Your dog’s depressed, what do you do?

Humaira Ansari
Saturday, July 12, 2008 03:39 IST

Have you ever been in a situation where your otherwise loving and playful pet dog does a volte-face and starts behaving unusually? This could manifest itself in morose behaviour, constant barking, messing up the house, et al. If so, shouting or punishing him isn’t going to help; it’s possible that your pet is suffering from a mental illness.

And that’s where dog therapists, Shirin and Junaid Merchant, come in. In a city, where people think twice before consulting a counsellor, taking an animal to a dog therapist is often seen as a joke. But through their organisation, Canine Care, the couple conducts activities and workshops where owners are trained to understand the mindset of their dogs. Their training expertise helps owners deal with dogs suffering boredom, aggression, chewing and other compulsive disorders. While Shirin works with one of the world’s most renowned animal behaviourists, John Rogerson, Junaid’s area of expertise is canine obedience.

“To correct a behavioural problem in a dog or any other animal, the first step is to gain an in-depth understanding of the mind of the animal,” says Junaid, who has been in this field for the last 25 years. He admits that people are yet to open their minds to this concept. “People who know of dog therapists still refrain from going to one. They say, ‘My dog doesn’t need a shrink’,” he says wryly.

But their clients can’t stop singing their praises. Behroz Mistry swears by the couple’s innovative methods that helped correct her dog’s behaviour. Recounting her first encounter with Shirin, Behroz says, “I had a problem dog; this was one stray puppy I found in Goa. He used to bark a lot, and was very aggressive.” Having attended a three-month programme with Shirin, Behroz claims to have benefited immensely from the aid and counselling she got. “It not only helped my dog, but also helped me professionally since I am a dog trainer and groomer myself,” she says.

Owners can’t simply drop off their pets with the Merchants and hope that everything will turn out hunky-dory. Owners and pets have to bond with each other under the supervision of the therapist over a series of sessions. Junaid believes that offering psychological advice and treating behavioural problems is very different from training an animal, which is often mechanical. He elaborates: “We talk of training dogs, but look at the street dogs — they are not trained, but they know who will shoo them away, who are their friends, and so on.”

Most of the counselling time is spent not with the dog but with the owners. Justifying the rationale behind this, Junaid says, “The attention span of a dog is usually five minutes, after which it gets distracted. It either wants to play, sleep or just fiddle around. Hence, through interaction with the owner we need to identify and understand the reason for the behavioural change, and then work towards the remedy.”

Canine Care also works with pets whose owners are physically challenged — a concept which though popular in the West, is still in its nascent stage in India. Thanks to Shirin, 29-old Sanam Rabade, who is a paraplegic, and is paralysed waist downwards, now has a trained dog — Magic — to help her. “Magic has really brought magic into my life,” says Sanam. “He opens and shuts doors, can switch on lights, fetches me things like the remote control, et al.” But Sanam has her doubts as to whether such dogs will gain popularity in India. “Our society is not dog-friendly. We don’t have any laws supporting physically challenged people to keep trained dogs. In fact, most public places do not allow dogs,” she says. Junaid, however, feels that there is scope for training dogs in this area, too.

He says, “Dogs are intelligent living beings. To teach a dog, you don’t need force, but healthy interaction and communication.” Dogs communicate with their body. All their emotions, whether they are happy, sad, angry or playful, are expressed through a very distinct body language. The duo helps the owners in the interpretation of their pet’s body language which is of key importance.

The approach and methodology adopted by the couple is not one of fear or force, but through love, positive reinforcement and rewards. According to Juanid, owners need to understand that pets are not simply status symbols. “What people need to realise is that it’s not just about having a pet, but the responsibility and commitment towards it,” he says.

Your pet is like you — there are days where he’ll be moody or depressed. And ignoring him is not going to solve the problem.

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