Where every dog has his day

Dogs should run about, slobber, roll in the mud, and generally be fun – or so you thought. But times have changed: you can now turn your pooch into a four-legged version of yourself at one of many dedicated dog farms that offer services that include aqua aerobics, grooming, behaviour correction, special diets, weight loss, and a lot more.

By Mukesh Khosla

Picture this: A refreshing dip in the pool followed by a leisurely massage, a pedicure, and a five-course lunch. Now picture this, too: The object of this pampering isn’t you but a hairy, snuffly quadruped that makes a habit of violently shaking off water accumulated on its coat. Your mutt.

In metros such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, a dog’s life isn’t so bad even after a dog day afternoon. Or morning. Or evening. Many pet dogs in these cities, with owners who are rolling in the stuff, can now afford concierges and masseurs and personal chefs. I should be so lucky.

Pampering takes on an altogether new meaning with dog boutiques and beauty salons. On offer are shirts, tanks, raincoats, jackets, fancy dog collars, harnesses, leashes, necklaces, and jewellery. Dandy. Once the dressing is done with, in come the feeders, placemats, high chairs, and silver bowls. Dedicated beauty salons offer shampoos, conditioning, grooming, fur clipping, colouring, nail polishing, and fragrances. Dogs come out smelling like roses, which is a bit absurd if you think of it. Dogs should smell of mischief.

Even “dog doctors” have become more than just vets. Dr Ramandeep Chaggar, a Delhi-based vet who prefers to call himself a “canine and feline specialist”, says that people don’t bring in pooches only when they are sick or injured. “My clients come regularly for overall health check-ups of their dog, which includes cleaning of eyes, ears, teeth, brushing, nail-clipping, and checking for parasites,” he says.

This apart from the traditional services from agencies that walk your dog and feed it and groom it. Or bung your tail-wagger in a kennel if you’re going out of town and can’t find a sucker friend to stand in for you.

This is why well-heeled dog-owners flock to Dr Chaggar’s “farm” on the outskirts of Delhi. He is one of the handful of people to have converted his sprawling acreage into a what is kindly called a “dog hotel”, complete with a swimming pool where dogs go through an exacting regimen of aqua aerobics. I didn’t think that dog anatomy would permit any water sport other than pooch paddling.

But I could be wrong. In Delhi alone, there are more than a half dozen “farms”—or dog hotels renamed with an eye on the market as “canine boarding-and-training centres”. Kennel-1, for instance, offers boarding, training, weight loss, grooming, behaviour correction and aqua aerobics, and has trained staff that can ostensibly keep even Rottweilers in fine humour.

A swimming pool, says Dr Chaggar, is “a special treat” for breeds like Golden Retriever and Pointer “as they are natural swimmers”. “For dogs, swimming has the same benefits as it does for human beings,” he says. “It is good for the heart and raises fitness levels. These days, a majority of the dogs are overweight because their indulgent owners feed them all sorts of junk foods like pizzas and burgers. That’s why swimming is essential. It is a better exercise for dogs than even running.” Pizzas and burgers?

Kennel-1 takes dogs with weight problems for short- and long-term stays, where diet food goes in at the slobbery end and a fitness regimen, which includes swimming, walking and other weight loss exercises, is enforced.

Kennel-1 also separately offers air-conditioned and air-cooled boarding. Facilities include handling and care, agility exercises, swimming and tick baths, and basic obedience training and special guard training.

Says Kennel-1 proprietor Shailendra Uniyal, “In our training we use a complete non-force method. It is based on bonding using the pets’ natural instincts, likes and dislikes, thereby building a companionship between the dog and the dog owner. What’s more, we don’t just train the pets, we train owners too. Because without the owners knowing how to handle dogs, any training would be useless.”

Most places like Kennel-1 are “all-services-under-one-woof” centres, offering help in toilet training, taming aggressive dogs, and arranging for national and international relocation. The last service includes all medical, Customs, quarantine and airlines clearances necessary for transfer.

“The industry is growing very fast because of small families and late marriages,” says Uniyal. To erase your frown of incomprehension when he says that, he adds, “So people need company. And what better company than a furry friend? Once you have a pet, you need services. And that’s why we are here.” Oh.

With inputs by Nag Mani