How a Forest, a Dream, and a Lifetime of Dogs Became Wag-A-Bond

How a Forest, a Dream, and a Lifetime of Dogs Became Wag-A-Bond

 

A story of childhood, loss, resilience, and the soul of India’s first true pet-first forest retreat

Some stories don’t begin with an idea. They begin with a feeling — a quiet pulse inside you that grows over years, shaping who you are before you even know what it’s making you become. Wag-A-Bond — now one of the most loved pet-friendly resorts near Mumbai — is one of those stories.

I grew up in a home where dogs weren’t “pets.” They were family members, co-conspirators, protectors, comedians — and the backdrop of my entire childhood. We always had at least three dogs running around. I learned how to understand body language before I learned how to understand people. Love, in my home, always came with fur.

The Western Ghats shaped me just as deeply. The smell of wet soil, monsoon thunder rolling across the mountains, early morning birdsong… all of it was stitched into me. I went to school across the same mountain range, at Sahyadri (KFI), and the landscape became my internal compass — grounding, wild, honest. I didn’t know then that this connection to nature would one day become the foundation of Wag-A-Bond Karjat, an off-leash dog retreat built around slow living and natural environments.

But the moment that changed everything wasn’t magical — it was heartbreaking.

When my Doberman puppy Leo died from a congenital liver defect, something inside me cracked open. His loss forced me to confront the reality of irresponsible breeding in India — the hidden suffering, the genetic issues, the lack of regulation. It was my first real brush with the cruelty that often hides behind the pet industry and a major reason I advocate for adoption and native Indian breeds today.

And in the middle of that grief, life sent me Yoko.

I found her on 1st August 2010, while walking my grandmother’s dog — a tiny indie puppy thrown out of a moving car, her leg tangled in barbed wire, her eyes full of pain and hope.

Yoko wasn’t just rescued. She was chosen — by fate, by timing, by the universe giving me the dog who would become my soul sister.

She was my first real dog in every sense — my shadow, my comfort, my anchor, my mirror.

She carried trauma in her bones — especially fear of car rides. Every honk, every vibration in Mumbai triggered something deep within her. Taking her anywhere in the city was stressful for her and heartbreaking for me. Yoko is a major reason Wag-A-Bond exists: a dog-friendly stay in nature where anxious or sensitive dogs can live without triggers, fear, or city chaos.

In 2016, I visited our family’s 30-year-old land — a quiet, untouched stretch of forest and earth. Standing there, surrounded by silence and mountains, I felt the same certainty I felt the day I held Yoko for the first time.

I knew this land was meant for dogs.

I had no business plan. No investor. No “startup deck.” Only a forest, a dream, and a certainty I couldn’t ignore. My parents supported me instantly — not because they understood the business, but because they understood me.

Building Wag-A-Bond wasn’t easy. The village saw me as an outsider at first. Being a woman doing something independently in rural India came with challenges — skepticism, overcharging, being dismissed, being underestimated.

But doubt never came from inside me. I knew why I was doing this. I knew who I was building this for.

During my studies in New Zealand, I learned about the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare, and they became the philosophy behind everything I built — freedom from hunger, discomfort, fear, and the freedom to behave like a real dog. Not a “pet,” not an accessory — a dog with instincts, needs, and emotions.

When Wag-A-Bond began to take shape, the family grew. Tubby was born here — the ultimate example of what growing up on natural soil does to a dog. Pawly arrived on a stormy night. Yin & Yang came from my building in Mumbai. And then came the two women who became the backbone of this place — Surekha Tai and Maushi — humble, hardworking, kind, and now integral to the Wag story.

Wag-A-Bond didn’t grow fast or loud. It grew the way forests grow — slowly, organically, honestly. We never called ourselves a “dog boarding place”; we became a pet-first forest sanctuary where dogs could run off-leash, be themselves, and reconnect with nature.

There were ups and downs. Seasons that tested me. Moments that called for strength and others that called for softness. Wag-A-Bond healed me as much as I’ve built it. It taught me resilience, when to pivot, and that I am not a quitter. It showed me that intention matters more than speed.

And through all of it — through every dog that has stayed here, from the gentle ones to the difficult ones — I have felt Yoko in the soil, in the silence, in the purpose. She is the quiet heartbeat of Wag-A-Bond — the hidden WHY beneath the visible how.

My dream for the future is simple: a Wag in every metro — each one rooted in slow living, nature, freedom, and compassion. Maybe even a Wag by the ocean one day, so dogs can feel sand and salt the way they feel soil and forest here.

And I hope India moves toward ethical pet parenting, adoption, and embracing our native Indian dogs — strong, resilient, perfect for our climate.

If you take one thing away from my story, let it be this: building something on your own is hard, but it is also the most beautiful thing you can do. And as long as I am here, Wag-A-Bond will always be about the dogs — their comfort, their freedom, their healing, their happiness.

Here, your dogs will always be safe. Always be free. Always be allowed to simply be — exactly as they would in nature.

This is my journey. This is Wag-A-Bond. And this is only the beginning.