animal lover – ⋆ Second Gen Desi ⋆

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One of my long-standing passions has been animals, and it’s something I documented in one of my earlier posts on this blog.

I never had a dog growing up, but that certainly did not mean I didn’t like giving out pets to lil loafs of family friends!

Before leaving for Italy in mid-2020, I had spent many months volunteering at a shelter in Orange County, as well as walking dogs through Wag!. While part of my Italy day-dreaming included me continuing my volunteering efforts in Milan, or better yet, adopting a dog of my very own, I knew that with all the other things life had in store for me from mid-2020 to now didn’t leave room for a doggo.

But I saw a crazy amount of doggos in Italy. It’s a country that is pretty friendly when it comes to taking your dog out anywhere and everywhere…

While I would have loved to have volunteered at a shelter in Milan, the lack of resources, volunteering/fostering opportunities, and accessibility to the very few shelters that existed were all hurdles. But at least it wasn’t a far-off dream, especially when moving to Austin began to materialize…

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When I first started volunteering at the animal shelter in Orange County, I truly thought I was a “small dog” person. When I was younger, I used to picture myself with a Pomeranian, a “purse dog” a la 2005. But my shelter volunteering experience helped me realize I am a “big dog” person, with a soft spot for Australian cattle dogs/blue heelers.

As I began to settle in Austin, I also had to go through a rough life change. Going into June, I was so severely impacted by an incident that I wasn’t even sure if I could be happy in Austin anymore, a doubt which I hated to harbor.

Then I figured, perhaps now was the time to bring a shelter dog into my life. A puppa to help me heal, while I could heal him or her. And as luck would have it, a “teen mom” had entered the doors of Austin Pets Alive, a local, well-known shelter in Austin.

Her name was Celeste, a bright-eyed Aussie cattle dog who had just nursed seven puppies at 2 years and 3 months old. So yes, it was a teen pregnancy lol!

By the time I found out about her/notified the shelter of my interest, she was at the stage where she could separate from her healthy, potato-like pups. After five weeks of nursing, I was sure that this young mama was ready to start a new life, just like me, haha!

APA has a well-developed foster program, and since Celeste would be the first dog I ever had in my life under my full responsibility, I agreed to undergo a “foster-to-adopt” process, in the likelihood that if things worked out, I could easily transition to adoption.

My sister was probably more excited than I was leading up to pick-up day, and she offered to come with me after work to pick up Celeste/help her settle in. Along with moral support, my sister came with a huge “starter pack” in tow, full of toys and treats her own foster dog didn’t care for, lol! I whole-heartedly appreciated it all since I honestly felt like I knew nothing about having a dog, even though I did spend time volunteering with them in the past.

APA has a gargantuan foster shed that we were able to get donated leashes, dog beds, toys, etc. from. Thanks to donations from other animal lovers, it was easy to get started with the essentials. What I wasn’t prepared for was the trazodone (anxiety medication that Celeste was apparently taking), and that I’d have to give her two doses daily. To be honest, pick-up day was a bit of a frenzy for my sister and I: we interacted with at least five staff members who told us different things at different times. At one point, one staff member told us Celeste had already left with a foster (but she was referring to me, LOL).

Once we left the shelter, we made a stop at PetsMart since I didn’t even have dog food ready–-I know, I’m such a bad mom 😂! I could tell something seemed off with Celeste, since she was drooling quite a bit. We summed it up to anxiety from rapidly changing environments and people, but she was a gentle girl as we walked through the store.

When we dropped off my sister so she could meet me at my place from her car, I still noticed Celeste wasn’t in the best of shape. Unfortunately, she did vomit in the backseat, but at least I was well-prepared with bedsheet draping over the car seats. I again summed it up to anxiety, but it was possible she could also be prone to motion sickness too, which would put a damper on any car trips to dog parks or hikes I had planned…

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My first night with Celeste was a learning curve. While she found some comfort in my spacious 1-bedroom (she was “spoiled” in that she never had to stay in a kennel at the shelter, as she was a nursing mama and was lucky to have a whole office for her and her seven pups), she did not like the dog bed I fished out for her from the foster shed. I tried getting her to get cozy in a crate, but she whimpered at the thought, even with a trail of peanut butter-flavored treats.

She didn’t jump on my bed or bark, and in fact, when I went to bed, she tried to sleep on the ground next to me. But I think she was still restless, and I found her embracing her “dingo side” when she decided to pace around the apartment in the dark that night.

As we entered into the next 48 hours, things got tough. I knew cattle dogs were high energy—that’s why I was so excited to finally have one in my care—but the fact that Celeste never ran out of energy threw me for a loop. Our first run together was a chopped 2 miler, and I saw that she loved the opportunity to connect with her dingo roots in each stride. We didn’t venture to any parks or trails, as I was still nervous about her possible car sickness.

