their four legged babies and win the World Cup for India.