Dr Dogs to help autistic kids

He is very punctual and every morning attends to his clients, especially children, who suffer from autistic disorder. “Dr Ruffles”, as he is called, not only attends to autistic patients but also looks into the problems of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in children behaviour and woes of learning disabilities among students.

It might look very ordinary if Dr Ruffles is a psychologist or a general physician. But the four-and-a half-year-old Dr Ruffles is a labrador, which attends to these affected children at Saraswathi Kendra, a learning centre for disabled children, at the campus of the famous C P Ramaswamy Aiyar Foundation in Chennai. 

Does it sound strange? Not at all. The “dog therapy” is a very successful programme in this centre, which has changed the lives of several children, who faced various mental disorders.  “It all started in 1996 under the project name 'Doctor Dog' -- Animal Assisted Theory (AAT) programme after Saraswathi Kendra sought the help of Dr Jill Robinson, the founder of the Hong Kong-based Animal Asia Foundation (AAF),” says Dr Nanditha Krishna, the director of the Centre.

“Cleo, a little puppy, came to our centre in 1996. I started noticing that children's behaviour changed after they played with Cleo,” she said.    Autistic children are subject to wild and random emotional outbursts.

According to Nanditha, the centre started full-fledged dog therapy in 2001 when well-trained Dr Jumble, followed by Dr Babe, Dr Moosa ventured to give a new lease of life to children. Incidentally, Dr Jumble was the first world's mongrel Dr Dog.

“A Dr Dog has to be at least two years old and healthy. Males and females “must” be desexed (to reduce aggression and tension) vaccinated up-to-date, with proof, calm and friendly nature - no fighting breeds,” Nanditha, who has 15 pet dogs in her house, said. “In addition, the dog must have lived with a handler for at least six months prior to examination,” she said. “Labradors and Retrievers make good Dr  Dogs,” she added.

How it works?  She said the dogs are given instructions to hear, obey and follow. “Children are given simple tasks like taking the dog for a walk, take him to sit under the tree, to shake hands among others,” the centre's director said. There is a visible improvement in child when he/she gets excited over activities like arrival of the dog, petting and speaking to him.

The success varies from person to person. Girish, who was affected by autism, petted, played and spoke to the dog for the first time, at the age of nine. Abhirami – a very withdrawn child – began to mingle with a group after playing with Dr Babe at the age eight. “Abhirami showed good improvement in her verbal communication and started involving in various activities after she got in touch with Dr Babe,” Anu Vidhya, a psychologist, associated with the Centre said.

According to her, AAT improved the overall quality of life rather than change or develop a particular behaviour. “It works with animals in a planned way to increase desirable behaviour,” she said.   Dogs are considered “man's best friend” because of their ability to understand their master's emotional requirements and needs. It is quiet evident that therapy dogs can also form this type of deep emotional bond with autistic children, who cannot express verbally. “If it is beyond  45 minutes Dr Ruffles might get restless. Therefore, we maintain the time very strictly,” she says.

Nanditha said that animal therapy engages children's attention.“It also scores higher on measures of empathy, self-esteem and self-concept besides helping cognitive and social development,” she said. “Longer attention span, co-operation and greater focus in the classroom could be produced through this therapy,” she added.

Explaining how dogs get closer to these children, she said well-trained dogs do not get wild when a child does something silly like pulling his/her tail. “The unconditional love of these dogs makes the children feel relaxed,” she said. 

 According to her, the softness of the dog helps the kid by just being there – being tolerant of a child that never “improves”, makes crazy noises and funny body language, may not speak and may want to do compulsive behaviours again and again.

The dog must be trained to remain calm and supportive, especially when the child is angry. Dogs can even be trained to use touch intervention, as well as pressure intervention and mobility assistance when these repetitive behaviours occur. “Dr Dog creates a sense of capability even superiority or extreme inferiority in a child, who would hesitate to respond to an adult. Dogs’ highly anticipatory, easy going, structurally simple and easy to interpret social actions may be generating a locally organised interactional ground against which the next move is easily projected and realised by children with autism,” she claimed.

Recalling animal therapy across the globe, she pointed out that ancient Greeks used horse therapy for depression and in the 18th century in asylum for the mentally challenged in England, patients were given small animals to look after. During 1953, Dr Boris Levinson, an American child psychologist, discovered the potential of dogs as a catalyst for communication.

The therapy centre has so far helped more than hundred children, who suffer from autistic and other disorders.

     “Since the introduction of the dog therapy, every year about 10 children were benefited from the initiative,” Nanditha said. With the help of donors and other like-minded people, the centre is getting funds to continue its service. “We need more such funds to cure more children,” Nanditha said.