Two Dogs, One Day: How Waiting Shapes the Wellness of Simba and Mylo”

TWO DOGS, ONE DAY: SIMBA WAITS IN THE CITY. MYLO WAITS ON THE FARM.

(A Sriranga Dog Wellness Story)

Morning

Simba wakes up before the alarm.

Not because he wants to.

Because the silence is jarring him.

The apartment is still dark.

Eighth floor.

Curtains closed.

The city already awake somewhere below him — but none of the activity reaches here.

His hooman rushes around.

Keys.

Shoes.

Phone pressed to the ear.

“Good boy, Simba… I’ll be back soon.”

The door closes. Silence again...

Simba walks to the door.

Lies down.

Nose pressed to the crack beneath it.

He waits.

Mylo wakes up because the world calls him.

Birds gossip loudly.

Cows shuffle, mooing to the dawn...

Leaves rustle...Nature stirring fully..

The farm breathes in fresh energy...

Dr. Chari steps out, yawning.

Mylo stretches like a yogi finishing a dream.

“Good morning, kannu.”

That sentence alone sets Mylo’s nervous system right.

They walk together — slowly.

No leash pulling.

No clock watching.

Mylo stops.

Sniffs.

Reads last night’s rain like a newspaper.

This is not exercise.

This is orientation to life.

Midday

Simba hears footsteps.

Gomati, the maid comes.

She fills the bowl with dry processed food. Simba sniffs. Just nibbles a bit and leaves it alone...

Gomati checks her phone.

Talks loudly to someone far away. Lost...

Simba wants to speak with Gomati....play, but already maid locking the door..

Simba circles the house.

Looks at the window.

Looks at the door again.

He lies down....sighing .....bored...

Gets up.

Lies down again.

They say he sleeps all day.

But Simba isn’t sleeping.

He is waiting with his whole body.

Waiting burns energy.

Waiting tightens muscles.

Waiting raises cortisol.

By afternoon, Simba licks his paws....stressed.

Again.

And again.

Mylo eats when the sun is high.

Warm food.

Fresh smells.

No rush.

After eating, he does what dogs are meant to do.

Nothing.

He sleeps under the neem tree.

Belly touching earth.

Heart syncing with soil temperature.

This is nervous system repair.

No anxiety.

No pacing.

No compulsive behaviours.

Rest that is earned through fullness, not exhaustion.

Evening

Simba hears the lift.

His heart jumps.

Maybe now.

The lift stops.

Someone else steps out. Not his hooman..

His tail drops.

This happens many times.

By the time his human finally comes home, Simba is restless and tense...

He jumps.

He barks.

He spins.

They say,

“Why are you so hyper?”

They don’t see the ten hours of emotional fasting.

Mylo hears footsteps too.

But his body doesn’t tense.

He already knows.

Dr. Chari comes walking in slowly.

Mylo stands up, tail soft, eyes warm.

No explosion.

No desperation.

Because connection was never broken during the day —

it was continuous.

Presence in the morning.

Purpose in the afternoon.

Belonging all through.

Waiting, when done in safety, does not hurt.

Night

Simba finally settles.

But his sleep is light....

Alert.

Half-awake.

Tomorrow will be the same I guess...

He loves his human deeply.

That is not the problem.

Loneliness is not about lack of love.

It is about lack of shared rhythm.

Mylo sleeps deeply.

Before bed, Dr. Chari rubs his back slowly.

“God bless you, kanna.”

Mylo sighs.

That sigh is wellness.

The Quiet Truth

Simba is not weak.

Mylo is not lucky.

Their lives are simply built differently.

One waits in emptiness.

One waits in fullness.

Urban dogs don’t suffer because cities are bad.

They suffer because their days are empty of sensory life, purpose, and emotional continuity.

Farm dogs are not healthy because of land alone.

They are healthy because life flows through the day, not just at the end of it.

The Sriranga Insight....

Dog wellness is not about where your dog lives.

It is about:

how their morning begins

whether their mind gets work

whether their body touches earth

whether their waiting feels safe

whether your presence is predictable

whether love has rhythm, not just intensity

Simba waits because he has no choice.

Mylo waits because he is already full.

If You Are Simba’s Human

You don’t need a farm.

You need:

slow sniff walks

voice recordings left behind

scent-soaked cloths

predictable routines

mid-day mental jobs

evening decompression time

presence without phones

Waiting does not have to hurt.

Two dogs.

One day.

One truth.

Wellness is not about location.

It is about how a life is lived — hour by hour...