VISAKHAPATNAM:Canines may soon extend a helping hand to mentally challenged patient to cope up with their health problems.

The Psychology department at Andhra University is working on a research project to introduce ‘Pet Therapy’ for the first time in the country, in collaboration with University of Seoul, South Korea. The Psychology department research scholars have been working on the project as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in 2007 and as part of it they have been training a dog for the last four months. Gulliana Galli Karimatee, a specialist in Psychiatry from South Korea,  visited the AU and interacted with the authorities here Sunday.

Gulliana said that this was for the first time the therapy was being introduced in India. It would help differently-abled people come out of their behavioural and mood problems with the help of dogs, she said. Explaining the behavioural problems of the children suffering from attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), Autism and other mental disorders, Gulliana said that there were only a few special schools providing behavioural and cognitive treatment for mental disabilities.

In Visakhapatnam, there are only a few which are not effective, she added. Explaining Pet Therapy she said that the researchers would take a dog and train it in all ways thoroughly so that it could be friendly with the people. After training the dogs would be introduced to the mentally disabled children to develop a friendly relationship with them.

MVR Raju, head of Psychology department at AU said that in these days, people don’t have much time to spend with the mentally challenged children. The Pet Therapy would be a boon to them. “The dog after training would be introduced to the children and it would interact with them like his/her friend. In such an environment, children can play games and the neurological system would work well. Even the fingers movement would be effective,” he added.

There are several other therapies like Neuro biofeedback, yoga and behavioural modification, the professor said.

The first doctoral research on Pet Therapy in India is being taken up by a student, Georgitta. She brought her dog named Diana (Golden Retriever breed) to the University and explained the training given to the dog and how the dog in turn will deal with the children with mental disabilities.

Georgitta said that the one-year-old dog is being trained for the last four months and after the training, it will be used for therapy on children with Autism. “This breed of dog is one of a kind. Often assisted therapy doesn’t show any aggressive levels though the special children react negatively but the dog is very much active and playful,” she added.