Paper on how to handle dogs in the community
by Joshua Y. C. Kong copyrights reserved.
1.
Introduction
2.
Why do
we need dogs?
3.
Why do
dogs bark and howl ?
4.
Why do
some dogs bark more than others?
5.
How do
we handle neighbour dogs?
6.
The
policy of two dogs per household.
7.
Other
benefits of rearing dogs
8.
Why do
some people hate dogs?
9.
Sabah
should be a place for more dogs.
10.
Conclusion
1. Introduction
This
is a paper belated as I have been keeping dogs without stop since 1990. I am sharing with you my more than twenty
years of dogs keeping with much devotion.
The insight of keeping dogs can enlighten others hence my small paper
here can help others to appreciate the animals nearest to the human beings –
friendly, faithful, and wholly trustworthy around the clock 24/7 as long as we
feed and look after them well. All
animals need attention and dogs in particular need sort of natural instinctive
relationship/attention or personal touch regularly.
I
started with a single bitch from a puppy given to me by my landlord in a sort
of remote housing estate. That bitch
Magi –an Alsatian half breed - survived 9 years. Magi saved me from a likely attack of a cobra
a few feet from me.
I
learn very much from my dogs and hope this sharing would benefit you and
society at large.
2.
Why do we need dogs?
We
really need dogs and the little inconvenience and the noises at times of
keeping them is nothing to be compared if we can sleep soundly at nights, hence
if we need to sleep more sound nightly, we definitely need more than two dogs
all the time. One or two dogs are
inadequate to deal with some scenario.
The more we have and come close to them we can observe all the behaviour
of dogs living together. One or two dogs
may not give us the learning of the animals.
If we have two male dogs, there is less to learn. If we have a bitch and male dog, then we may
have puppies from the pair giving us more experience on the behaviour of the
animals in our own home. It is pretty
fascinating to experience the growing up of puppies from their birth rather
than just adopting them at the eight weeks or more after weaning from the
bitch. We really need to keep dogs so
that we can draw near to the animal kingdom like friends. Some say that monkeys can be good watchmen
against intruders but can they be handled like dogs? Some dogs do have many
harmless tricks like getting out of the fence by jumping over it or digging the
ground below the fence. Dogs do tell you
the weak points in the fence and explore that to get out of the enclosure. So such activities do alert us to be on our
toes to tackle such escapes/break outs. So
we need to appreciate dogs in our midst not only puppies.
3.
Why
do dogs bark and howl ?
Many
of us do feel disturbed by dogs barking and sometimes howling in strange ways. Such barking would be embarrassing if
directed to some of us. People need to
understand why dogs do barking in certain ways.
Dogs
bark for many reasons namely as follows:-
3.1
It is
common knowledge that dogs bark to alert the owner of the stranger at the gate
or near the gate or near the house. Some
strangers may not be known to the owner hence the dog would bark louder if the
strangers remain longer than usual.
Sometimes the dog may bark to get to know the person or persons and the
dogs would respond accordingly as how such persons react to such encounters.
3.2
Dogs
also bark at other wildlife like snakes, rats and cats, sometimes the dog can
bark all night against stubborn intruders.
For those who are sleepy, they will also sleep throughout the barking
although with initial irritation. We
need to accept such scenarios at times, and don’t say ‘get rid of the dog’.
3.3
Some
sick dogs may make strange and unusual noises telling us of their difficulties. That is when we need to attend to the dog in
crisis. Some dog in chain can play
itself into situation when the chain can be so short to bring much discomfort
to the dog and could be on the verge of death from self strangling.
3.4
Dog
also make different tones in their barks signaling different situations like
friends, strangers, wild animals etc. We
have to learn to recognize the tones over several times.
3.5
When
dogs howl at high pitch we do not see
any visible targets around us and such howling do bring about some fright to
the owner and such howling can occur any time of the day and nights, and some
repeated several times over 24 hours. We
may observe one or two dogs howling but it would be more ‘fascinating’ to see
more of them howling at the same time reacting differently. Do we really need to know why they howl in
frantic ways when no physical stances were observed? So we all put that to evil spiritual stances
or forces of darkness passing their way.
We also witness that not all the dogs in the vicinity howl at the same
time, although sometimes we could hear the original of these howls from a close
distance. The question before us is
where have all those evil forces of darkness come about? Were these evil forces meant for the owners
as target now disturbed by the dogs howling or simply the presence of dogs? Do
those evil forces come cheap? What is
the source of those evil forces or darkness?
Are these dabbling in black magic or sort of voodoo?
4.
Why do some dogs bark more than others?
4.1
In a
new environment where there are more strangers around.
4.2
In an
environment where the partition fence are close by and the neighbours walk too
close to that partition fence.
4.3
When
dogs are threatened in their domain.
4.4
The
barking can more and even more intense when people passing by and the
neighbours including foreigners
which to the dogs are not welcome to be around.
