June 18, 2017
He has 21 dogs, some of them strays he had rescued. Caring for them is payback for the two instances when canines proved to be his lifesaver, says this former fitness trainer
PLAYTIME Lakandula plays with his dogs at his home in Dasmariñas, Cavite. —PHOTOS BY RICHARD A. REYES
People who see his social
media posts marvel at how Jerry Lakandula manages to walk more than 10 dogs of
varying breeds at the same time without them snapping at each other or getting
their leash all tangled up. It’s easy to
imagine him the stern paterfamilias out to save an unruly brood from their
undisciplined selves.
But in fact, it is his dogs
that saved Lakandula’s life. Twice.
“I had a difficult
childhood,” the 44-year-old former fitness trainer recalled, adding that his
mother had left him with his grandmother in Manila when he was young.
But while the old woman was
good to him, other members of the family were not. To punish him for his
misdeeds, they would lock him up in a room where the dogs were kept.
“They would lick my tears
when I cried,” he said. “At that time, I thought they were just being
affectionate. It was only later when I realized that dogs like the salty taste
of tears,” he added with a laugh.
Such close company helped
Lakandula develop a strong bond with dogs that
would later prove to be a lifesaver.
Parkinson’s
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s
disease five years ago while he and his wife were working in Kuwait, he had
thought of ending his life.“I fell into depression,”
Lakandula confessed.
The thought of not being
able to control his movements devastated him because they were required of his
job as a physical trainer and fitness consultant.
Parkinson’s is a
neurodegenerative brain disorder that results in the brain slowing down in its
production of a neurotransmitter called dopamine.
With less and less dopamine,
people lose their ability to regulate movements and emotions.
WALKING THE DOGS No sweat, Lakandula says of walking half a dozen dogs on his bike.
Fortunately, Lakandula came
across dog expert Cesar Millan’s “The Dog Whisperer” program.
“I watched his videos and read his books over and over,” he said.
“I applied everything I’ve
learned. That was how I became a dog behaviorist,” he added.The former fitness trainer
met Millan in one of the dog expert’s visits in Asia a few years ago.
Lakandula’s current “dog
days” was a sharp departure from his life as a certified personal trainer and
bodybuilder who used to compete at Kuwaiti bodybuilding shows in the mid to the
late ’90s and had celebrity high-end clients.
He once gave a fitness
lesson to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, he said in an interview with
Petr Svab of The Epoch Times.
But the good life had a
price, he told Svab. Despite the money, the new car, signature clothing and the
latest gadgets, Lakandula started having health
problems—insomnia, tremors.
One time, he almost had a stroke.
Five years ago, when he was 39, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Gradually,
he started losing control over his body and
emotions to the point that he contemplated suicide.
Redemption
But his dogs proved to be his
redemption. “When I’m with a dog, I live in the moment. I don’t think of
the future, I don’t think of the past, and I act instinctively,” he told Epoch
Times.It’s a state of mind and body
that he has learned to master over time.
Today, Lakandula and his family
take care of 21 dogs in their home in Dasmariñas, Cavite. Most of the pooches
of various breeds were adopted, while a few were surrendered to them by pet
owners.
His affinity with dogs has
given him enough occasion to practice one of Millan’s teachings: “Dogs respond
to unbalanced energy in one of three ways: fight, flight or avoidance.”
“I can’t be stressed because
dogs can sense it,” he said.
“It would be difficult for me
to ‘control’ them if my mind is not at peace,” he added.
A research by the University of
California Los Angeles on animal-assisted therapy showed that “anxiety scores
dropped 24 percent for participants who received a visit from the volunteer-dog
team.”
The researchers also found that
dogs help in lowering the levels of stress hormone epinephrine.
WATER BABIES Lakandula shares bath time with his pooches at home.
Stress management
“Dogs help me
in stress management,” Lakandula said.
The more he learns about
dog behavior, the more he gets to know about himself, said
this self-taught dog behaviorist.
He used to be ill-tempered
during his younger years, but is now the exact opposite, he said, adding that
he won’t allow Parkinson’s disease to prevent him from doing the things he used
to do, at least for now.
In fact, he’s looking for
funding to be able to attend a training that Millan will conduct in September
in California so he can be better at helping owners deal with their dogs’
errant behaviors.For now, he continues his
routine: walking his 21 dogs before the sun rises and late in the afternoon.
It helps that his family’s
support for this newfound love knows no bounds. They had renovated their home
to fit the needs of his dogs, to the extent that their lawn had been replaced
with concrete flooring to serve as training ground for the canines.
Even his youngest daughter,
now 21, decided to shift from education to physiotherapy so she could help her
father manage his Parkinson’s disease.
Explaining the changes
around him, Lakandula said, maybe in jest: “I train dogs and humans.”
But would dogs be easier to
train? one asked.
“Ay, sinabi mo (You bet),”
said this Filipino pack leader.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/906474/the-dogs-that-saved-me
