Ghaziabad ban on dog breeds: Haven’t you trained your pet? Beware!
Recent incidents of attacks by pet dogs have caused the Ghaziabad authorities to ban Pitbull, Rottweiler, and Dogo Argentino. But animal rescuers and trainers feel that training pets is crucial and pet parents are equally responsible for the safety of everyone.
Reports of pets biting delivery boys, neighbours, or fellow society dwellers have been coming in more often in the recent past. In another unfortunate incident, an 11-year-old girl got injured when a Pitbull dog attacked her, as she was trying to save her pet. In the wake of such attacks, the Ghaziabad authorities have banned Pitbull, Rottweiler, and Dogo Argentino as pets. The decision comes as a safety measure, but is quite layered since some animal lovers fear that it will lead to abandoning of these breeds, and some others fear that it raises concerns for the need to take responsibility to train one’s own pet to avoid such incidents.
‘Rescued six Pitbulls, two Argentino Mastiffs’
“Ever since the Lucknow case (where a woman was killed by her pet Pitbull), people have already started abandoning their Rottweilers and Pitbulls. Just last month, I rescued six Pitbulls and two Argentino Mastiffs from the streets of Delhi,” shares Divya Puri, co-founder of Karan Puri Foundation, adding, “It’s not the dog’s fault, but the owners. It’s because of bad parenting that these breeds are suffering.” Agreeing with this sentiment, Kirpal Singh, a canine trainer based in Vikaspuri, says, “It depends on us ki hum apne dog ko kaise rakhte hain. Before keeping a dog, it’s important to read and know about the breed because every dog thinks differently.”
‘Log ab apne dogs ko train karne ke baad hi rakhna chahte hain’
There’s now a newfound emphasis on training the fur babies. Asserting that Delhiites have certainly become more conscious about the need for this, Devender Singh, a dog trainer based in Vasant Kunj, says, “Jabse aise videos social media pe viral hone lage hain, tabse humare paas dogs ko train karne ki kaafi enquiries aane lagi hain. Earlier people would only enquire about common breeds, but now they specifically want big dogs and aggressive dogs to receive training.”
‘Basic manners toh sikhane padhenge’
Some pet parents are taking to online videos to watch, learn and teach their doggos themselves. “It’s just like how we teach children in the house so that they learn kaise khaana hai, uthana-baithna hai, similarly humein dogs ko bhi sikhana padta hai ki kya sahi hai aur kya galat,” opines Ashu Verma, a dog trainer based in Sonia Vihar, and adds, “We’ve to teach our pets to be patient because that’s what leads to their bad behaviour in the future.”
‘Parents need to work with pets’
“Unless you as a parent don’t practise all day with your dog, it won’t learn even after training,” elaborates Verma, emphasising on the need to give personal time to pets when wanting to ensure that they learn the right behaviour.
Some pet parents like Jatin Bhoj, a Gurugram-based entrepreneur shares his belief in reward-based training, and adds, “Whether you have a small breed or a large one, it’s essential to train it well. I have a husky and I make sure to keep his training in place with a reward-based system. In addition, dogs must be given ample space and exercise so that they don’t get aggressive. But one must definitely remember not to abuse their dogs since it’s not only a horrible thing to do, but you’re literally teaching them to follow the same behaviour!”
Author tweets Anu_95m