Need some paw-sitivity? Fur Ball Story is just a call away!

Fur Ball Story is an initiative that involves a heartfelt connection between people and dogs. Bringing their fur army to different workplaces, they aim to reduce workplace stress for employees and encourage sensitising people towards dogs.

It all started when a college decided to get puppies on their campus. While the students were busy giving belly rubs and getting sloppy kisses, one of them sat to observe the drastic change in the atmosphere and decided to spread this unconditional love in the world. That’s how Fur Ball Story was born. The brainchild of Animesh Katiyar (lawyer) came into being when he shared this idea with me, Arushi Dixit (designer) and Kunal Daral (computer science engineer), in 2016 in Delhi and since then there has been no looking back.

Imagine this, you are at your office and are being yelled at by your boss because you couldn’t adhere to the deadlines. You cannot share this with your husband because he is already suffering from stress at work, or even your bestie because your pain is nothing in front of heartbreak.

At this juncture, the HR of your company organises a session wherein dogs are brought to the office premises and employees can spend quality time with the furry friends.

The moment you enter that room, three adorable furballs come running to you with wagging tails. While you spend some time with them, you are in awe of those adorable eyes that look at you in a non-judgmental manner and those sloppy kisses that are wiping your blues away. That pretty much sums up the experience of our clients.

It is true that this world is a difficult place to be in. But when we have adorable canine angels willing to spread love around, the opportunity must be grabbed with both hands.

Pawsitive pet therapy

The concept of ‘pet therapy’ is a scientifically proven one. Harvard Medical School conducted a research titled ‘Get Healthy, Get a Dog’. The results showed that by spending time with a dog, there is a considerable decrease in Cortisol (stress hormone) and blood pressure, and an increase in Serotonin and Dopamine. This makes us feel lighter and happier and increases our levels of productivity.

Furry army

We currently have three dogs in our Furry Army–Angel (Golden Retriever), Muffin (Labrador) and Cocoa (Shih-Tzu). While Angel and Muffin are undergoing therapy training from Varun Anand, an internationally certified dog trainer, Cocoa is just a peaceful companion dog. He goes to the sessions to help those who are afraid of dogs. It has been seen that with him around, such people tend to eventually get friendly with Angel and Muffin as well. They stay with us in Gurgaon and are well taken care of.

Our motto

Our motto is two-fold, to help reduce stress of people right at the basic level, so that it doesn’t escalate to the chronic stage, and to sensitise people towards dogs. In the wake of recent events of animal cruelty, such an initiative was much needed. We also promote adoptions. The concept of pet therapy is very prevalent in the west and we had no clue of what to expect when we first started. We have been facing a lot of criticism too, like any other new idea would. There are people telling us what to do and what not to do. But we believe in listening and moving on.

As of now we have given sessions of Animal Assisted Interventions at several residences and corporate organisations, including – Nagarro, Cars24, ScoopWhoop, SoDelhi, Burger King, CoHo, Make My Trip and the like. We also provide our services pro bono to non-governmental organisations and have given so in the past to Make Love Not Scars, Shashiraj Foundation, etc. We are looking for more such places for our furry soldiers to leave their paw prints at. It is said that a dog is the only creature on Earth who loves you more than he loves himself. Please give us an opportunity to provide you with that love.