One thing that also complicated things was she had tested heartworm-positive. I had read about the treatment online and knew it would be an intensive procedure which would involve injections and almost a month of bedrest where she could not absolutely under no circumstances run (or even walk normally) at risk of elevating her heartrate. It’s one of the major things that was on my mind during my “trial week” with Celeste—could I commit to a dog (albeit beautiful, sweet, and full of life) who already had a major health condition?

She was also not spayed yet, and before realizing that the random blood spots I’d find all over my apartment was her “period” (lol, technically, this happens when a dog is in heat), I thought she had an internal issue like an ulcer or something!

All of this, plus the fact that she was indeed prone to car sickness left me frustrated my third day with her. I wanted to go on long hikes with her, to take her to parks and to have her have the best time ever, but being on vomit alert crushed all my excitement. After wiping down the backseat of my car, I hoped to have a quiet evening walk with her in a new-to-us area, but the rampant squirrels wouldn’t even let me have that. At one point, Celeste might as well have been a cheetah, as that’s the strength and fervor she had when chasing down one squirrel. Her intensity literally ripped the leash I was holding onto so tightly from my hand, leaving a deep gash in my index finger.

TL;DR, it took about a month to heal.

My delicate hand while washing vomit-stained bedsheets. At least my nails were cute.

Before things got better, they got worse. Since Celeste was a cattle dog from the streets (lol), she was one smart cookie, which didn’t help me in trying to help her. She soon associated the scent of peanut butter with her trazodone, and would have nothing to do with it by the time I hit a week with her. This added to my frustrations, as I didn’t have the confidence to force-feed her twice a day with her new food aversion. This also contributed to my nervousness about committing to adoption, as it seemed like I would have to make a lot of sacrifices for the particular needs of Celeste.

Fortunately, the shelter gave the OK to stop trazodone since she didn’t have wild withdrawal symptoms in the 24 hours I wasn’t able to give her her medication. At this time, I also let the staff know that I wouldn’t be able to proceed with adoption, but I was happy to foster her until the right adopter came along.

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After the “first week blues”, things did begin to look up and Celeste and I developed a routine. She’d wake me up along with the sunrise, but if I shut my bedroom door, she’d wait patiently in the living room until I got up to go to the bathroom. I’d have to wrestle with her just to get to the toilet, but she eventually knew the clues that signaled walk or run time: Pink leash, belly rub, and the sound of the front door opening. Her scatter at the sound of the front door was comical, but a challenge I had to face so early in the morning: make sure neither she nor I injured ourselves tripping over each other.

Despite the quirks, she was the perfect running buddy. The most I ever ran with her was 10k, but it was a one-time miracle. All my other runs with her were sporadic 2-3 milers, intercalated with squirrel chases and arm workouts for myself trying to reign her back from said squirrel chases.

The funny thing was, even with these intense morning runs, she’d want to go out two hours later. Sometimes a tennis ball I’d throw would send her darting to the kitchen, or a pig ear would keep her occupied while I took some work meetings, but it was our lunchtime stops at my apartment’s dog enclosure that would really tie her over. I liked to say she was enamored with a large tree in this enclosure—the Tree of Life—but it was really the rustling of squirrels that mesmerized her.

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Evening runs were tortuous with the Texas heat, but if I was able to make her hold out long enough, we were able to enjoy sunset walks around the neighborhood. She wasn’t too crazy at this time of day, except that one time she decided to chew on a squirrel carcass…that wasn’t fun.

After confirming my foster status with her, I knew I would at least have her for a couple more weeks due to the 4th of July holiday. My dad was also visiting that weekend, and was able to meet/share the couch with her during his stay. He immediately fell in love with her personality, even if she did “steal” his spot from time to time!

On the 4th, I drove over to Petco to see if I could find a festive bandana for my girl. We had fun taking pics, and I think I was able to capture her energetic personality.

Who you callin’ mama now?

As if on cue, I received the first inquiry about her adoption the Thursday after 4th of July. The potential adopter lived on a ranch an hour out of Austin, and thought Celeste would make the perfect pal for her mini Aussie shepherd. Hearing this, I knew that in theory this would be a great fit for Celeste, and we set up the first meet-and-greet: a walk around my neighborhood in the sweltering Texas heat after work.

The potential adopter fell in love with her immediately—much like I did—and I knew the days I had left with my dear girl were numbered. Even so, I was truly excited for her, knowing that her life would indeed be spent where it should be roaming free on a Texas ranch.

The next step was a meet-and-greet at the shelter, where Celeste met her potential brother. I was asked to stay far from the pen so she wouldn’t try to look for me, but my dear girl couldn’t resist. She did well interacting with her new family, albeit with some hesitation, but the shelter was quick to give the go-ahead for adoption, and I was asked to bring her for her spay surgery in two days and for the new family to pick her up at the end of the day post-surgery.

