More Than Best Friends

LUCKNOW: Ditched in love or depressed after a tragedy in life? Or even if you are feeling lonely, living away from your family, try adopting a dog, preferably a Beagle or a Saint Bernard. A member of the hound family, the Beagle, with his cheerful attitude and playful temperament, will keep you busy the whole day and in no time fill your empty nest, says Prof Devashish Das Gupta, a professor at Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.Pet therapy is a hobby for him. A Saint Bernard is a saint by heart, says Das Gupta. It will bring a smile back to your face with his sweetness and patience, he adds.
Mala and her husband SK Sengupta have two daughters. While one moved out of Lucknow after she was employed with a corporate firm, the other got married and moved to a metro city. Their only companion then was their 17-year-old Golden Retriever. But after he died, the couple was very lonely but could never express it. It was then that Das Gupta suggested their older daughter to gift her parents a Beagle. The family drove down to Punjab to get a Beagle, and within no time, he filled the house with joy and laughter.
“The father has high level of sugar and blood pressure. After I examined the needs of the couple, I advised her to get a Beagle. This is a breed of dog which has protective and takes the vacuum of the house,” Das Gupta says.
By walking, feeding and bathing her pet, Mala, a homemaker, felt a sense of reassurance. “The first two months were very difficult to manage with him. But then we got accustomed to him and now he sleeps with us, and is almost like a child of the family,” says Mala.
Another case is that of a couple from Almora, both senior professors in the university there, who had lost their only son at the age of 21 years to a road accident. The family was in a state of trauma. They stopped coming out of their house. Das Gupta suggested they get a Labrador puppy. The couple travelled 500 km to buy a Lab puppy. Three months later, they recovered from their depression.
This episode confirmed Das Gupta’s belief that a dog is man’s best friend. At the same time, he realized that different breeds of dogs would be suitable in different situations. “I did a lot of studies in this field, studied different breeds, their temperament and personality. Then I realized that we have a wonderful gift in the form of multiple breeds which can become our companion in different situations,” he says.
In the third case, a doctor couple was living alone in Jammu after their two daughters settled in different parts of the country. Fatigued and stressed with their daily routine, the family had nobody when they came home everyday. To them, Das Gupta suggested a Saint Bernard. “After we migrated from Jammu, there was no purpose in my parents’ life. This pet came as a baby in the house. It worked wonders for both my parents. And after a year when my father passed away, he became my mom’s best friend,” says Sheetal Atri, their daughter.
She adds, “The mood fluctuations of my mother reduced. The pet gave her a purpose. He was her responsibility. He used to pull her kurta by his mouth, asking her to take him for a walk. He is a perfect emotional support for her.”
Das Gupta has been a cynophilist or one that is favorably disposed toward dogs since childhood. He has won several awards at dogs shows while he was pursuing his studies in Agra.
“After getting married, I couldn’t keep a dog because my wife doesn’t like them. I was then exploring ways to continue my hobby when I came up with pet therapy,” he says, adding he developed this hobby by studying the suitability and adaptability of different breeds with different types of people. It not only enhanced people’s moods but also reduced stress and helped cure depression, ailments, loneliness and other emotional trauma.
While deciding on a breed, Das Gupta says he focuses on the nature of the problem. Then he considers the time, space, money and manpower resources of the patient. However, Devashish adds that without complete knowledge and familiarity one must not adopt a puppy. It’s a contract of commitment and love for a period of 8-12 years.
Dale Carnegie, in his book ‘How To Win Friends And Influence People’, writes, ‘Did you ever stop to think that a dog is the only animal that doesn't have to work for a living? A hen has to lay eggs, a cow has to give milk, and a canary (bird) has to sing. But a dog makes his living by giving you nothing but love.’
“Dogs allow humans to focus, even for a short period of time, on something other than themselves. This distraction helps pet owners to relax. They have something special to offer to us humans, unconditionally,” says Das Gupta.
People who are averse to dogs or who do not have the time and space to devote towards dogs can keep aquariums to add positive vibes to their homes and lives, concludes the professor.