Know Your Pooch
VK Joshi
The writer is former director, GSI, and an avid animal lover. His understanding of man's best friend comes from over six decades of dedicated association with it
The man and dog affair is more than 50,000 years old. It is said that the cave dwellers brought home puppies from the packs in the forests. These puppies gradually adopted mankind as their master and in return, they began to guard his cave and children too. As time went by some of them began to assist the master in hunting and many developed the art of keeping the livestock herd of their master in one place. Thus, both man and dog found a reason to live together.
Way back in 1896 in undivided India, the first dog show of pure-bred dogs was organised by the Kennel Club of India at Lahore. This gave rise to the culture of rearing the purebred dogs. The advantage of this was that the size and temperament of the puppies could be predicted in advance.
Gradually, the dog game evolved and rose to greater heights. Today, like horses, the purebred dogs are exorbitantly costly. On the other hand, the demand for dogs too has increased many folds. Many people buy dogs just for a fancy and after a few months abandon them on the streets. In India, during COVID maximum number of such cases were recorded. In the meanwhile, the Government strengthened the laws about cruelty to dogs. No one can now harm the dog on the street. So far so good. But no one in the government thought of opening large shelters for the strays. Individuals and NGOs did come forward and opened dog shelters. Now such shelters can be seen in every town.
When you acquire a pedigreed dog, the shape, size, and to a certain extent temperament are well known. For example, if you buy a two-month-old Great Dane pup, he would be a huge brute, while a Chihuahua pup of the same age may reach you in a shoe box. While breeding the responsible breeders try to select pairs with even temperament. Certain breeds like Labradors are neither supposed to growl nor bark and an attack is preposterous. But I have myself escaped from being mauled severely by a friend’s Labrador. The standards for breeds like GSD, Doberman, Rottweilers, etc. are so rigid about temperament that in a show ring even if one of these breeds growls at the Judge, he is thrown out of the show ring, howsoever beautiful he may be!
Therefore, in my opinion, adopting a puppy from a dog shelter is a gamble. You will never be able to guess its size and shape. However, a dog remains a loveable creature, irrespective of size, colour, and shape. Problems arise when you realize that you have adopted a vicious dog. Normally they don’t show these traits as a puppy. Once they realize that they can overpower you, they start showing their fangs. Here I have a point to clarify. Dogs do carry some inherent problems of temperament. But a majority of ill-behaved dogs develop bad characters due to the ignorance of the shelter home, the master at the new home or their pet parent’s home.
One must remember that a dog survives on his instincts. One of the prime instincts is the hunting instinct. Secondly, dogs are foragers. They hunt for their food and in search of which they travel long distances. Once out of the wilderness, they adopt our food waste as their food. That is why you find hordes of dogs searching for food at the municipal waste dumps or the backyards of the eateries. Very often the dogs/pups at the shelters are from this kind of background. While foraging for food they often fight with their competitors. Thus, attacking at the slightest suspicion becomes their nature.
By these adverse remarks, I don’t intend to discourage my readers. A dog remains a dog irrespective of its background or past life. But as a new pet parent, you must be aware of such possibilities. Thus, in order to keep yourself and the family safe from day one start training the dog for the command Stay. I have often repeated the easiest method is to hold the dog after serving the food for five seconds and give the command Stay preceded by his name. All this is done in whispers. Remember his hearing power is 80 times more than yours. Hence no point in shouting. Gradually increase the count and let him wait from seconds to minutes to even as much as two hours.
The advantage of this command is that the dog learns to Stay and then it becomes easy to control him. The next command that can be taught to any dog of any temperament is to Come when called. It is perhaps easier than to teach stay. It becomes still easier when associated with food. First, fix a time for feeding and be punctual, because their biological clock is more precise than a Swiss watch. Once he gets used to his feed time call him near the place where you feed him about 15 minutes before the actual time. The command to Come should always be preceded by his name. As soon as he comes to you make lots of fuss and give him a small treat. Thereafter ignore him. Repeat after a few minutes but before his actual feed time. Two or three such repetitions at that time will assure him that this command gives him a treat and ultimately his food as well. In no time he learns this command.
Now you have two very strong commands to control your dog. The third but most important part is socialising a puppy or a dog. You may be wondering why socialising is so important. Remember that dogs are domesticated wild animals. They are genetically tuned to a completely different society. In the wilderness, they don’t have TVs, cars, or the loud noise of DJs, etc. They are used to completely different kinds of smells. In the wilderness, no one cooks food or meat, and no one uses an aftershave. They may have adjusted with the human society, but they still have the instincts of the yore, that guide them to survive. Yet a sudden burst of loud music or a car roaring past does startle them and shake them to the core. One of the instincts they carry is the association of ideas and experiences. Thus, if after a walk on a crowded street, they get a reward, they associate the hustle and bustle of the street with the reward.
In order to socialise a dog, a lot of patience is required. If you bring home a puppy from a shelter, never take him in your lap to watch TV. Better keep the puppy away from the TV room and gradually introduce him to the noise of the TV. Each time he maintains a calm attitude, reward him with a treat. Likewise, you have to get him used to all the household sounds (which may be noise for him)!
To get him used to the sounds of the road and the smells there, it is best to take him out initially late at night or very early in the morning. The day he accepts a reward from your palm in a crowded, busy street, you can assure yourself that he is socialised.
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