Last year, Aratrika Chakraborty visited a pet shelter, played with a Spitz-Pomeranian mix, fell in love, and couldn’t leave without him. “So I bundled him up, took him home, and approached my grandma, who was in the prayer room,” she says.

“Amma saw the dog, and asked three questions – who is this, what has happened to him, and what will he eat? She was shocked to see a dog, but the last question showed that her heart had melted and that she was ready to take in Jimmy,” smiles the economics student.

Jimmy had had a hard life. He first lived with another family, but had wandered to the streets and was attacked by street dogs. That family was unable to bear his treatment expenses and surrendered him to a shelter home. When Aratrika took him in, the vet asked her to take extra care as he was physically and emotionally bruised.

“We ended up pampering him so much that he got overweight,” Aratrika laughs. “He had to be hand-fed, refused to exercise and became a spoilt brat! My solution was to get another puppy.”

So without telling anyone, Aratrika visited a roadside stall selling puppies and picked up a malnourished Spitz puppy. “I wanted to get a dog who I could help. So I bundled him up, took him home and approached my grandma, who was, again, in the prayer room,” she says. “Though shocked, this time Amma asked only one question- what will he eat? I was overjoyed, and Buddy joined our family.”

Buddy is just two months old, but Aratrika’s gamble is already paid rich dividends. The playful puppy has forced Jimmy to run about, and he’s already lost three kilos. Previously, Jimmy had no interest in toys, but since Buddy plays with them, he has taken an interest in them too. And he’s started eating by himself; so what if it’s Buddy’s food he has his eyes on. “Both are served the same food, but Jimmy wants Buddy’s,” Aratrika laughs.

The St. Xavier’s College student also has a rabbit, Snowy. “I had another one too, Piklu, but last month Buddy pounced to pull his spinach, and the rabbit, delicate as they are, died instantly of a heart attack. “Now I am keeping the dogs away from the bunny,” she says.

The family has always had dogs but Aratrika finds Buddy to be the smartest yet. “He’s a problem solver. So if he’s too little to climb up to the sofa, he’ll to the staircase behind it and jump to the seat,” she says, impressed. Then again, Jimmy isn’t too bad himself. “He knows he’s not to poop inside the house, but if he does it sometimes anyway, he covers it with a rug to hide the evidence!”