Reported By:
| Edited By: Yoshita Rao |Source: DNA |Updated: Oct 07, 2018, 06:00 AM IST
From driving away a cook to growling at family members and nurses who came to visit from the hospital, Inji, a mix of many Indian breeds, according to his pet parents, was very protective. A couple of days after Mumbai resident Bhavani Ramesh delivered a beautiful baby girl, her dad came visiting. When he attempted to pick up the newborn, Inji made one swift move toward Ramesh's father, baring his upper teeth, he growled. "No one was allowed to touch Athira. He would be on guard for a long time when guests came home, and even followed them into the baby's room just to ensure they weren't running away with her, I guess," laughs the 37-year-old.
But Inji wasn't always like this. "My dog is very much like a cat," says Ramesh, adding that the three-year-old pooch likes to be petted only on his time and despises even an ounce of 'cute' talk in the morning. Now that Athira is almost two, Inji lets her get away with a lot of kisses, tail-tugging, ear-pulling, and even fingers up his nostrils. "There was a time when he would want to lie down on the same mat that she was on. They now fight for attention when grandparents come to visit," says Ramesh.
Social media today is filled with an outpouring of videos that show dogs rocking the cradle or even snuggling up under the covers. For Injumani – what his pet parents call him to make him seem more 'Tamil' – his acceptance of a new member into the family was very different in comparison to human siblings, who are more the jealous kind.
When it comes to taking a holiday, pet parents are often sceptical to take their dogs along for various reasons. One being that dogs are still not allowed in the passenger cabin or even in the cargo hold of Indian airlines. Five months pregnant, Ramesh would've found a flight journey much more comfortable when instead, she and her husband Ashwath took a two week long road trip to Goa all for the benefit of their dog. "We didn't want to leave him alone at a pet centre so we drove down to South Goa, stopping every two hours so that Inji could stretch and recuperate," says Ramesh. They rented two dog friendly Airbnbs and even looked for hotels that allowed furry friends. Lying there on the sandy beaches, playing with the waves and chasing after frogs, Inji had never seemed happier, adds Ramesh. But come dinner time they had to pull him off the sand in order to keep him from wasting away before their eyes.
Yet, there are others who don't share the same interest in housing dogs as the rest. Pune resident, Rahul Sarkar never could imagine sharing his life with a canine. Growing up in a family that was averse to the idea of owning a pet dog due to hygiene issues, he says, "Nobody liked pets in my family, including me. I was also scared of dog bites and the infections that may come with them." Sarkar wouldn't even visit his dog lover friends' homes that had pets.
Then two and half years ago, fate intervened, when Sarkar married a dog lover, who insisted they get a pet. "Somehow she got me to agree to bring home a Dachshund puppy. At the time, I still remember being terrified of it and I couldn't even carry her home in my lap."
However, today Sarkar is more than comfortable with his six month old toddler crawling about as Meera the dog playfully dashes around the apartment. The one rule that hasn't changed with time is Sarkar's love for cleanliness.
He ensures Meera has her vaccinations on time and bathes at least once a week. "It's like taking care of your child. The more you take care of her, the more you'll be hassle free."
It was during Ganesh Chaturthi in 2017, when largely all the vets in Pune were closed. Sarkar drove from pillar to post only to ensure Meera, who at the time was suffering from a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), would feel some relief. "I had to drive an hour away from the main city to Pimpri to find a vet," recalls Sarkar.
[(Clockwise) Rahul Sarkar celebrating Meera’s first birthday with cake; Canines Can Care’s Sanam Karunakar working with Honey the Labrador; Inji rocking the cradle as baby Athira sleeps; The dynamic baby-doggy duo sharing the play mat when Athira was six months old)]
Ramesh still remembers the excitement she felt when adopting Inji. Truth be told, she opted for a girl pup but was surprised to find Inji lifting his leg to pee. "We tried fostering dogs but found it so heartbreaking when they left that we decided to get one of them to call our own." Like Ramesh, there are several who feel a deep connect with pets, very similar to that with one's own child.
For 42-year-old Tejal Patel living in Baroda, Gujarat, her three rescue dogs are her children. Born and raised in London, she's been staying with her husband Matt in India for the past 10 years. "We are blessed to have the option of working from home, so we always have our kids with us," says Patel, director of Dr Howard's Way Diet – a weight loss centre.
