Love, on both ends of the leash

TREND WATCH

The sight of a child or a puppy — or both — gambolling on the grass is almost guaranteed to lift anyone’s spirits. Perhaps an offshoot of the nurturing instinct, the love of the small, the cute and the furry seems to be wired into our genes. And there is any amount of evidence from recent research to show that pets — including dogs, cats, rodents, birds and fish — help us fight stress, anxiety, depression and illness. Recovery from major illnesses like heart attacks is much quicker in those who have pets. Basically, they just love us, warts and all, give us a good laugh and help us forget ourselves. What could be better medicine than that?

With parents setting a good example, pets can also help children to grow up to be more responsible, kind and caring; provide them with lessons on life and boost their self-esteem and self confidence.

Pet therapy
While mankind has known about the therapeutic effect of animal companionship for ages, Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a comparatively new phenomenon. Evolving in the US in the 1980s, the idea has now caught on in India as well. In Bangalore, Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) has initiated a Canine Therapy Programme (formerly known as the Dr Dog Programme), through which animals are used to bring joy as well as therapeutic and stress treatment to communities like mentally challenged children, autistic children, old age homes, hospitals, AIDS patients and terminally ill cancer patients.

Charlie, a cheerful three-legged dog from the CUPA shelter, is the star of this programme. Having overcome his own disability, he works with children who have Down’s syndrome, allowing them to feel, touch and play with him — a process through which their own learning is accelerated.

Dr Brunda, clinical psychologist, says that pet therapy is used successfully in many chronic patients including schizophrenics, who have difficulty in expressing emotion.
Pets help us cope with stress in several ways: their unconditional love and the delight with which they greet you are very soothing and refreshing after a hard day at work. They make no demands, and are completely non-judgmental. The fact that they are totally dependent on us fulfils our need to love, care for and nurture. They give us a reason to go out and get some exercise, which helps greatly in relieving stress. However, pets can become stressful if you do not have sufficient help in the house and are unable to cope physically.

Dr T Murali, consultant psychiatrist and rehabilitation therapist, explains that pets are very helpful in rehabilitation after paralysis.

He describes the case of a teenage girl who went into a depression after being paralysed in both the lower limbs. She was brought out of her depression by a golden retriever, whose sympathetic presence got her to start talking again. Pets also improve the communication skills of patients, he says. They act as conversation starters and help build friendships and networks. They are thus ideal companions for invalids, the elderly, children and paralytics, apart from ‘Seeing Eye’ dogs for the blind.

Dogs, with their acute sense of smell, can even detect auras, and are being used to predict epileptic attacks in patients. However, it is important to ensure that the pets used in therapy are well trained, calm and reliable and free from disease. A certification agency comprising teams of vets and trainers, he feels, is badly needed in India.

When you say ‘I do’
With all these benefits available on tap, what’s stopping you from adopting your own bundle of love? The decision to keep a pet is a momentous one, and must be undertaken with a sense of responsibility.

Be aware that your pet will depend on you for love, companionship and the basic necessities for the duration of its life. You need to be willing to make a commitment, perhaps sacrifice some of your independence. A pet is not a toy to be played with and discarded when the novelty wears off, it has deep feelings of attachment and belonging. If you are not sure you can look after the pet ‘until death do you part’, do not let it in for the misery of being neglected or abandoned. Once you have decided that you can make the commitment and accept wholeheartedly the joy that a pet will bring to your life, don’t agonise too much. Just do it! Like the decision to marry, it requires a certain leap of faith.

Choosing your pet
It is important that you select a pet that is compatible with your temperament and lifestyle. A large, boisterous dog in a small flat, or a hyperactive or badly trained one can add a lot of unnecessary stress to your life. Think about how much time and effort you are prepared to invest in your pet. You need to ensure that your home is safe for your little animal (puppies and kittens, like babies, like to explore and investigate everything around them, which means they will eat it if they can get their mouths around it), that it is well cared for when you are away at work or on vacation, and that you train it properly as it grows up. Remember that a badly behaved dog could infringe on your neighbours’ peace and safety.

Certified dog trainer Nirupa Rao says that the most important command you can teach your dog is ‘sit’. “Making her sit for anything she wants like biscuits, toys, food, walk or just attention is a doggy way of saying ‘please’, and an effective way of getting a more well behaved dog. Positive training, where you reward the dog for the behaviours you like, shows the dog what is expected of her. It is more fun for both dog and owner, creates a relationship based on trust and respect, and is more effective than punishment, which can make a dog confused, anxious and mistrustful. A build up of anxiety can lead to aggressive behaviour in the long run. Discourage bad behaviour by giving her a time out. If you consistently reward good behaviour, she will soon learn what is required of her.”

Fish, turtle or hamster...
For really low-maintenance pets, nothing beats tropical fish. With their beauty, grace and serenity, they exercise a calming effect on us. (In a study, researchers measured the blood pressure, muscle tension and behaviour of people undergoing oral surgery. They found that those who spent a few minutes watching tropical fish in an aquarium for a few minutes prior to surgery were much more relaxed than those who did not.) Turtles, rabbits and hamsters also make quiet, undemanding but interesting companions, and if you lean to the unusual, Bangalore has a slew of pet shops and breeders offering exotic pets.

But nothing beats puppy love!
But if you are looking for laugh out loud fun and non-stop excitement, what you need is a kitten or a puppy. The city is home to both cat lovers and dog lovers. Vidya Krishnamurthy, a retired English teacher, has both cats and dogs and says both have given her a great deal of happiness and affection, in their own ways. Padmashree, who breeds Persian cats and has 23 felines of all sorts, including the occasional stray, says: “With my first cat, I found that keeping a cat is the best way to get over a trauma. I love cats, they are my passion. Although cats are the No. 1 pets worldwide, they are not appreciated in India. They are as loving as dogs, and much easier to look after since they sleep for 16-18 hours a day and can live quite happily indoors. A cat makes the ideal pet for a working couple. However, one must remember that, unlike dogs, cats are essentially carnivores and cannot thrive on a vegetarian diet.”
Bangalore has several breeders offering pedigree bloodlines in Persian, Siamese and Russian Blue cats, German Shepherd dogs, pugs, spaniels, labradors, great danes, golden retrievers, boxers and bulldogs, as well as rarer breeds like Neopolitan mastiffs and wire haired dachshunds. While breeders and fanciers swear by the ‘pedigree temperament’, others firmly believe that desi is the way to go. It is a fact that street dogs and cats are more independent and less obedient than thoroughbreds; they have to be in order to survive. But as Sudha Narayanan, a CUPA trustee who works with Charlie on canine therapy for children points out, “Charlie shows that our Indian dogs are highly intelligent and affectionate and that it is time we looked beyond breed, pedigree and lineage while choosing a dog.” In terms of cost of purchase and maintenance, social benefits, and general health and hardiness, of course, the Indian dog wins hands down.