Nouchka, Tibout & Plume
ph. Amedeo Abello
Nouchka, artist and animal mediation practitioner, brings people together with her dogs. Without her work as an animal mediator, she would definitely not have had Tibout and Plume. One is the "leader of the pack" and the other is the "dog on your arm". Both of them, clingy balls of fur, bring lightness to the secure assisted living facilities (Unités de Vie Protégée, or UVP).
A working companion
“I work in animal mediation, and to tell the truth, that's the only reason I have dogs. Living in Paris, I didn't see the point of having animals and leaving them alone all day in a flat.
When I was a child, I only had cats, a rabbit and a few birds, which we had rescued. I had never had a dog before because my mother never wanted one.
My first cat, Minouche, was very important to me. I was given her when I was six. Growing up in the countryside, I developed an image of dogs as working companions. Dogs were for hunting, for guarding... That's what made me want to work with a dog but I didn't know quite what to do yet and then life brought me to animal mediation.”
A happy coincidence
“It was in Italy, by what we call ‘coincidence’, that I met animal mediation.
At a petrol station, I saw Czechoslovakian wolves, and at that time there wasn’t a lot of knowledge about this breed. The owner worked for the Italian civil security and trained the dogs to search for missing people in the mountains. He also gave animal mediation workshops, which I attended for the first time. Afterwards, I became a volunteer and then I bought my first dog which I trained. I was unable to find a job or training in Italy, so we returned to France. My dog was 3 years old when we started volunteering and integrated the animal mediation training.
I am also an artist, but I totally dissociate my two practices. When I do mediation I am 100% committed and the same goes for my sculpture.”
In the presence of a dog
“Nowadays, I work mainly with elderly people and some multi-handicapped people.
I work in secure assisted living facilities, which accommodate elderly people with Alzheimer's disease or other related disorders, where the residents are profoundly ill. The dogs are there to recreate a social link. Often, these are people who cannot speak anymore or who are no longer in touch with reality. So, there are workshops to bring people together through the dogs. We see patients who no longer communicate and react with humans, yet they end up cuddling the dogs and even talking to them. They come back to life in the presence of an animal.
Over the years, some patients decide not to participate in the activities anymore, so I visit them directly in their room and sometimes accompany them until the end of their life.
At the moment I am looking after a woman who is very depressed. She is in a very negative state of mind, so to put a stop to these thoughts I come with the dogs. She needs affection and lightness, which Tibout and Plume give her.”
An education
“I purchase the dogs. I can't adopt them because I need to know the history of the puppy. I have certain requirements from the breeders, such as females or light coloured dogs, because for some elderly black may not be suitable. I ask the breeder to choose a puppy with a dominant character because the job is very tiring.
I collect the pup when it is two months old, and I make sure that there is always an elder to continue the education that the mother gives. Two months is quite early but it allows me to use the "imprinting" time for the puppy to adapt to the hospital environment. That is, the particular smells, the noises, the people screaming, the sudden movements, the wheelchairs, and so on. At two months old, they are not working, but they are getting used to living with me in this special environment. Today, I have two dogs: Tibout and Plume. The Bichon is a very old breed that has been in Europe since the late Middle Ages. Originally, Bichons came from Mongolia, hence the furry tail on their backs: they used to warn the monks in the Mongolian temples of a visitor. So Bichons are still doing it, like at work with Tibout and Plume, where I need to introduce strangers to them so they will stop barking.”
The dog on your arm
“Tibout, one of my female dogs, is typically a dominant, self-assured dog. Of her litter, she was the most fearless. She is calm and not afraid of anything. She loves water even in the middle of winter, which has caused her a few colds.
It took me two months to find Plume because there is a lot of trafficking in Bichons. Finally, I found her in a dog kennel for beauty contests, something I wanted to avoid.
My neighbour nicknamed her, ‘the dog on your arm’. That is to say, she's good in arms, she loves people. On the other hand, in the street, she is a coward. Especially towards other dogs.
They are two adorable, obedient clingy creatures who are constantly at my feet. They follow me from room to room. In studying dog psychology, parallels can be drawn with human psychology, as in the writings of Boris Cyrulnik, a French neuropsychiatrist and psychologist, and Claude Beata, veterinarian and pet psychologist.
As a sibling, there is a question of jealousy with Plume, who constantly asks for cuddles and attention, and Tibout, who is somewhat crushed. So my vet, a behaviourist, advised me to always put Tibout first. She's the one who has got the makings of a pack leader, there's no reason for Plume to pretend she can't fulfil that role.
When Tibout and Plume play together I call them the Gremlins. You get the impression that they are two stuffed animals. Since they are fast, you no longer know where the head or the tail is.”
