Should I Adopt A Pet Dog?

Should I adopt a pet dog is a book that I wrote to help a person understand whether he or she is willing to go forward with the responsibility and commitment. A puppy is neither a soft toy nor a commodity available in the market. A licking fur ball of a puppy releases all the right hormones and makes us look forward to adopting one. But do we have the time, energy, interest, inclination and above all the need to play pack and pack leader with an animal from another species till death do us part? How far are we willing to compromise to cater to the needs of the dog? Do we really know what are the needs of the dog? Who will clean the poop and the vomit? What if the dog is a toilet training disaster? This book answers many such questions and makes us aware of the implications of owning a pet dog. Owning a dog has a positive impact on our sociability, communication skills, leadership qualities, team spirit, emotional quotient, physiological and psychological health. Benefits are many and so are constraints and compromises. The book is an essential read for all those who are thinking of adopting a pet dog. It may give a new perspective to even old time dog owners. The book is available at Amazon. Here I have made all the chapters available as an open source material. If you like it, you may download it from Amazon and keep it in your cloud library as a ready reference. Please do give a rating and feedback at Amazon.

Preface

Loving a dog is easy but keeping one is difficult. The word 'keeping' is misleading in its intent because in this context keeping is akin to adopting. Anybody can keep a dog but only a few can adopt one and make a pack being the alpha.

In a country like India there is no dearth of dogs. Every city is full of dogs making a living out of the garbage dump. Mongrels are as commonplace as mosquitoes. Puppies happen twice a year and you can adopt those puppies free of cost. On the other hand, if you have a fascination with any particular breed and if you have the money to afford it, then you can always buy from a pet shop. So, getting a dog is not a very difficult task. It is available for free and at the same time it is available with an exclusive tag attached to its breed identity.

The problem starts with your idea of the dog. The dog for some is a bootlicker to be placed beside the door mat outside the house and the room. The dog for some is too intrusive, clumsy, boisterous and therefore a threat to peace and perfection. Some others may think of dog as an unclean creature infested with diseases and spreading disease like the medieval rats of Dark Ages. Few others may think of the dog as an unnatural development of the puppy which was welcomed as a soft toy worth a cuddle but not welcomed as a big dog. For them a puppy is a cutie-pie but a dog is just a liability. Then there are some who are prone to use their dog as a fashion accessory and not a social animal having emotional needs. The idea of the dog as a supportive companion is not really prevalent. But the idea of a dog as a thing surviving on leftovers and guarding our home against intruders is a well-accepted belief. Some people who are well off appoint a person (a sort of a nanny) to look after the needs of the dog. It is like having a chauffeur to drive a car, a butler to answer to the doorbell.

The dog doesn’t need a nanny and you don’t deserve a dog for a dog is neither a car nor a doorbell, but a dog is a living thing giving love and needing love. This book is meant for all those who are attracted to the idea of adopting a dog. Here I have attempted to make them aware of the implications of that attraction, for a dog is not a tissue paper to be used and conveniently disposed.

A dog has the potential to make a leader out of us. It can significantly lower our stress levels by exposing us to a world of emotional fulfilment. It can guard us not only against malevolent intruders but also mental health problems. A happy dog often radiates the happy heart of its human. So, a dog can be our anti-depressant, our counsellor and our psychiatrist. The boundless joy of the dog can be our connection to a world of contentment, peace, love and happiness. With a dog beside us we are never lost, for we are always in touch with the right values and with the love that colours the core of our being. In the world of EQ, the North Star is the special bond that we share with our dog which makes it look at us with awe, faith and love. This book attempts to throw light on all that by talking about the different aspects of the relationship between the dog and its human.

Acknowledgement

I am thankful to my dogs – Gunda, Johnny, Bhomball, Ram Singh, Dodo, Fido and Ginger for coming into my life at different age points and providing me with an experience which helped me build my ideas and perspective. It all started from my childhood and 45 years later I feel indebted to my dogs for teaching me the worth of the extraordinary relationship that is shared between a dog and its human.

I am also thankful to my grandfather who introduced me to dog training and care. I am not a professional trainer or breeder, but still I have inherited his instinctive acumen and understanding in handling dogs.

A thanks is also deserved by my parents who exposed me to that special bond between a dog and the human by providing me with a pet-dog. They were open to the idea of keeping a dog and allowed me that pleasure; and thus, played a very important role in expanding my heart to incorporate a cross-species empathy, understanding and communication.

I am thankful to my wife who worked on her irrational fear of dogs, her childhood conditioning, her prejudice; and adopted a dog on my suggestion to primarily make me happy, to understand me better, to have a common interest to talk and share. She made a conscious effort to work on her fear and ended up opening the locked doors leading to love and for that I shall be ever thankful to her. I introduced her to the world of dogs and today she seems like a natural inhabitant of that world. I thank her for the leap of faith and for her acceptance of a worldview which sees the lick of the dog more than its exposed canine. She adjusted, she accepted, and she acceded to her own heart and found herself anew, redefining her role as a human caring for another species with which we share this planet. I must thank her for making that all important journey from fear to faith and finding a friend in a dog.

Contents

01. Are You Ready?

02. Do You Want To?

03. What do you want?

04. Food And Poop

05. Disease and Dirt

06. Exercise And Entertainment

07. Training And Discipline

08. Friendly Or Aggressive

09. Boy Or Girl

10. Death And Depression

11. Going Out And Traveling

12. Staying At Home

13. Mongrel Or Pedigree

14. Pros And Cons

15. ABC (Adoption Beginner’s Checklist)

16. Tail To Tooth

17. Contact And Call

18. Medical Matters

19. Websites And Weblinks

20. Insight And Introspection