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You
are certain that you want to own a dog. You are aware that it is a long
term obligation and therefore requires certain personal qualifications.
You understand that no one has the right to possess a living creature
just because it is chic and modern, for example, to own a dog. You are
not following without questioning the wishes of your children to possess
a dog, or are not of the false opinion that your children should grow
up with a dog for educational reasons.
You are also convinced that the most important rules for keeping a dog
successfully are to exercise patience and have the necessary endurance;
to love it but be strict and to discipline it immediately especially
during the upbringing phase; to ensure that it has is as much contact
as possible with the family; to create a clear hierarchy; to satisfy
the ”doggy needs” such as exercise, play, work or tasks; and to understand
the behaviour and ”speech” of the dog.
The spatial needs of the family and the animal are understood, and the
running costs such as accommodation, vet, tax and insurance are clear
to you. With holidays, illness or other unforeseen circumstances, solutions
would be available to care for the dog.
In addition to the above, careful consideration must be given to the
matter when there are already children in the family or if they are
planned; also if there are already other pets in the home.
The following explanations provide further food for thought on the subject.
Mongrel
or pedigree?
It is a personal decision whether you want the fascination of a pedigree
or the charm of a mongrel. There are two prejudices on this subject
that cannot be eliminated.
A
mongrel is healthier than a pedigree
It is true that due to excessive breeding to achieve certain breed characteristics
some illnesses or unwanted traits can appear more often than usual with
pedigrees. Mongrels can however also have such tendencies.
It is also true that by half-wild adult dogs - a popular holiday souvenir
from Southern European countries - nature is involved in the selection
process and only the healthiest survive. Also to be considered here
is that the necessary character moulding of the puppies in the development
stage by humans is often missing. Consequently, most of the dogs cannot
have a proper partnership with people which can be a special problem
in families with children.
On the other hand, with pedigrees, the typical physical and psychological
dispositions are known and an extensive clarity exists with is intelligencesometime
reference to illness and behaviour. With puppies from a mongrel, it
cannot forecast how big a dog they will become. If for example you wish
for a dog that does not constantly bark, washes itself like a cat, and
does not carry the typical smell of a dog, this cannot be offered with
a mongrel, only with a pure bred Basenji.
A
mongrel is cleverer than a pedigree!
Try to define cleverness or intelligence. What is intelligence, where
are its limits, what is recognised as intelligent behaviour? Are special
abilities a part of intelligence? Is a brilliant musician or artist
not intelligent because he or she cannot solve a simple arithmetic problem?
With a dog, one can differentiate between the forms of intelligence:
adaptive intelligence, work or obedience intelligence and instinctive
intelligence. In practice, you will find a mixture of these except in
the case of certain thoroughbreds that are bred in the direction of
a certain form of intelligence. If you prefer certain abilities from
a dog, the pedigree offers the best assurance of possessing them. A
mongrel is more an allrounder that knows something about everything
and carries many basic abilities but does not perfect any of its talents.
The
pedigree dog
There are 400 recognised breeds. It is recommended to proceed in accordance
with definite criteria. A rough decision can be made on the suitability
and possibilities that the dog offers.
Do you want a watchdog to guard the house and garden that mostly lives
outside or a vigilant dog for the apartment? Are you attracted towards
a pure apartment or family dog or would you prefer a luxury dog which
might need, for example, special hair to realise its full beauty? Do
you have children at home or are you already elderly? Do you enjoy hiking?
Do you want a representative dog? Do you prefer a temperamental dog
or one that is quieter? Are you looking for a dog that is attached to
you, or a pack dog? Do you value obedience or is comradeship or a partnership
more important, in which the dog can realise its own will, according
to breed, such as with the Basenji?
Futher
selection criteria:
Size:
The range varies from the Chihuahua with a size of approximately 15
- 23 cm up to the Irish Wolfhound with a shoulder height above 90 cm.
The choice here is usually already determined by the individual spatial
requirements.
The oft stated opinion that small dogs need less exercise is not true.
On the contrary, small dogs often have a greater need for exercise than
the bigger ones. Someone who has tried walking a Basenji to make it
really tired will vouch for this.
Coat:
In the daily contact with their dog, the coat plays a big roll for many
people. A long-haired dog needs much more attention to the care of its
coat than a short-haired and not only after a walk in wet weather or
in the countryside. People who have a tendency to allergies often have
less problems with short-haired dogs. However it is not always true
that short-haired dogs create less problems in an apartment than long-haired.
For example, the short hair of a Dalmatian can only be removed with
considerable effort from upholstery and carpets whereas tufts of hair
from long-haired dogs can be removed with little effort.
Jowls:
Dogs with hanging jowls do not only drool when eating and drinking.
Many people are disgusted by threads of mucus hanging from the mouth
of a dog. Think about it, that this slime is distributed everywhere
when the dog shakes its head, for example, over the leather couch.
Natural abilities:
If you want to ”work” with a dog, for example, hunting, security dog
sport, rescue work or dog sports such as agility and coursing, etc.,
it is often not stated that besides the ”usual” breeds there are others
that are suitable. The Basenji is such a breed that, although not a
classic greyhound, is happy on the race track or when coursing.
Climatic conditions:
It is important for the well-being of the dog that it is suited to the
climatic conditions of its surroundings. How can a long-coated northern
breed be happy in Southern Europe in temperatures of 30°C?
