Prathithi Nellaiappan Week 13: Man’s Best Friends

        When scrolling through old photos to find anything interesting enough to write about, I came across this adorable picture of Pico, one of my dogs. He is way too cute to not write about so I decided to dedicate this blog to a couple memories with my dogs.
        
        My first couple experiences with dogs were through the foster care system at a nonprofit called DPS Rescue or Doggie Protective Services. I ended up fostering 3-4 dogs however the service prioritized owners with previous experience with dogs so I never had the chance to take one home. Finally, at a local pet shelter, I found Apple, a Maltese mix, who was about 2 years old at the time. She was named after an Apple store on the highway which she was found next to. When she first came home, she was quite shy and always sat under a chair in my living room. She also hated her food so I remember feeding her each piece of kibble one by one. I renamed her Pixie after my favorite film series, Tinkerbell. After about two weeks, she got more comfortable and started running around the house. To this day, every day that I come home from school, she runs up to the door with her tail waving aggressively waiting to welcome me in. However, whenever we left her alone for more than 10 minutes, she would feel intense separation anxiety.


        To solve this problem, I decided that she needed a best friend to stay with her so I looked for another dog to adopt. That’s when I found Pico, a two-week-old Golden Retriever. I named him after Piccaso since my whole family is extremely interested in art. My parents and I drove about one hour to meet him, his parents, and his litter. Since we didn’t have a crate yet, we took him home in a cardboard box lined with a fleece blanket. He was extremely nervous at first but within an hour, he was running all over the house and biting LITERALLY EVERYTHING. His teething phase was quite ferocious. He bit off the sides of the staircase in my house, broke the door to my backyard, and made an actual hole in my wall. In fact, he made multiple holes in my walls. This phase is the reason 20% of my socks have holes in them. Thankfully that phase only lasted a couple months. Now, he is 3 years old and still has the same baby energy as before.

        My dogs truly make my life so much better and they bring a little more joy to every happy moment. I encourage everyone to adopt at least one dog in their lifetime so they can understand what dog owners mean by dogs being “man’s best friend.”

Comments

  1. Mansi MittalMarch 27, 2024 at 9:58 PM

    Hi Prathithi! Your blog this week was such a fun read, and I agree that your dogs are “way too cute to not write about.” I enjoyed the way you structured your blog chronologically, taking us through your first encounter with dogs at DPS “fostering 3-4 dogs” to taking Apple home and giving her a new life as “Pixie.” I enjoyed how heartwarming Pixie’s story was, initially being a quiet and shy character before opening up more and “running around the house.” You also seamlessly transition to talking about your next dog Pico by describing him as a friend that Pixie ultimately needed. I think Picasso is such a fun and creative name, and the nickname Pico is perfect, especially paired with Pixie. The humor you incorporated was a great addition to your blog as you stated that Pico’s teething “phase is the reason 20% of [your] socks have holes in them.” They seem like an incredibly fun duo, with contrasting but equally charming personalities. I ultimately really enjoyed reading your blog about your undeniably adorable dogs and how they’ve left their mark on your house (both figuratively and literally). Thank you!

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