Meet Penny, YourDOST’s Chief Fun Officer

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role models for being alive.”

Dogs are loyal, compassionate, cuddly and cute. But they can be so much more than that. Penny, YourDOST’s Chief Fun Officer, is also one such fur-ball who lights up the entire office space with her presence. Penny has been a part of the organisation for over 5 years and has witnessed the growth of the company along with her own. This is her story.

“Sometime in 2015, we had just received major coverage in The Times of India and our website was flooded with new users. We were overwhelmed with the response and decided to take a break to sip some tea and celebrate this new milestone in our journey. We went downstairs and we spotted a puppy who was wet and frail. I always had a love for dogs and spent my whole life around dogs. So we took her up, gave her a bath and some food to eat and left her downstairs. But when we were leaving the office to go home, we heard her whine and bark softly downstairs and she started following us. So I decided to take her back home for a few days and we put her up for adoption. While she got popular on my Facebook feed, nobody was willing to adopt her, because nobody wants to adopt an Indie dog. A few days passed, we vaccinated her and did all the necessary checkups, but she was here to stay. This was when the team decided that we could adopt her and raise her in our office, and this was when Penny joined the YourDOST family. Penny has been an integral part of the YourDOST family and has touched so many lives, including mine and Richa’s.” – Puneet Manuja, Co-founder of YourDOST.

Richa’s introduction to Penny was very different. Richa was someone who had never interacted with a dog before as her parents were apprehensive about having a pet at home. But Penny came into her life to change this, and Richa is now the proudest dog mom.

“Penny could not live with Puneet for a long time due to the rules in his building, so I decided to foster her for a few weeks. At first, I was very scared. She was a small puppy when she moved in with me, I did not understand her needs and would freak out when she would watch me sleep, jump on me or my bed. But I began forming a bond with Penny soon. She was a quick learner and adapted to her environment very quickly, and I realised how her presence changed my life for the better. I did not realise the amount of love and joy I would receive from a pet, and regret not having a pet for the longest time of my life.”- Richa Singh, Co-Founder of YourDOST.

Everybody in the office encouraged bringing her to the office and it was Puneet’s dream to have a pet after moving to Bangalore. It was challenging in the beginning as YourDOST was still being set up and she would chew up the wires and pee around the office. But the way our team stepped up to train her, take her for walks, give her food, understand her preferences, clean her mess was extraordinary. Officially Richa and Puneet are her parents but believe me, the entire YourDOST team co-parents her.

She adopted us rather than us adopting her. Penny has always been a very expressive dog and is always full of energy when we are at work. She has grown up to become a well-behaved and respectful dog and gives everybody their space. Dogs really have a selfless way of love that cannot be compared to anything else. We are so grateful to have Penny in our lives.

Penny has been a stress buster for everybody in the office. Giving her all the cuddles, kisses and belly rubs is the cure to a stressful day at work. Penny’s generous and compassionate energy does deserve special appreciation. From enticing all the dog lovers in the office to converting the people who fear dogs, she has inspired various members at YourDOST to adopt dogs into their lives and that is truly inspirational!