Why dogs have such attitude towards foreigners especially Indonesians
and Filipino cannot be explained. Maybe
another natural instinct of dogs even when they are months old.
4.5
Dogs
would make more noises during mating seasons or cycles as other dogs would be
attracted to other dogs but it would last a few days only possibly at some
hours at night.
5.
How do
we handle neighbour’s dogs?
5.1
Just
accept some inconvenience as dogs bark or make noise for whatever reasons.
5.2
Never
throw anything at the dogs as they will likely retaliate somehow by remembering
the deeds.
5.3
Try to
make friends with dogs with friendly gestures like talking to them.
5.4
Dogs do
know the persons by their heart and any complaints against them the dogs would
be aware.
6.
The policy of two dogs per household.
6.1
I do
not know when and why such policy was made as earlier there was no such
restrictions.
6.2
DBKK
would not register or give licence to more than two dogs losing some revenue.
6.3
Such
policy may make life difficult for the private animal doctors to sustain their
business.
6.4
Such
policy can be cruel to dogs and dogs lovers.
6.5
Two
dogs can be as noisy as more then two per household.
7.
Other benefits of rearing dogs
7.1
While
there are pro and con about keeping or rearing dogs, feeding them maybe a daily
problem, the benefits can be satisfying in many aspects.
7.2
While
the noises of dogs can be tolerated, we cannot tolerate those scenarios of
crimes – grievous and petty as dogs are hardworking, faithful, trustworthy and
friendly guard dogs 24/7 throughout.
7.3
Dogs
are definitely a deterrent to evil forces all the times and spiritualists know
about this.
7.4
We do
not know what we lose out without keeping dogs.
.
8.
Why do some people hate dogs?
8.1
There
are some people who had been bitten by dogs in earlier years most likely for their own faults.
8.2
Some
people tend to hate dogs simply for the little inconvenience they encounter.
8.3
Some
people find the excuse to hat dogs for reasons known to them in whatever belief
held by them.
8.4
Why
should dogs as created by God be targets of hate when we have to appreciate God
in His creation.
8.5
Hating
dogs is itself a negative attitude and can attract negative responses from the
dogs themselves.
8.6
If
anyone hate dogs, would they dare to put their hands into the mouths of dogs
even their own family dogs as some members of family may hate own dogs.
8.7
Bad
guys into crimes would hate dogs and can influence others to do likewise.
9.
Sabah
should be a place for more dogs.
9.1
Many do
not realize that Sabah has a special place for
dogs as the land area in the map do show the feature of a dog’s head or just
like any animal.
9.2
Dogs
for all the purpose have a superior right to exist on earth especially in Sabah.
9.3
God had
created the animals first on earth and expect the Man to look after them well.
9.4
We in Sabah once a peaceful land and land below the wind cannot
self inflict harm on ourselves by hating dogs to the extent that we want to
make them extinct in our urban areas.
Policy of two is in that direction.
9.5
Like
any tourism product, dogs rearing and keeping can be amongst one of the
sustainable items.
9.6
We need
to adopt a positive attitude to dogs in Sabah to claim the rights to be living
in Sabah.
9.7
When
God means it good to have created dogs for all purposes, we have to respond in
like manner lest we are doomed in conflicts over dogs.
10.
Conclusion
10.1
What is
written in this simple paper is only tip of the iceberg for the welfare of
dogs. Some unfounded fear against the
dogs can be removed by young kids keeping one or two puppies to learn from them
to be faithful, friendly, hardworking, trustworthy and responsive. Dogs are given names individually and they
will respond when their names are called. Single child would not be lonely if some dogs
are around. Unfortunately a few children
could be mauled by some dogs somewhere in the world and that could be due to the
offensive treatment by some people in the family. Unborn puppies already know
the owners even before they are born.
10.2
With
dogs, it is a continuous learning process and each dog is like a human being
with specific character and behaviour and we can learn more of the dogs in
bigger family than just two. Dogs are
special as how come they never go to schools but can understand the languages
and dialects of the owners without much difficulty. So I believe God would translate the multi
languages or dialect to the dogs. How
blessed we are in when we cannot touch other animals except dogs and possibly
cats. So why fear dogs and be hostile to
them for what they are in our midst.
Find true peace with God in His creation and Man would be a happier
creature on earth.
Written by Joshua
Y. C. Kong 12th August, 2013. Please treat this as a birthday gift to
society.
Also attached are two
recent news articles:-
1.
Sabah millionaire to share
newfound fortune with sister of Borneo Post
dated 25 July 2013 where the winner in JB won RM6.3m in Toto 4D Jackpot1 for
the licence numbers of stray dogs adopted two years ago.
2 Beijing cop goes off the
leash to rescue dogs of Daily Express page 26, 3 Aug., 2013, where the dog
policy of Beijing
