When Bandar strides into a dog salon, everybody cheers for this Bombay stray who queues behind an aristocratic Afghan Hound and an elegant Weimaraner for a shampoo session.
Cognac, an eight-year-old Doberman, and Mr Rao take their heart medicine together. Mr Rao chases his capsule with water while Cognac takes his dose with brown bread folded around his tablet.
"All dogs are stars for us," says Gauri Keskar, of Bombay's Tailwaggers Pet Salon which opened early this year. Gauri and her partner co-own this 400 sq foot parlour where they beautify 700 dog-clients, 50 per cent of which belong to first-time owners. They make grooming fun for all, specially double-coated longhaired breeds like Afghan Hounds and St Bernards who need expert care. Since a shampoo and aromatherapy at Rs 150 is affordable, time-strapped owners are also sending in short-haired and small pets.
"There are no bad dogs, there are only bad owners," says Shirin. Her sessions begin with a detailed conversation with the owner after which hostility, insecurity or toilet-training issues are resolved by using food and affection to reinforce good behaviour. Her Rs 10,000 trainer courses get an all-India response. Anu Sethi, 27, advertising professional in Bombay, was an enrollee who now has five clients of her own. "By December, I'd like to become a full-time trainer, this is more fulfilling," she says.
Vengsarkar Shah is Mumbai's only canine cardiologist. A specialisation she chose after her pet had a heart attack. She says from age 7 onwards, 70 per cent of dogs risk cardiac trouble due to genetic predisposition. High-risk groups are males and small dogs. Since surgery costs over Rs 2 lakh, she usually advises medication to help dogs live a full life.
Convenience chow is also catching on. Unlike a sloppy milk and roti meal, branded dog food sold as lamb and rice, chicken and vegetables varieties are popular nutri-combos. Estimating an annual consumption at 4 lakh tonnes, dog food major Pedigree has introduced veggie dog food for the desi market. "Our research shows 80 per cent of Indian dogs suffer from skin and coat problems," says Vikas Mittal, spokesperson for Pedigree. Vets today endorse packaged enriched food as being healthy.
Then there's Choostix, chews laced with mint to keep doggie stress down and breath minty-fresh. "Caesar snaps up five packs of Munchy Stix a month," says Pooja Singh about her German Shepherd.
Sudhir Chandra who set up the Asian Diet Food in 1996 uses raw hide as core ingredient (a rich source of pure protein). He says monthly sales of Choostix have soared from 1,000 to 25-30,000 packs a month. But his creative kick comes from his Dog Pringles which lets mutt and master have a noisy munch together.
So Bollywood scriptwriters, beware of dog-lovers. Stop the dog-baiting. No more insults like kutte kamine, mein tera khoon pee jayoonga. The wag-a-bonders might set their hounds loose.
