For the love of Amy…

Although I am a dog lover, I restrained from keeping a dog at home as I had experienced the agony of losing a dog when I was a kid. But, as they say, destiny knows the better of you – I got married to Richa, an ardent dog lover and a big time dog enthusiast. The first gift she asked post marriage was a dog on Valentine’s Day.
We decided to get an easy maintenance dog but again, destiny had different plans. When we entered the pet shop, we were fascinated with two small teddy bears playing with each other. Without checking our suitability for the breed (St Bernard), we decided to get home the baby girl and named her Amy. Amy was like a baby to us and we actually had to rear and care for her like one.
The second day we got her home, Amy started to show some signs of cough and cold. We took her to the vet and to our shock he told us that she has canine flu and she should be vaccinated twice a day with antibiotics. We spent sleepless nights for entire one month before she recovered. We used to wake up in shifts to take care of the baby. It was hectic and at one point we even thought that we made a mistake but we couldn’t do anything about that as we were so much in love with Amy by then. Sending her back to the breeder was totally out of question, so we decided to fight with the situation and finally Amy recovered miraculously.
Now, it’s been one and half years since that incident and Amy is a grown up St Bernard. But she is not one of those lethargic saints; she loves to play all the time. If you show her the leash even at 12 in night, she would be jumping with joy.
We love her to the core of our heart as she has brought so much happiness to the family.
Most pet parents are reluctant to keep a female dog due to the problem of heat cycles. What they probably don’t know is that if you consult your vet beforehand, this problem can be solved. Besides, we cannot ignore the fact that female dogs are more sublime and loving in temperament as compared to male counterparts. But it is important to do lots of research before bringing home a dog to match your home size and financial aspects of maintaining her. Always consult your vet before taking the decision to bring the new member in the family. Happy pet parenting!
–Abhishek & Richa, New Delhi