HYDERABAD: You probably came across a couple of videos that have been doing the rounds on social media and elsewhere, showing a spike in the cases of dogs growing aggressive. The same has become a matter of concern for pet parents and neighbours. In light of this, we speak to experts who share reasons and ways to calm the pets, handle anger issues in dogs, precautions, and more.
Kapil Kapadia, award-winning german shepherd breeder, and founder of Arckinova Kennels, says that the videos being circulated are doing more harm to the cause than good. “Howeverit is important to understand the pets better to be able to counter the issue at hand. Sometimes, it’s just that the dog gets excited but other times it is also because the dog does get aggressive. It all pertains to specific breeds, their living conditions, how they are raised and treated,” Kapil shares.
Laxmikanth Pudu, founder-CEO of Petfolk, Hyderabad, believes that a few unfortunate incidents that occurred due to owners’ naive approach are being used to spread hate towards pets. “Every institution shelters a few bad apples, and dog owners aren’t an exception. Imagine being jailed without any reason — slowly, anger, frustration and aggression would be introduced. Similarly, owners hampering the routine of these adorable pets might turn them into intrusive living souls. This scenario hasn’t been posted anywhere near sight, instead, a huge campaign has been operated to create an assumption of dogs being dangerous and harmful, this vicious drive organised by a few paid websites and social media groups alleging wrong sections and fake court judgements has been polluting many innocent minds landing the owners into a very complicated situation, few being verbally abused,” he laments.
Kapil says that pet parents and owners need to understand that pets have a play and food drive and they need to be calmed them down during those times. “In certain other cases, dogs have issues of insecurity which crop up when they aren’t allowed to socialise well, ot are not taken to parks, etc. After spending most of their time in isolation, when suddenly exposed to the world outside, they become aggressive out of fear or discomfort. Pet parents must be aware of all of these and be mindful of raising them well,” he shares.
If such aggresive behaviour becomes repetitive in the pet, it has to be identified by owners and they must consider taking their pets to be trained by experts. “We come in to help understand the psychology of the dog, why they get agitated often. People’s first response needs to be reaching out rather than panicking — be it owners or neighbours,” he shares adding that a vaccinated dog is always a safe pet. “This, even if it becomes unpredictable ever or bites, you will be assured it is not the worst. However, the owner too should be extra careful and take responsibility for the victim and help their way to healing. And in the long run, be able to identify the issues and anger outbreaks.”
Laxmikanth says that strict legal action needs to be taken without any exception at all costs, however, cursing the wrong individual for incorrect reasons would fail us all as a society. He concludes on an emotional note saying, “Culturally, dogs hold major influence - a film titled 777 Charlie melted many hearts, being an endearing tale of love and compassion. Hopefully, we don’t have to raise slogans like ‘Save Dogs’ in future. Much awareness needs to be be raised to put an end to this hoax advocacy once and for all. I just wish, every once in a while, an adorable pet enters our lives and changes everything — just like how Charlie did with Dharma, leaving a mark but not a scar.”