Dogs

Billy loves riding in the car and motivates Vera to drive co the beach or to one of the parks. In this way, the little dog has helped Vera regain her physical and mental health.

It is nonsense to say that a person is too old to own a dog because they might die leaving it homeless. The sensible thing to do is to make provision for its ongoing care should this be necessary. ‘In fact, no matter what age an owner is, thought should always be given to a dog’s ongoing care in case of the owner’s death by accident or illness.

Increasingly, young couples delay having a family or elect not to have children at all. For them a dog is often a child substitute, something that they can care for and nurture together. It can be taken on walks, outings to the beach or the park, or even to the cafe. It needs to be bathed and fed and can be bought toys and collars.

When a pet is lost through death by illness or accident, people go through a grieving process equivalent to that experienced by the loss of a human family member. Pets also grieve when they lose an owner or a companion pet. They often become very depressed, go off their food, and spend time sitting in areas that the pet or person frequented. They need a lot of love and attention and distractions to help them through their suffering.

In a strange way, seeing the pet grieve can help a bereaved partner get over her loss more rapidly. She wants to make the pet feel happier and thus makes the effort to do things for it, thereby taking her mind off her own grief.

GUIDE DOGS

Guide dogs make a wonderful difference to the lives of blind people. They learn to take their owners safely across roads, down stairs, onto transportation and to specific destinations such as shops or the doctor’s surgery, the dogs remember the routes associated with the destinations.

Guide dogs undergo very strict selection criteria and are intensively trained. It is a hard job for them to do as they must be constantly aware of their owner’s needs and safety.

They must not be distracted by sensory stimuli in their surroundings. Many fail the training course because they just cannot resist food on the street or because they are too protective of their handlers. They have to learn to modify their natural behaviour to suit their owner’s needs.

Those that pass the course do their jobs extremely well.

When they are in harness, they are in work mode when they are free of the harness they can behave naturally.

DEAF-ASSIST DOGS

These dogs are trained to alert their owners to everyday noises such as the doorbell, the telephone, the smoke alarm or something burning on the stove. These dogs are usually of a mixed breed and are often also rescue dogs.

Much of what they do builds on natural behaviour. Most dogs will bark when someone rings the doorbell, many of them will bark in response to the telephone and will become concerned at unusual sounds on the stove. These behaviours are encouraged and reinforced so that the dog learns to paw at and generally bother the owner to alert her to important sounds, and not give up until the owner has taken some action.