Responsible Dog Ownership

O odgovornem lastništvu psa
The dog needs to be prepared for the arrival of a new family member. Different experts in
canine behaviour advise different initiation methods, including the familiarization with the
smell of soiled diapers and the sounds and noises of a child.
If before new birth all our attention had been focused on the dog, and then, all of a sudden, to
the child only, it is no wonder that the dog will feel abandoned. Care needs to be taken so as
to make this decline from the “most popular family member” pedestal as painless as possible
(similar to the first-born and second-born situation).
Whether or not there is a dog in a family, it is important in bringing up children to take into
account the fact that a dog is a sentient living being. A child needs to understand that it is
not right to cause pain to the dog. A dog has its interests which need not always comply with
our wishes. A dog does not always feel like cuddling, and before trying to do that, we should
better check, in what state of mind the dog is at the moment.
Most importantly, a child should become aware of a certain “protocol” in familiarising with
unknown dogs. Before trying to stroke an unknown dog, we should always first ask its owner
if the dog would tolerate that. First contact between man and dog should be attempted by
the dog. We should first offer our hand for the dog to sniff at, waiting for its response to see
if it is safe to continue.
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