Animal
home dogs
In an animal home you usually find grown dogs with a sad fate. These
dogs seldom show their individual characteristics in these unnatural
surroundings. In addition, there is often insufficient knowledge about
their pasts. Prerequisite is a knowledge of possible behavioural disorders
in the dogs and a capacity for understanding. The animals can suffer
from diseases that can possibly be psychosomatic origin such as diarrhoea,
lack of appetite, bad fur, etc. Sympathy must in any case not be the
reason to take a dog from a home. Problems which manifest themselves
later might make it necessary to return the dog which will only worsen
the suffering of the animal.
Holiday
souvenir dogs
People frequently, and out of sympathy, bring dogs back from their holiday,
especially from Southern Europe. Remember that you know nothing about
the animal. Its nature and condition cannot be recognised on first sight.
The dogs are used to their freedom and suffer possibly more in our towns
and our climate than in their daily fight for survival in their native
country. If integration does not work, an animal home is the worst fate
for such a dog. Experienced dog keepers might very well be in the position
to give some dogs a pleasant home, but this is not the rule.
Dogs
from a dealer
In general you should not buy from a dealer, from a pet shop window,
or from one of the notorious animal markets at the border to East Europe.
Most of these dogs are not bred by the dealers but are bought in from
dubious sources. The pups usually grow up in crowded unpleasant conditions.
Always remember that the seller has only a commercial interest in the
animal and wants to make maximum profit for minimum effort. The dog
is just an object and you are a paying client. No respectable dealer
will sell his puppies to a dealer!
Male
or bitch?
Prejudice 1:
I will have less problems with a male as it will live together better
with other dogs..
Prejudice 2:
A bitch requires a lot of attention and is more affectionate.
The decision whether to have a male or a bitch is essentially motivated
by personal preferences. Both sexes have their advantages and disadvantages.
Sexually mature males mark their territory such as their own garden.
They also leave their mark outside their territory, especially if a
bitch in heat is around. A wrong view is that bitches do not make a
mark. They do but not so intensively as males. A bitch will also try
to erase the marks of her competitors. During heat each bitch leaves
many marks to inform the males in the area.
Ein Rüde ist das ganze Jahr triebgebunden und sucht eine deckbereite
Partnerin, während eine Hündin nur in der Zeit der Läufigkeit
einen Partner sucht. In der Zeit des Höhepunktes der Läufigkeit
zieht es die Hündin extrem zu anderen Rüden hin, wohingegen
der Rüde, wenn er die Möglichkeit hat, seinem Naturtrieb folgend
das ganze Jahr streunen kann, sobald eine läufige Hündin in
der Nähe ist. Bei der Hündin sind jedoch Belästigungen
durch andere „Freier“ nicht ausgeschlossen, was besonders
bei Spaziergängen zu unerfreulichen Begegnungen führen kann.
A male has the sexual urge throughout the year and looks constantly
for a mating partner, whilst a bitch looks for a partner only when on
heat. At the peak of the heat the bitch has maximum attraction to males,
whilst a male, if given the opportunity, will follow his basic instinct
and roam about as soon as a nearby bitch is on heat. Annoyance caused
by other “suitors” can be very unpleasant especially when out walking
the dog.
A bitch will loose blood or slime during heat which can lead to soiling
of carpets, furniture, bed-linen, etc.
In this context, the questions appear again and again as to whether
a male has to mate at least once and whether a bitch has to be covered
at least once. A male can, once he has a taste for it , look more intensively
for bitches in heat. If he has covered once, he does not necessarily
have to cover bitches regularly for his well being. It is wrong that
metabolism disorders, etc., might otherwise occur.
The question of a pregnancy of a bitch is a controversial one. If a
bitch has not been pregnant, metritis can just as well occur as with
a bitch who has already had puppies. False pregnancy is possible with
any bitch independent of whether she has already had puppies or not.
A change in temperament after a pregnancy can be detected but is not
necessarily a disadvantage.
Males are often more dominant and try to enforce this dominance on their
pack (human). In such cases the owner must take steps to counteract
this. This however does not mean punishing, beating or yelling at the
dog.
In literature on the subject, you always find the differences in behaviour
between males and bitches described only in broad terms. It is very
questionable to accept this without individual consideration of the
dog, its origin, rearing and a lot more. Not all bitches, in comparison
to the males, are quick to learn, have a greater desire for caressing
or are cleaner. It is also not true that the male needs to be played
with more or needs more exercise, likes to destroy things or is more
aggressive and likes to dominate human beings and its own kind.
Puppy
or adult dog?
Do you have a preference for an already house-trained dog and do you
dislike the games of puppies, their clumsy behaviour, their curiosity
of everything new? Then a puppy is not for you. It will nibble at everything,
play and pull and will be difficult to put on a lead. All this can be
stressful. But it should not be considered as lazy to hand over the
responsibility for a healthy physical and psychological development
of the dog.
In the first week and months the foundations are laid as to how the
dog will turn out in the future. Not only the socialising but also the
nutrition play an essential role. A responsible breeder takes care not
only for the initial moulding of the dog to people but also for the
correct food. A bad or incorrectly fed puppy can have a tendency to
illness later on. Damage to bones and joints can have their origin traced
back to incorrect feeding in the first months.
Whoever has raised a pup themselves will generally have found that they
spent the happiest, funniest and most enjoyable hours in the first few
months of a dogs life. A pup may mean work and effort but you will be
well rewarded.
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