Her dogs – Junior (6 years old), Blondie (4 years old) and Dolly (2 years old) were rescued from their harsh street lives. Wandering the street one night as a puppy (2-3 months old), Junior was very sick, puking and defecating blood. Patel couldn't help but reach out to the pup in need. "There is a very big emotional dependence on dogs," says Patel, adding that it's not the same as having kids. "It's a personal choice not to have kids but it is a natural instinct that you have to help (stray dogs)."
Elaborating on the emotional dependence, Patel described the process of grieving when you lose a pet. It was two days before Tejal and Matt's engagement when their nine-year-old dog Poppy died. "You never get over the passing of your dog. My husband cried for four days and he never cries. He didn't eat much... Matt still brings up Poppy when one of our other dogs does anything like chasing butterflies or birds but don't know what to do with the bird once they catch it," she giggles.
A rising trend noted by Niharika Sekhri, owner of Pawfect Life, based in the heart of suburban Mumbai, is that more and more young couples prefer adopting puppies than conceiving a child. "I run a day care centre for dogs instead of babies," she says. The centre was originally conceptualised to operate as a boarding, but it wasn't long before Sekhri realised its full potential as a petting centre. "There are so many that can't afford to keep pets due to space concerns or family matters," she says.
Another reason for abandoning dogs, aside from familial issues, is taking on the responsibility of thoroughbreds, which is a costly affair. Baroda's Patel voices her annoyance when she finds that people are quick to give up their dogs when they're about to have a child. "You've taken a life into your home to nurture it, as you would a child, and yet they feel it's okay to give away the dogs. I mean, come on, you have children and they're not exactly cheap," she laments.
Yet, there are few like Sekhri, who despite being married for eight years and having a child of her own, stays true to her commitment of caring for dogs. The 33-year-old Andheri resident now houses seven dogs at Pawfect Life, three of whom were abandoned there by their owners. "There is Bira (like the beer brand) the Indian bred Chow Chow and my best therapy dog yet, Sugar the Golden Retriever, Lemon the Lhasa Apso, Frosty the Husky – who isn't a therapist but she is really pretty," Sekhri says. There are three other dogs also lying about the centre – Bruso (the Labrador), Whiskey (a Siberian Husky) and Floki a Husky, who for most of the day lives under the air conditioning vent owing to Mumbai's hot weather. Explaining how she accommodates thoroughbreds in this sticky climate, she says they all have to be walked in the morning or at night, and the electricity bills run high on account of the AC being kept on the entire day.
"All of them are therapy dogs and since we are not a typical kennel with cages, the dogs all live together," she says. Therapy dogs need to be comfortable with people. An intense training filled with patience and dedicated time is imperative, Sekhri says, because dogs pick up nonverbal cues as well.
Canines today hold full-time jobs like those in the police force, helping people with disabilities, even aiding diabetics. The intellect of these furry buddies is now being used to sniff out low (hypoglycaemia) or high (hyperglycaemia) blood sugar levels in their diabetic owners. That way these constant companions accompany their owners and alert them whenever they find a chemical imbalance. However, the exact chemical sniffed out by the dog is still debated.
Canines Can Care, an initiative started by Shirin Merchant in the 1990s, is a nonprofit organisation that deals with canine related activities. The dogs are trained to be assistance dogs for the physically challenged, performing tasks like picking up the phone receiver, loading and unloading a washing machine, even barking to alert of an intruder. "We look at the temperament and inclination of the dog for this work," says Merchant, who is a canine trainer and behaviourist. Elaborating on their training process, Merchant says the puppies are trained in good manners and basic skills for a year. "They need to be mentally and physically mature enough to handle the advanced training, which is why it starts after they are adults." The dogs are selected with no preference for gender or breed.
But for therapy dogs, like those snuggling up with visitors at Pawfect Life, there is one more factor that comes into play. "For therapy dogs' training, certain breeds can't be trained like the Chow Chow, Rottweiler and Dobermann that are more one man dogs or protective in nature. Surprisingly, my Bira is a wonderful therapist," Sekhri jests. After all, a good cuddle and Bira is probably what we all need.
