M.O.B. - Aug 13th

Here are some more pics of Zaara:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136430&id=572157728

Do dogs lie?

Fist of all, thanks for your good wishes everyone...I'm feeling MUCH better today! Yaaaaaaaay!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The other day, I had a very interesting experience with Lola. It was a really warm afernoon and I decided to take

Lola to the front of our building to hose her down. Lola looked at me put on the yellow shorts (the ones reserved for bathing the doggie), take her towel and shampoo, and wear my rubber slippers. She knew what was coming and she was not a happy dog.

Anyway, off we went with Lola on the leash. At once, she started to sniff frantically in the grass and walk in the opposite direction. It seemed like she had some urgent business to attend to, so I followed her. In a little while, I noticed her looking at me from the corner of

her eye. When she realised I was looking at her, she quickly bent her head down and pretended to sniff deeply while leading me further away from the hose. This happened a couple of times before I caught on - my darling dog was trying to fool me!

She had realised that fighting or begging wouldn't stop the bath, so she was now trying her hand (paw?) at deception!

Here's an interesting article which says that dogs are as intelligent as 2 yr old children: http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090810/hl_hsn/dogsand2yearoldsonsamementalplane

Do let us know if you've had any such experiences!

M.O.B. - May 19th

Today's Moment of Beauty is my 14 week old puppy, Zaara....doesn't just looking at her make you smile?

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

A lot has happened since I was last on my blog...some good, some not so good and, some, let's just face it...ugly!

One of the saddest things this trip was the death of my 11 yr old German Shepherd Dog - Roxy. Roxy had been living with my parents in India, but I was the one who had first brought her home when she was a puppy, slept with her on the floor for those first few days so she wouldn't feel lonely, and shared my pillow with her when she got older.

I have been in the US for 7 of Roxy's 11 years. Yet, every time I came home, Roxy behaved like I had never gone away. When I was away, she slept with my parents in their room, but from the day I returned, she ignored everyone else and followed me everywhere. In fact, when my husband & I came to stay with my parents for a couple of days immediately after our wedding, Roxy insisted on sleeping between us, cuddled up with me.

I could go on about Roxy, but I can feel the tears welling up. So all I'll say is - I love you Roxy, Rest in Peace.

OK, onto happier news! I have now got the naughtiest, craziest, loveliest little black lab pup for my parents in Delhi. She was a present from my in-laws when they saw how upset I was at Roxy's death. We've named her Zaara, and Zaara who is all of 10 weeks old, is busy terrorizing the household as I write this. All I can hear are screams and shrieks of "No! No! NO! ZAAAAARAAAAAAA!". She rly is a li'l devil! But more abt Zaara in another post (I will also post her pics when I can).

Other than trying to train Zaara, I've been pretty busy getting acupuncture treatments done. I've being going to Dr. Raman Kapur in Delhi. He had helped lot with my migraines a couple of years ago, so I'm really hoping he can do something abt the chronic fatigue. I'll let you know how it works out.

I'm also back to doing yoga regularly, along with eating lots of healthy fruits and freshly cooked veggies (SO much easier in India where there is domestic help than in the US - esp on days when health is bad). Overall, I am feeling a little better, but I don't know whether it's the acupuncture/yoga or simply the rest and pampering I've been getting in India.

Going to the dogs...

Here's another link for pet lovers: Funny Pet Pics by 'Thought Fur Paws'

Enjoy :)

Dog rescues Baby

yes, I got that right...and no, it's not meant to be 'Human rescues Puppy'!

Cool article for all you dog lovers...
Dog Rescues Newborn (click for original story)

(CNN) -- A dog sheltered a newborn baby abandoned by its 14-year-old mother in a field in rural Argentina until the boy was rescued, a doctor said Friday.

The abandoned infant was found in a field with this dog and her newborn puppies.

A resident of a rural area outside La Plata called police late Wednesday night to say that he had heard the baby crying in a field behind his house.

