Dr. Nalinika Obeyseraka, a Veterinary Surgeon at PetVet was approached by Life Online to discuss a pet owner’s responsibilities towards the pet and the society they live in.
One of the many reasons as to why we decided to highlight this topic is the fact that there is a spectrum of human beings in the society we live in - from those who adore pets, to people who tolerate them and to those who simply cannot stand pets. In order for pets and pet lovers to be accepted in society we have to train them and make sure that they do not disrupt the lives of other people.
Speaking on the subject, Dr. Obeyseraka explained that as a pet owner, you have to be conscious about your pet’s behaviour and make sure that it doesn’t disturb other people in society.
“Some pet lovers might question as to why we need to change a pet’s behaviour just so that it would be accepted and by doing so we are changing the pet’s personality and traits.
But in reality, it’s not practical as we live in a society which includes different types of people. In order for society to accept you and your pet, you have to curtail some of its behaviour. It’s similar to a person changing his or her traits in order to be accepted by society.”
She went on to explain that we need to look at the bigger picture as we are not only responsible towards our pet; we also have a responsibility towards our family, friends and the society as a whole, when we rear a pet.
Speaking in terms of training, the Veterinary Surgeon said that pets specially dogs, must be trained in some basic areas.
Walking on a leash
Not barking excessively
Not jumping and not dirtying in public (and if they do the owner must take the responsibility and clean it up)
“Dogs will learn almost anything if you take time to teach them. Any breed of dog should know to walk, sit, lie down and stay till you ask him to do otherwise and come when you call him. These are the most basic things that all dogs should know,” Dr. Obeyseraka said.
Explaining the techniques when training a dog, she said that there are many ways to train a dog as no two dogs are alike and you can use a method that works best with your dog.
However she stressed that you need to be consistent when you train dogs in terms of the words you use and the commands you give.
“Before you train a dog make time to read at least three different books on dog behaviour and training so that you can learn the best method that will suit you and your dog.
You need to understand that although dogs are smart creatures they are not very good at understanding subtleties. For example, if you allow your dog to jump on you and try to stop them from jumping on your friends or visitors they will not understand the difference. So if you don’t like them jumping on others you need to teach them that jumping on anyone is not acceptable at any given time,” Dr. Obeyseraka stated.
She further stressed that dogs can be taught anything at any given age but it takes more time and effort to teach them to unlearn a bad behaviour in comparison to preventing it in the first place.
In order to create a good bond between you and your pet there has to be trust and respect involved like in most relationships.
So if your dog trusts and respects you and your judgments, the teaching process will be quite easy as they know that you will never cause them distress or put them through a bad experience.
One must also know that if you break this trust, it can never be fixed.
(Text by Sherwani Synon)
0 Comments
Rohani says:
Apr 20, 2012 at 08:23 amI have a pet crossed male dog who is very obedient to me but he never allows any outsiders to come into the house I face a difficult situation to make him to get into the kennel which he never like and sometime my friends have to return back.
Also to take him for a bath too he does not like he growls at me when I try to give a bath please help me how to make him obey on the above two situations I face with. Thank you.