The healing power of pet dogs

Don’t underestimate the potential of your pet pooch. He/she can teach life lessons at a spastic centre, soothe the nerves of senior citizens at old-age homes or even bring a smile to the face of a terminally ill kid. Veterinarians and dog handlers say that dog-assisted therapy is a growing concept in the country and the bandwagon of therapy dogs hold out a lot of promise.

Radhika Nair, the co-founder of Animal Angels Foundation, an organisation that works with therapy dogs, says, “We have 20 dogs and it takes 3-6 months to train them to become therapy dogs. We have been treating a child in a school who had not been speaking much for two years. She bonded very well with our dog Casper and shocked us by starting to talk again within six months.”

Animal behaviour specialist Shirin Merchant and her husband have been running Canines Can Care where therapy dogs visit spastic societies and even work with dyslexic kids. Shirin says, “Therapy dogs bring about a huge change in acceptance towards these kids. If a child is autistic or does not know how to tie his laces, a dog gets judgmental.”

Dr Deepa Katyal, a vet, says, “For a person with physical disability, a trained dog can not only become his companion but also run errands like picking up objects.” However, Prita Agni, who runs a dog salon, says apprehension in the minds of parents and guardians in the initial stages of therapy is natural. “It is for people who are open-minded. There is a lot of homework that goes behind it,” she ends.