They say man is a social animal. But guess what? So is his best friend. Keeping your pooch cooped up in your swanky three-bedroom apartment without any space to run around and play or restricting him from socialising with other pooches is not the way to go. As they grow more aware of their doggie’s needs, pet owners across the country are doing their best to find ways to create a social life for their animal and engage with them more closely in an effort to build a stronger bond.
A consequence of this realisation has been the arrival of events catering to a day of fun for both pooch and master. ‘Doggie day out’, as it is popularly known, provides an opportunity for a group of pet parents to bond with their pooch and get him to socialize too.
Ragani Parmar and Shivani Mathur started Party Barky Hai to do something exciting for their own dogs and have other dogs join in the fun too. Says Shivani, “Both Ragani and I are very active pet parents and we could never figure out what more to do with our dogs than take them for walks, drives and occasionally to a friend’s house.” So Party Barky Hai was born in March 2011 in Mumbai. “We have done about 30 events — which include birthday parties, doggy day outs, breakfast with your pets and a pet friendly restaurant. We organise games, stalls, food and beverage for owners and pets and behaviour counseling,” she says.
For Srikanth Shankar of Anvis Inc, Bengaluru, doggie events are an attempt to give apartment dogs a relief. Anvis Inc organises dog picnics and weekends away nearly every three months and charge anywhere between `5,000 and `7,000 depending on the kind of event. “We have a theme each time. While the first time pet parents and their pooches gathered at a farm, a group of nearly 20 families and their dogs made a trip to Yelagiri recently. We pride ourselves on being a complete family program,” says Srikanth.
While a friendlier, more social and obedient dog is bound to be the outcome of such events, Arunudhay Reddy of Dog Lovers Chennai, insists that such events also help the dog community grow and support each other with useful pet information. “We’re a close knit group in Chennai. Our last event had close to 40 dogs and 90 people,” he beams.
The club organises its events at Escapade on OMR and we make it a point to meet once a month. “All dogs have benefited greatly from these meets. Indian dogs especially have grown to be less nervous or aggressive.”