Pet Peeves

Some of you are aware that I moved to an apartment complex in Bangalore a few month back.

Now the weird thing about being a pet parent is that it shows you the character of people in very different ways.

There are those who unabashedly love dogs. They will come waving at you when they spot your dog and will be warm and armed with hugs for your dog. 

Then there are some who are a bit scared of dogs, not venturing to pet them but are not distrustful of you.

There is another type who are super frightened/openly antagonistic of dogs and instill the same in their kids.

They tell them lies like don’t go near the dog, it will bite you. They will sometimes throw angry looks at you and your dog for no fault of you and your dog.

Of course, you are a culprit because how dare you keep a dog and then unleash (pun unintended) that horrible creature in their paths.

I once burst into laughter when a lady busy talking on her mobile completely missed seeing me and my dog on a stroll.

She was a few meters away when like an acrobat she jumped sideways. I am sure she saw a lion when she looked at my gentle Coco.

Now, I must tell you something about Coco.

I assure you no kids or adults have ever been harmed by him.

In fact, he has been so gentle, patient and kind that since he was a puppy, we’ve had little kids coming over to my house just to play with him or pet him.

He loves kids too. He is so gentle even with the tiniest of them. They may pull his eyes, sometimes pull his tail but he takes it all in his stride.

Speaking of little kids, they are the most precious of the lot. Most of them are super loving, not holding back in hugging or loving him.

Now that Coco is a Senior dog and does not walk as he would when he was younger, my older son and I take him for slow evening strolls. 

There is this woman who has a little girl. She throws angry glances at Coco. Weird, I tell you! So she saw him walking on the walking path within the apartment. She was in the sand pit where little kids play.

She quickly grabbed her kid and whisked her away to safety. Did she really think that Coco will jump into the sand pit and go after her kid. Who dropped her in her childhood, I wonder.

I dislike the very sight of her and glance back angrily. Talk about hostility towards dog owners.

You wouldn’t believe how antagonistic and stupid the policies in this apartment are when it comes to pets.

They want you to clean up after the dog, which we always do. But there is not a single bin that can be used to dump the poop. In fact, we were expressly told not to drop off the carefully wrapped poop into the bin.

Apparently, the ground outside must be used for that purpose.

In case, your dog pees in the path, which as a Senior dog Coco sometimes can’t hold in till he walks outside, then you are supposed to clean it up.

How, you may ask? Well, they have no answers but you should. Maybe magically conjure a hose.

This shows how harebrained those making rules here are. But these will not apply to small dogs. They pee and poop multiple times but no one says anything to them.

It’s the larger dogs who are discriminated against. I would advise all pet owners to stay away from this society. I am already awaiting when I will leave here.

Perhaps, they should call themselves pet unfriendly so that pet owners will stay away while looking for rented places.

I can’t imagine people who hate/fear dogs this much, and then instill the same in their kids. Those kids when they grow up end up hating dogs not even knowing why.

So sad because they will never know a dog’s love which is the purest kind possible! Have you come across such people?

Are you a pet lover or hater?