As the first face and mascot of Animal
Angels I will be passing the baton on to Pepe, one of gorgeous young and
promising therapy dogs in training. A one year old golden retriever, she is born to therapy
dogs blond mom Kiara and dad Scotty. As Pepe starts to walk in my shoes, she
has so many questions running through her head. She shoots some off to me and I
try and answer them patiently. Excerpts:
You are my hero Goldie.
How long have you been a therapy dog?
It will be seven years in March 2013! I began
training with Minal when I was two month old. It seems like such a long time
ago, but I remember it like yesterday when she first took me to the special
child and taught me how to work with him.
Me and little Pepe
What is the training
process like? How long does it go on?
Depending on how quick you are to learn,
the training takes approximately a year if you start as a pup. As a puppy you
have to learn to enjoy being with new people, in new places, being petting by
strangers, playing gently without hurting people etc. You also learn about
obedience and communication. It’s not as tough as it sounds. It only means you
should learn to talk and understand your handler. Coz many times when you are
actually working with a patient, you don’t have time for the commands and signals.
It just takes a look for me to understand what my handlers –Aakash or Minal- want
and for them to understand what I want. It is this communication and
understanding that is key to being a successful therapy dog.
After that you start your training on
field. You learn about children who are different in the way they talk, walk,
look and understand and you learn to be compassionate with all. You meet people
who are sad or sick and you learn to cheer them up. You may not get all of it
at first but you should learn to rely on your senses to help.
Any particular incident from your work that has stuck with you?
I remember when I was still in training, I
had accompanied my hero, therapy dog Kutty, to a programme where we met people
who had survived or lost their loved ones in a train blast. The scenario was
very new for me. Till then I had mostly worked with children. Kutty went into
the room first, calm, confident, greeting everyone with a tail wag, letting
everyone pet her at their own pace. When
I entered, the room it felt so emotionally charged up, it seemed like people
had been crying. I was nervous, didn’t know how to react. Plus I had never been
with so many people. But I followed Kutty’s and Minal’s lead. I learned that
even though the people were sad and grieving, they were very happy to see us.
Our wagging tails gave them a reason to smile. I learned to relax, to
understand that our touch and our wags were helping heal their sorrow. That really made me grow.....as a therapy dog.
Do you think I can become
a very good therapy dog? What qualities do I have that suit it?
I can tell, you are already on the path, that’s why
Minal and Aakash have already started taking you for visits. You are gentle, obedient and patient. You are learning to observe the humans around you and to
respond to their emotions. Most of the times, humans don’t even realize what
emotion they are going through. It is our role to make them realize it and help
them through it. All these qualities are a must because as therapy dogs, we
work with children and adults who are ill or hurt or sad. Just being there
quietly, letting them pet us or read to us and wagging our tails makes a world
of difference to these humans.
Pepe in training
Don’t you feel like
running with the children? Barking in delight and jumping when the child reacts
as you want him/her to?
When you see people in trouble, doesn’t
your heart just melt? Mine does. I know I have to wait and be patient when a
child takes forever to try and pick up a ball or trying to show me something. I recognize the trouble some kids have in reading which I don’t criticize. I also
know when adults and children have been hurt and I know it is my job to pep
them all up, to build confidence, to show love and to make them care about
themselves. So yes, I do feel like
whooping in joy when the treat comes to me from the scared little hesitant
hands and I do so want to encourage and lick some children who have shown
remarkable progress but I know it can scare them and that would be a disaster.
So I let them take the lead and follow them happily. That’s what training teaches you.
We do feel like jumping and barking
sometimes. It’s not what many people think that therapy dogs can’t have fun,
that they are not allowed to jump, bark, beg and misbehave. We can be spoilt
and pampered pets who roll in the mud or jump in excitement when we see our
loved ones. It’s just that we know the difference in being rough with our
owners and being gentle with the patients. We are professionals and can switch
our roles from being a pet to being a thera-pet.
Is working with children
different from working with adults?
Not very much except that adults listen
lesser than children. Often, adults take longer to unwind as compared to
children. The good bit here is that neither can pretend to be somebody or
something else with us. If they are sad they let it show as they d when they
are happy. Our job is always to pep them up.
What is your secret to
success?
Like I said, it is all about getting into
the mood. At home or at work, it is very
important to put everything that’s in your head aside and to just stay calm.
What do you enjoy most
about your work?
I love to meet children and to see the
smiles on their faces when I just wag my tail. I love to see them squeal in
excitement when I catch a ball in mid air. And these are children who may not
get a chance to smile or play like other normal children. I feel that my
presence makes their life better.
It’s tough to say what I enjoy most....but it
would be the fact that like everybody at home has a job, I have many: I guard
my home and love the people there as well as take care of so many others across
Mumbai!
What do you do to relax?
I like a good massage and brushing from my
mom, Meenu Srivastav. I also like to sleep in my balcony among the plants,
watching pigeons.
Does exercise and eating
a healthy diet help?
You must eat healthy and exercise regularly
for your mind and body. I have a healthy amount of protein in my diet along
with fruits and vegetables. I love to eat coconut and pomegranate, carrots,
cucumber and apples along with a good meal made by Meenu Srivastava. I go for
walks in the morning with my mom or dad. Walking and running together with your
owner is the best exercise. It helps both to remain fit. We also go on the hill
for a small trek sometimes.
Can I also recruit? What
qualities should I look for in my friends so that I know they are capable of
joining Animal Angels?
Of course you can and in fact Pepe you
must. We need more angels to spread the cheer!
We need dogs who are:
- Confident
- Friendly
- Obedient
- Not scared of strangers or new places
- Non-aggressive
- And most importantly CUTE! (naa, just kidding)
You can be of
any breed, any size and any age (above one year) as long as you are confidant,
compassionate and obedient.
What message would you give out to budding therapy dogs like
me?
Keep spreading
the love, one wag at a time.
Written by Uma Karve (with inputs from Minal Kavishwar, Meena Srivastav and Aakash Lonkar)To know more about animal assisted therapy log on to www.animalangels.org.in
Awesome...!
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