DOGS AT WORK

ON TAKE YOUR DOG TO WORK DAY, WE SHINE THE SPOTLIGHT ON SOME OUR HARDWORKING FURRY FRIENDS AND EXPLORE WHAT LIFE IS LIKE FOR THEM

At one point or another in your life, you are bound to witness a universal truth or perhaps form a bond that transcends this universe, which in plain speak is the bond with a dog.

On Take Your Dog To Work Day, we bring you canines that go to work.

FUR THERAPY ( COMFORT DOGS)

Cuddly cuteness isn’t what one would associate with a venue like Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport ( CSIA) departure terminal. But that’s exactly what therapy dogs Pearl, Pepe and Sunshine bring to the place. Acting as instant mood lifters, the trio hang around the corridors, beguiling passengers from all over the world. CSIA became the first Indian airport to start such a service to comfort passengers from travel stress and anxiety in September 2015, informs Minal Kavishwar, founder of Animal Angels.

These golden retrievers are handled by Animal Angels, an organisation that specialises in animalassisted therapy.

Pepe is a seven- year- old female golden retriever, and her colleagues Pearl and Sunshine are four and five years old. The trio goes to the airport every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for six hours in the evening to comfort children and passengers fraught with anxiety, long lay- offs and jet lags.

That they are all females and golden retrievers is incidental and has nothing to do with becoming a therapy dog. Today Pearl, Pepe and Sunshine do not work at the airport anymore but are involved in various other fields.

“Now Sunshine works for various corporate comfort dog programs and also visits the Vasant Vihar School in Thane regularly to play with specially- abled children.” Kavishkar says.

“Pepe, on the other hand, is deeply invested in various research programmes. She also recently was an active agent in promoting World Heart Day at Wockhardt hospitals. She is a pioneer in introducing animal therapy in different fields and also works with special schools and old age homes,” she adds.

TWO CENTS ON THERAPY DOGS

Aakash Lonkar, director of Mumbai for the Animal Angel, busts a few myths around therapy dogs. He says, “Therapy dogs are trained in a very different way from other dogs. We also train the families of these dogs because the role of the family is very important in raising the dog to be a therapy dog. We cannot keep the dog in a kennel and say that these dogs are therapy dogs. When we train the family, the role of the family is to maintain the emotional stability of the dogs very positively. There cannot be any negative reinforcement during this training period. The dog shouldn’t be left alone, shouldn’t be tied up or shouldn’t be hit by anyone. Because when these dogs are working with other people there should be no fear or anxiety in the dog.”

He adds, “So if someone is not at home, the dog may get anxious because it cannot interact with the owner. Therefore, maintaining the calm and positive state of the dogs is very important. When these dogs are working in d i f f e r e n t s e t t i n g s , what we also look at is the interest level of that dog in approaching or meeting people. We cannot force the dog to interact with people. So the willingness of the dog to interact with different people is very important. Along with that the temperament of the dog has to be very calm, very docile, the dog should not jump or bark at other people. He or she must be friendly and approachable. These are the requisites for a therapy dog.”

Therapy dogs Pearl, Pepe and Sunshine go to the airport every Friday, Saturday and Sunday to comfort passengers from travel stress and anxiety