Forum speaker talks about how dogs make us better people.

LEWISTON – In 2005, Lavina Shankar and her husband learned that their cherished 9-year-old German shepherd, Phoebe, had terminal cancer.

The Bates College English professor talked about that experience as the featured speaker at the Great Falls Forum held Thursday at the Lewiston Public Library.

Dog lovers and others listened intently as Shankar, accompanied by her 5-year-old German shepherd, Heidi, gave a lecture titled “Dogs and their Humans: Bonds & Boundaries.”

She talked about how she experienced firsthand the strong connection that can develop between a caregiver and a pet, as well as the lessons she learned in “living, learning and dying” from her canine relationship.

Wrestling with the decision of the costly treatment, Shankar and her husband decided to forgo a new roof on their house and treat their long-time companion for lymphoma until the dog’s death in March 2006.

During the year-long ordeal of Phoebe’s treatment, a community of unlikely supporters developed – kennel owners, carpenters, limo drivers, veterinarians – people Shankar hardly knew, but who understood what it was to love a dog, the way she loved her dog.

“As I was coming to the anniversary of Phoebe’s diagnosis and I knew that I would have to let go (of her) soon, I couldn’t bear the thought of not interacting with those people who had become such an integral part of my community.”

So she created the course “For the Love of Dogs,” which will be offered for the third time from April 27 to the end of May at Bates College. It includes student interaction with dogs and dog care givers as well as a service-learning component. The course does not focus on reading books alone, but on the lived experience students can get from connecting physically with animals and the people who care for them.

“I want my students to live a better life, as I have learned to live a better life, through my love of dogs,” Shankar said.

She has been a member of the Bates College English Department since 1996 with expertise in Asian and British American literature and feminist literary criticism.