The man went outside and found the infant lying beside the dog and its six newborn puppies, said Daniel Salcedo, chief of police of the Province of Buenos Aires.

The temperature was a chilly 37 degrees, Salcedo said.

The dog had apparently carried the baby 50 meters from where his mother had abandoned him to where the puppies were huddled, police said.

"She took it like a puppy and rescued it," Salcedo said. "The doctors told us if she hadn't done this, he would have died.

"The dog is a hero to us."

Dr. Egidio Melia, director of the Melchor Romero Hospital in La Plata, said police showed up at the hospital at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday with the baby, who doctors say was only a few hours old.

Though the infant had superficial scratches and bruises and was bleeding from his mouth, he was in good shape, Melia said.

The next morning, the child's mother was driven by a neighbor to the hospital and told authorities that the 8-pound, 13-ounce infant is hers, Melia said.

The teenager was immediately given psychological treatment and was hospitalized, he said. She has said little about the incident.

The child has been transferred to a children's hospital in La Plata, 37 miles from Buenos Aires

Lola is SAD

Lola has been depressed.

She hasn't had her usual doggie smile, she's been responding rather half-heartedly to our efforts to play with her, she hasn't even been interested in her tug-of-war rope!

We've been terribly worried. Going over our actions over the past few days. Wondering if we could have inadvertently offended her in some way. But...nothing! We just couldn't figure it out.

But today, like sunshine after a gloomy spell, we saw the goofy grin on Lola's face again. After much celebratory back-slapping, we realized...it wasn't just Lola's brilliant smile. There was, in fact, sunshine outside after few rather dull days. And there was Lola, lying blissfully in the warm sun.

And it finally struck us:

Lola had been SAD.

No, not sad, but SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as the Winter Blues, is a type of depression that is probably caused by our body's reaction to lack of sunlight.

This got me thinking about CFS and it's relationship with sunshine. Many studies suggest that natural vitamin D (through sunshine) could improve some CFS symptoms. Spending some time in natural air and sunlight is especially thought to improve the mood (hence Lola's smile).

I don't mean to suggest that we should ignore all warnings about melanoma cancers etc being caused by excessive exposure to sunlight, but I do feel that even sitting indoors and looking out at a beautiful sunny day does a lot to raise my spirits.

So maybe we should all take a page from Lola's book and just enjoy nature the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

Lola

I hear a heartfelt sigh, which I choose to ignore. A wet tongue tries to work it's way inside my socks. When that doesn't work, there's a gentle nudge, followed by some not so gentle ones. And finally my laptop is pushed away by a determined nose, and replaced by a rather accusing doggie face.

Lola wants to play! And, like it or not, Lola's gonna play - with me!

But Lola knows that "Mommy's not feeling well today". So, though we do play a little tug-of-war, she lets me win. After which she brings a brightly colored stuffed toy and tries to snuggle up in my lap.

How would I ever cope with the CFS without my little Lab-Pit mix?

Oh, don't get me wrong, life with Lola hasn't always been a cakewalk. Far from it! We've had more than our fair share of problems. When we adopted a sweet looking Lab-mix from the shelter, we had no idea about the the determined, independent Pit-Bull genes concealed behind that innocent face.

There followed tears and accusations, tantrums and multiple ultimatums to Lola that she's going back to the shelter. But, somehow, we got past the rebellious teenager stage and emerged on the other side with a (near) perfect dog.

Life with CFS can be pretty lonely. I don't have the energy to take up a 'proper' job; friends/family work during the day; going out alone is difficult - I never know when I'll be stuck without the energy to walk or drive back; even grocery shopping can be a stretch and doing house work can be close to impossible.

But I have Lola. And she helps me smile, even on the worst days. :)

Uh oh, gotta go now! Here comes the pushy wet nose. Lola wants her dinner. And we all know, what Lola want, Lola gets!