How HUFT Came To Be

They say that when the time is right, the dog you need will enter your life and change it forever. We completely agree with this because we’ve seen it happen. Over ten years ago, a little puppy found her way to Rashi and was named Sara. Eventually this tiny fawn coated Labrador would inspire her to start Heads Up For Tails.

Sara was a lively puppy and as expected, turned Rashi’s world upside down all through puppyhood. Of course, the whole family was falling in love with this bundle of energy as well. When Sara’s first birthday came around, Rashi wanted to do something special and hunted all over town to find something amazing for her. When she couldn’t find what she wanted, Rashi took matters into her own hands. She designed and produced a special bed for Sara.

With a little digging, she realised that she wasn’t the only pet parent looking for special goodies for her doggie. And so it began. Heads Up For Tails was then set up as a way to give these pet parents what they needed for their pets. But it grew to be so much more.

Sara was a constant source of inspiration every step of the way. She effortlessly taught us to look at things from a different, doggy perspective. Beyond the toys, beds, treats she needed, we were able to truly understand what unconditional love is. This bond of companionship between pet and parent now stands at the core of our philosophy.

The thing is that when you start learning about dogs, you can’t really stop. So we educated ourselves about pet parenting (from experience and from other pet parent). This way, we were able to stock our shelves with products that were useful and pet parents really needed.

We also met people in this world who do amazing things for animals in need – welfare workers, behaviourists, nutritionists and so many pet parents. We learnt a lot (and are still learning) about so many issues that surround this world of dogs, cats and other animals that we share our space with.

And then there were two…

Not long ago, a neighbour around our main office in Delhi asked us to foster a young stray puppy that was found all alone, cowering in a gutter. This little girl seemed to make herself home in our space and our hearts in without any trouble. We called her Poppins.

With her smarts, she schooled us properly on how clever (and crafty!) Indies could be. She soon had us all running around doing her bidding. And we soon forgot what work was like without Poppins. It became clear that she was our first #fosterfail and Rashi took her home.

The Heads Up For Tails Foundation was conceptualized years ago but we took our time because we wanted to get this special project just right. Poppins entering our lives just catalysed the process and it is now finally set up!

With Poppins as our muse, we’re pouring all that we’ve learnt over the years and we continue to learn, into this effort. Through it, we hope to educate and facilitate a peaceful co-existence of humans and animals in the urban space that we share.

Dogs do more than bring joy into our lives, they teach us what the most important things in life are. We are incredibly lucky to have Sara start us on this journey. And now both, her and Poppins keep us grounded. We will always do our best to do right by them and the animal community.