Vaishnavi and Gayatri Shewani- two lovely girls I have met till date. Their interaction with me started about a year and a half back, when their mother called me asking to meet for Pre Pet Counselling and a Play session for the kids.
The girls had been wanting a pet and the decision was not so easy. Should we? Shouldn’t we? Who will take care? Are the girls confident of having a pet? Will they manage the pet for all daily activities?
The love in her eyes
In the session, one thing was very clear, the parents wanted their girls to be Responsible Pet Siblings and not just playmates. And that one thing led us to chalk out a program for them- More and More interaction with pets of all shapes, sizes, personalities, breeds. How to approach, How to feed, How to walk, How to handle puppies, what games to play and the list could go on. The parents decided to participate by bringing the girls whenever possible to PetSitters for an interaction session.
Then one day, we had a beautiful request to celebrate Gayatri’s birthday with the pets. She came loaded with cakes and biscuits for all our doggie guests. She cut her cake in the midst of the woofs and the barks which were louder than our Happy Birthday Song. I admire these girls parents for the lovely upbringing these girls have and that just makes me more confident of they also being wonderful pet parents. But right now the decision has been put on hold. But till such time, be it a new litter or just a free day from school, the girls still visit us every now and then.
A belly rub for Sally
never ending smiles
Here is a small account of what the mother of these lovely girls has to say-
I would not really call my daughters volunteers but I am very sure that they would take up that offer anytime! Our relationship with pet sitters started out because we wanted to be absolutely sure that we were suitable to invite a dog into our family. Taking care of a life- human or animal is a great responsibility and cannot be fooled around with. At Pet Sitters , we realized , that although the idea of having a pet was lovely, the combined efforts of all the family members was very important. Being around the animals and having Shalaka explain to us and the kids that taking care of a pup was a full time job, made us rethink quite a bit. We would never forgive ourselves if we did not live up to our responsibilities and if we let our pet down in any way. Our plans are on hold now, to give us yet more time to decide. We never ever want to come to a stage where we may want or need to “give up” our pet . So till then, we will continue to bring our girls to you to let them experience the joys of looking after and caring for these wonderful animals. Hats off to you and Pet Sitters for the wonderful work that you are doing.
