There is a story in canine circles about how we lost the chance to shift crude training methods to modern reward-based ones. UK’s leading canine behaviourist and trainer, John Rogerson was approached to train canine officers in Mumbai.

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Rogerson was excited, but only if he could work with local breeds that he felt were more suited to the job – clever, easy to train and hardy. “Ah,” but an officer-in-charge told him, “You see our cops are middle-class men. They will not work with pariahs; they only want to handle pedigrees such as labradors and German Shepherds.” Rogerson was not interested in adding to devaluation of local breeds and declined the offer.

If only those officers could meet Tommy.

Tommy is a eight-year-old Indian pariah dog, adopted by 50-year-old visual artist Monique Nerman from Goa. They’ve travelled the world together (America, Italy, France, Monaco, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, England and Belgium. Whew!) and Tommy has won honours at prestigious dog shows. He’s a therapy dog for comforting people with special needs who are scared of dogs, and the protagonist of a new book King Tommy, written by Nerman.

In an email interview, Nerman tells us about their wonderful life:

How did you meet Tommy and end up together?I came to Goa in October 2009. Tommy was living outside my house. The moment I saw him, I thought, ‘This is the most beautiful dog I have ever seen’. He was about eight months old, and we became friends. When, I came back the following season, Tommy was gone. I found him living with a nomad family – ill, starving and occasionally chained. I didn’t think he would make it another year, so it was decided he should stay with me. It took a few months to prepare for his trip and then he joined me in California.

How did you discover his aptitude? In California, we were both beginners — he had never walked on a leash and I didn’t know about keeping a dog in the West. So we enrolled in a ‘Dog School’ and Tommy was so quick to learn that the trainer was impressed. I heard about Therapy Dogs and thought Tommy would be perfect with he has incredible empathy.In the Therapy Dog test, the examiner was impressed with his calm demeanor. He would confidently approach patients in difficult situations and greet them with love.We also trained in Advanced Agility, but he is too clever to just run fast for a treat. If he liked lying down in the tunnel, he would and you couldn’t get him out of there!Tommy dislikes excitement and gets bored if things get repetitive. What he really likes is being in a situation where he is the carer and “controller”.

How do people react to him? Most people are fascinated; we get stopped everywhere because he really stands out. He walks proud and they love his calmness. They also laugh at him when he tells other dogs off (Tommy doesn’t like it when they play with a ball or go swimming). People are really impressed with how well-behaved he is in restaurants, shops or on the train.At shows, judges either love him or not. Those who don’t like him are usually the ones who prefer ‘safe choices’ such as Labradors or Spaniels.

Tell us some of his achievements...In the Novelty shows in UK, Tommy won a lot of ‘Best Rescue’ rosettes as he is a role model showing that the sky is the limit, no matter where you come from.During the Kerala stray cullings, I thought it would be amazing to get more respect for pariah dogs and so we entered beauty competitions.He became Best In Show at the Cornwall UK novelty show in 2016, and won every class (Obedience in USA, Rally-O in Sweden, Agility in France, Best Rescued Dog 7 times in UK)! At the semi finals in London at Scruffts, he won Most Handsome Crossbreed dog of the year 2016.Tommy likes attention, so it pleases him when everyone applauds him!

Why compete?Participating is way of exposing the public to dogs from other countries and reversing their negative ideas. There is ignorance in Europe regarding ‘street dogs’ (“They’re all sick and contagious”). To them, it is a common term for any dog that is not from the West.There is no understanding for free-ranging dogs, and that they have a right to exist and are part of society with a specific role.In England, dogs are only seen as pets who should play with balls and sticks; it's interesting to educate them about dogs living freely and having their own lives. When they ask why Tommy is the way he is, I usually answer, “Because he was educated by dogs, and learned to live on his own and make his own decisions.” 

What can we look forward to in the book?I have tried to show how India has two sides when it comes to animals: A profound love and compassion; and a very cruel side. It's a novel based on a true story, so I created a few fictional characters. It's also an adventure story that bring two souls who need to be together on a tour around the world.

Tommy the King is available on Amazon UK for Rs 695. You can buy it from www.kingtommy.org for India shipping