They’re all ‘therapy dogs’ sometimes, offering comfort
Most researchers believe dogs are sensitive to our behaviors, body language and emotions. Many times, these four-legged therapists offer comfort when we need them the most.
A few weeks ago, I was cleaning out our 7-yearold Lab Teddy’s toy basket, and when I pulled out seven tug-of-war toys I immediately slumped, then sighed and fought back tears.
I was upset for two reasons. Those toys weren’t anything special, just 16-inch strips of heavy cotton, several machine-stitched layers with a knot tied at one end. But as a paraplegic and unable to use a sewing machine, when Teddy tugs the last one to shreds, that’s it. There won’t be any more.
The second and most important reason concerns the person who made those toys – my mom. She unexpectedly passed last September.
As I tried not to cry, I looked down and there was a black nose nudging the hand that held one of the tug-of-war toys. Two black eyes looked at me intently. And one large tongue tried to lick my face.
Barkpost.com says dogs notice subtle behavioral changes — slumped shoulders, fragile movements, immobility — and once they do, “they come to provide comfort.”
That’s what happened. Teddy saw and heard things that weren’t normal. Typically, when I have one of those toys in my hands, I would be sitting up straight calling for him in a vibrant, happy voice. This time,
I sat quiet, shoulders slumped.
The pooch used behaviors he thought would get my attention or distract me from what was making me unhappy. Rover.com puts it this way: “Some dogs will put a toy in your lap or nudge you and look to the door to ask for some time outside. Think of it as your dog saying ‘Hey! Don’t feel sad! Let’s do this fun thing instead!’”
I looked at that goofy, loveable face as I rubbed the head of my “therapist.” Without thinking I said, “OK, Teddy, let’s go play.” He proceeded to prance, tail wagging, rump wiggling, with toy shaking, all the way into our living room.
For the next 20 minutes, we played “fetchshake-tug-chew,” a hybrid version of tug-ofwar that I have written about previously in this space.
The clever Lab used one of his front paws to push the toy closer to the floor so he could move his mouth up the cloth strip and gain more control. He then moved in the opposite direction of me to loosen my grip.
When Teddy grabbed the toy from me, he strutted around the room shaking it in the air. Then he plopped down and started ripping it to shreds.
I laughed. My mom would have laughed, too.
Teddy is a loyal and loving dog who never asks for anything in return. Well, maybe belly rubs. And on this day, he gave me comfort.
Now, once a week, until the toys are gone, we’ll play tug-of-war. It’s what my mom would have wanted, and I believe what my “therapist” will insist upon.
Early on in the pandemic, Mi-Anne Chan grew tired of staring at the beige cat tree in her two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, New York. She had been tackling DIY projects during lockdown, so, inspired by the designs of the company Cat Haus, an idea was born.
Chan, 26, allocated a budget of $150 toward upgrading her cat Bootsy’s home. Over the summer, she spent about six days filming the process of stripping and replacing the carpet scraps. She consulted Marci Koski, a cat behaviorist, and learned that Bootsy prefers sisal rope as a scratching post. (A disco ball was also installed to satisfy Bootsy’s lust for shiny objects.)
“The goal was to not have it be so hideous,” Chan said. “In a small apartment, a cat tree takes up so much real estate so you need to have something cute.”
For some time now, aesthetically pleasing cat trees have been popping up on social media. Some may feature vegetable-dyed scratch pads or organic catnip leaf, others a Greek marble base. Behind this reimagination of feline furniture are companies like Cat Haus, Tuft and Paw, Rinn, Petfusion, Litterbox, MiaCara, Tateno and Cattsup.
Lora Lombardi, the 28-yearold founder of Cat Haus, began building cat furniture when her gray tabby cat, Tuesday, started scratching all the furniture in her new apartment. Lombardi, who is based in Portland, Oregon, takes a sustainable approach to her pieces, building patchwork cat towers out of repurposed materials.
“I decided to make her a cat scratcher that wasn’t boring, soulless, beige or from a MegaCorp,” she said.
When Axelle Vertommen, 28, couldn’t find a scratching post that fit with the interior of her home in Antwerp, Belgium, she decided to create her own out of cardboard. In 2018, the interior architect and furniture designer started developing the “gattorre,” a collection of four postmodern scratching posts that cost 275 euros (about $325) each.
In 2001, Kenneth Yuzva was running a carpet company in Los Angeles when he realized he could merge his knowledge of rugs and carpets with 3D design skills to make custom animal furniture.
In 2003, he founded Hollywood Kitty Co. and expanded his carpet business into a makeshift pet furniture factory. Instagram has helped grow his business, and since the pandemic began, Yuzva, who is now based in Cleveland, Ohio, has seen a 20% growth in his orders.
For $899 and a wait time of over a year, customers can get their own “enchanted forest kitty sanctuary.” The piece, which takes Yuzva 250 hours to build, features seven levels and can accommodate over 20 cats.
“I can’t really guarantee that carpet is going to last 100 years, but I do everything I can to get these things to be as strong and well-built as possible,” Yuzva, 47, said.
Jessica Portillo purchased one of the “sweetheart mini scratchers” from Hollywood Kitty Co. in 2019. Portillo, 27, who lives in an apartment in Brooklyn, wants any piece of furniture she buys to match the pink décor of her apartment.
Portillo didn’t mind spending $179 on her cat scratcher because cat trees are “already expensive, so you might as well get a cute one.” She said the heart-shaped piece has become a favorite of her two Persian cats, Sunny and Rodney: “They don’t go anywhere, so I would rather get them something nice where they’re happy, too.”