Your pet is much more than a guard or toy: Dog trainers

NAGPUR: Even the most ardent

animal lover

would balk at the idea of an

animal trainer

asking him to be present and get trained during a session organized for the pet. But Tanya Patel, a canine trainer and behaviourist, insists upon the owner being part of the training. “I believe in training both so that the training that I impart to the pet is in sync with the owner’s behaviour towards the animal,” she says.

A certified trainer from

Northern Centre

for Canine Behaviour (UK), Patel has learnt to handle dog behaviour, dog aggression and basic

dog training

. “An untrained dog leads a cooped life as he cannot be taken everywhere. While when the right training has been imparted to a dog he learns to behave correctly even in public places and can be taken everywhere,” says Patel.

If not trained to stay alone a dog can destroy homes when left alone, an anxious dog can disturb the neighborhood with his constant barking, says Patel. “People approach me with specific problems. But, how the training goes depends upon the age of the dog, his pedigree and habits,” she says. “Many pet owners treat their dog like a child,” she says and adds, “Most of the time the owners are clueless about how they have to act with the pet. I tell about the certain boundaries they need to confine within.”

To put the involvement of the owner and pet on a healthier ground, Patel says that she teaches simple tricks to the dog. “Wiping face with the towel is one such trick which can make a dog very well mannered. Then there is this ‘dishoom’ trick where if an owner points his two fingers towards the dog and says ‘dishoom’ the dog lies on the floor as if hit by a bullet,” says Patel. “I also do events with the pets like doggy parties where owners come with their dogs and we do tricks on occasions like birthdays,” she adds.

But, Patel has goals beyond basic obedience from pets. Her expectations are from the society too, so she takes sessions for school kids to make them pet friendly. “I take a pet to the school and teach children how to behave with it or how to approach a dog. I want them to go away from the class thinking something good about dogs,” she says. With compassion towards the animal being the major focus, Patel is attempting to bridge the gap between man and the animal. “I work to make the spaces pet friendly. What I am trying to tell is that if a dog is well behaved he can be taken anywhere even to restaurants, offices and music festivals,” she says.

Recent acts of cruelty towards animals also make it imperative that the man-animal bond be strengthened further. “We have to make public places more pet friendly and have to train owners to owe responsibility for their pet in public. Like they have to learn to clean up their pet’s poo,” she adds.

Many owners want their pets to perform fantastic tricks, feels Sarang Hulke, another dog trainer.

“Such owners are inspired by films and television shows and want their dogs to perform tricks like fetching milk from the fridge or swimming underwater to fetch a ball,” he says. “But a pet dog is not just a security guard or a toy. The owners have to be sensitive towards their pet and train them well so that they can be socially acceptable beasts,” he says. Most of the owners take up pups as they find them cute and when the pup grows up they want to give it away, he adds.

Imparting good training to the dog would mean that he can be controlled with words, says Sanjay Dangre who has been training dogs for 25 years. “There are dog lovers and also those who hate animals. But if a dog has been trained well he is acceptable to everybody and even those who don’t like pets begin to get sensitive towards the animal. That should be the ultimate purpose,” he says.