Besides spoiling her with a few extra treats, my last day with her did not avert from protocol. We kept to our routine of 3x a day walks (with a few miles running in the morning, of course), a few extra cuddles, and then that was that. Bright and early on Monday morning, I brought her back to downtown Austin in heavy commuter traffic, and I let my baby girl go.

I felt sad thinking she didn’t know I wouldn’t be picking her up at the end of the day, but at the same time, I wondered if she would remember me at all.

Her new family was incredibly kind, offering to keep me updated on her happenings post heartworm treatment:

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Celeste indeed brought me an incredible amount of joy, while also unearthing hidden frustrations and exhaustion that come with caring for a dog. If you’re doing it right, I guess this is how it’s supposed to feel!

I haven’t fostered another dog since Celeste, but I absolutely want to. Even with the demands cattle dogs have, my heart still yearns for one, and I’m still leaning towards adopting a cattle dog in the future.

One day, when I have a house with a nice, big backyard, full of trees and plump squirrels.

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Written April 9, 2020

This post was not sponsored by Wag! All opinions are my own.

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My move to Italy has been significantly delayed—first due to ironing out contract details and more recently, the coronavirus outbreak. Back in February, I was growing restless. I was dying to get started on preparing for my move and for the next chapter of my LIFE…what could I do in the meantime that would calm my mind down while also being fun?

Then it hit me—I was spending all my weekend mornings at the animal shelter, and honestly, the rest of those days would be spent at home napping/binge-watching Netflix…I could use that time to hang out with more dogs since A) I didn’t/couldn’t have one at my own at the time 😑, B) it’s hard NOT to be happy around a dog 😊, and C) I just love ’em so, so much 😚.

I previously knew about Wag! a dog walking/sitting/boarding app that connected pet owners with pet caregivers for services such as dog walks. I’m not sure why I didn’t think to sign up earlier, but why not give it a go now?

The process to sign up was pretty straightforward: fill out an online application, provide references that could attest to your animal handling abilities, and a background check ($25 fee required, urgh). Once all of those were checked off however, I was free to download the pet caregiver version of the app.

I was able to see walks up to 20 miles away from “Home”, my “Current” location, and “Custom” locations:

Front page of the pet caregiver version of Wag! app

Depending on what services pop up at the time you check, you can click to see what the service entails before requesting. Details that include the dog breed, pay-out, walk time, duration, and distance the dog is away from your marked location are all included:

As you rack up walks, pet owners can leave you reviews and vice versa, much like other service apps. You can also view your pay-outs (and tips). Payments are calculated on a weekly basis:

But for me, it wasn’t about the money.

Over the course of 3 weeks, I found my stride and I was able to fit in walks on weekdays as well as the weekends. I found myself in the company of all sorts of dogs in a variety of shapes, sizes, personalities, and needs:

Some of the cutie pies I walked in March!

(Top Left) – This guy was my first pup! He was a shy pit bull mix I believe, and the owner had requested a long walk within a 60 min timeframe. I would have definitely ran the whole time with this babe if he was up for it, but he was a homebody and kept dragging me to the front of his house! Needless to say, I was pretty glad when the walk was over 😅. I promptly went to the animal shelter I volunteered at at the time right after!

(Top Center) – She was a gorgeous gal, and she was waiting outside for me in the front of her hoomans’ expansive, bougie Yorba Linda house-in-the-hills 🤩. I am a lover of huskies and man, 20 minutes with her wasn’t enough!! I wish the owner had requested a 60 min walk…needless to say, I never saw her again after this walk 😪…

(Top Right) – This little guy had a bowtie (!!) and was part of a dog pair of an owner who requested a 20 min drop-in visit. So no walk, just cuddle and play time! This little guy and his buddy were interested in me for maybe…5 min 😅? Soon after, they left me for the other room and never looked back!

(Middle Left) – My first time walking a mop—ehrm, a Brussels Griffon! It was hard getting into this apartment since it was located in DTLA—I had to pick up a key from a leasing office a block away, ask the doorman to key me up to the 12th floor, and it took me a while to find the actual apartment once I got up. But when I did find it, I was greeted by the most petite and hairy cutie! We had a relaxed stroll on DTLA streets in the rain, and it was one of my most “soothing” dog walks!

(Middle Center) – I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for bullys! For some reason, I told everyone when I was in the second grade that my favorite dog breed was the bulldog 🤷🏽‍♀️. Don’t ask me why now, but it was! This little guy was a shy boy, and even though our walk was supposed to be 30 min, we had to walk back to his apartment half-way through the walk (more like, pull him back) so I could grab some treats and coax him with that! But boy, was he soft and cuddly! 😍

(Middle Right) – This Australian Shepard was the sweetest senior! He was a big boy, and the owner was like, make him get a workout! Gladly.

