Barack Obama's pet Bo is on several wishlists. Abhilasha Ojha tells you what it takes to own one.
When my husband and I adopted Foxie, a stray pup from the lane next to our house, we knew she would be a huge responsibility. But she’s changed our lives for the better and it gives us great delight to see her wag her tail, drool, lick, chew, play, wink, curl up on her bed, snuggle up on the pillow, yawn, stretch and sleep. Her evening time is chalked out too — she’s engaged in her game of ball-catching, running incessantly before she starts panting and dunking — no, not just her face but also the ball in a large bowl of water.
There are many more adorable mannerisms of our child (yes, that’s what she is, and we never hesitate to say that) that I could go on and on about. But this story is about a more pedigreed dog and a White House inhabitant at that — Bo, and his breed.
But first, a few words of warning: While this story is going to tell you where to procure your own “Bo” and how to look after him, there may be readers who would like to buy a Portuguese water dog because a) their children want them to, b) they have the money and President Obama owns it so maybe they should too. If you are one of these, stop reading now.
Hopefully Congress MP Naveen Jindal’s children, genuine pet lovers, as a source explains, who now want a Portuguese water dog, will learn to look after it well before it arrives at their doorstep. For that matter, one can only hope that the Gurgaon-based builder who has especially ordered “the exact dog like that of Obama” knows what it means to not “own” but “have” a dog.
So what do you need apart from being responsible to bring home a Portuguese water dog? Jaws & Paws, a pet shop, which has already sold two such dogs, including one to actor Salman Khan from its Mumbai branch, and has ordered two more from Indonesia, says that it costs anywhere between Rs 90,000 and Rs 1.25 lakh to bring home a
Portuguese water dog. “It’s a dog that needs a lot of care, like any other pet. But what these dogs definitely need is water since they are very energetic and need a lot of activity,” says Mohan Kadam of Windsor Pet Shop. He explains that the breed, originally found on the coast of Portugal, was taught to herd fish and to retrieve broken nets in cold climatic conditions. In India, says Kadam, they need similar climate conditions.
Rajesh Kohli of Jaws & Paws disagrees. As mentioned earlier, it’s one of the very few pet shops that has managed to bring in the favoured breed this season into the country. “You see, these toy breeds can be easily kept at home. Inside a flat, temperatures are not more than 30° C and that’s perfectly alright for this breed too,” he confirms. But don’t they need to dive into cool water every now and then? “It’s nice if they can but even if they don’t, it’s not too much of a problem,” claims Kohli, who says he gets at least a couple of enquiries every day.
Those who are keen to buy the “trendy breed”, as Kaushik Saha of Unique Pet Shop, another pet store in New Delhi, puts it, need to make an advance payment of 50 per cent. Since the Portuguese water dog costs around Rs 1 lakh, it means paying around Rs 50,000 while waiting for 45 days before the dog finally comes to India. “People are importing these dogs from the US since they haven’t been bred in India till now,” he says.
Those who want to buy pups should go to trusted pet shops so that they get not just a lovable pup but also all the necessary documents. “These are vaccinated pups and we make sure that all the paperwork is complete before we hand it over to the owner,” says Kohli. However, there’s no insurance cover that the owners can claim in case of any unfortunate incident or death while the pup is travelling.
With enquiries pouring in from everywhere, Windsor’s Kadam says that the high price tag is a deterrent for many. He says it’s a good sign, especially because a lot of people will think twice before buying and not act on a whim to bring home the “Bo replica”.
By the way, for all those who still want it, remember, dogs of this breed bark rather loudly and, just like babies, they too grow in size. You might not get a dog like you saw in the pictures and on the TV. If you are the sort to walk into a pet shop with fat wads of money and with a picture of “Bo wala doggie”, think again. This dog, or any other pet, is not for you.