He lived near Seal Beach in a nice neighborhood, so the 30 min walk/jog was accompanied with some gorgeous views:

This was the backyard of this particular dog, practically!

If I have to walk a dog and they live in a gorgeous neighborhood or near a gigantic park, that makes me even more excited! It guarantees a good time to be had by all 😁.

(Bottom Left) – Okay, hands down this handsome boy is the most well-behaved husky I’ve ever met. I’ll even go a step further and say he is the most obedient dog I’ve ever met! He lived in a high-rise in the heart of DTLA. I literally ran, took him for a walk, and ran back to work since the timing of the walk fit my lunch break! The streets were crowded when I took him out so we weren’t able to really get his legs moving with a fast run, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was loving the fresh air (yes, surprisingly it was not so smoggy in LA that day!) and I was loving the furry company 🥰.

(Bottom Middle) – This feisty boy is of my favorite dog breed (Australian Cattle Dog) but he was transfixed on biting my arm so I had to be stern with him so that he didn’t break skin 😳. Nevertheless, he had a fun time rolling in the grass, even though our walk was restricted to around the apartment complex.

(Bottom Right) – This baby girl had an odd name, but she was one of the sweetest, shyest pups yet. We went for a nighttime walk after I spent 10 minutes coaxing her with treats. She was also a barker, and scared a runner during our walk 🤣. Despite the walk being scheduled later in the night than I usually go out, I ran into the owners as I was leaving and got the feeling that they were some pretty nice people. The generous tip and comment they left proved it 😉.

Some of my favorite adventures included stumbling upon Newport Upper Bay with a gorgeous bully pal. Her owner lived in Costa Mesa, and since I had 60 min with her, we had a grand time “getting lost” and accidentally finding a hiking trail!

Evidence to suggest that I need a dog in my life to go on amazing outdoor adventures with!

Not all of my favorites were as eager as this bully beauty. I was excited to walk a pug in Anaheim when I booked a walk for a chubby loaf, but when I came to his apartment, he was far from excited:

He was clearly tired of life, and his mood reflected the times (1st week of coronavirus stay-at-home order in Cali!).

Still, we made it out for a short walk, if you want to call it that. His eyes looked glossy and since he was a senior pup (11 years!), I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had succumbed to cataracts…😞. I made sure to shower him with lots of love and cuddles 🥰!

Then there was the time I walked the most stubborn (but adorable) CORGI PUPPY PRINCESS 😘!

I think my juvenile outburst is justified with this precious face!

I was hoping we could go to an arboretum that was nearby, but no, she was perfectly fine searching through the bushes that surrounded her apartment 😛.

So much for a 30 min walk!

The end of March was pretty somber. I was surprised that I was able to rack up so many dog walks within a span of a few weeks (thanks to having free weekends during which I had time to run, eat, and hang out with fur babies!), but due to the coronavirus outbreak, things got shaky—for all of us no doubt!

Since I was living in a rented space in someone’s house at the time—and they turned out to be a source of anxiety and verbal abuse—it was best for me to stay with family for the time being since I also had the ability to work remotely.

I also noticed a major drop in available walks as the end of the month neared, probably because most people that used the app were working remotely, and had time to take their dogs out now. Or perhaps they were worried about the contagious properties of the virus. Who knows, but there was a significant drop in available walks, regardless of the location.

As disappointing as it was, I was also a bit relieved. I love being around dogs, but I was also getting burnt out. I was more than ready to spend some quality time resting and working remotely with family, and not putting unnecessary “pressure” on myself to check on walks that would pop up throughout the weekend.

My last walk in the OC however, was a splendid one.

I had an amazing morning with this smart sheepdog

This dog was actually visiting from NorCal and staying in Anaheim Canyon for a few days. His owner handed me a backpack with his favorite tennis ball 🎾 and frisbee, as well as some treats, and suggested we have a fun time at a nearby park!

I was pleasantly surprised this baby boy could walk off leash, and it was a blast being able to play fetch with him. We played and ran, and despite my low mood that morning, he really helped perk me up.

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Since that walk, I’ve only had one walk in Oklahoma, where I have been staying with family while working remotely since the beginning of stay-at-home orders due to the virus.

Like I mentioned earlier, there has been a significant drop in available walks since the virus outbreak. For me, signing up for Wag! was never for the money, but for the chance to hang out with dogs since I don’t have any of my own (currently). It’s definitely not a lucrative “job”, so I advise that it’s something you consider doing only if you love being around dogs in your free time.

Have you heard about Wag! ?

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