What to do to keep your four-legged friend happy

What to do to keep your four-legged friend happy

By Maria Endah Hulupi

JAKARTA (JP): Do you know that your dogs, just like humans,
have emotions? Dogs express their feelings with their tails and
faces. For example they will wiggle their tails when they see you
arrive at the front door or hide their tails between their legs
when they feel intimidated.

Through their faces, they express their loneliness, sadness,
anger and boredom.

What should the dog owners do to make their pets happy?

General manager of the city-owned Jakarta Veterinary Hospital
(Rumah Sakit Hewan Jakarta), Wiwiek Bagdja said domestic dogs and
cats need companions and are always longing for the presence of
humans and other pets to play with.

Loneliness could distress dogs and that is why the
veterinarian advised families whose members are often away to
have more than one dog to ensure that their pet has friends when
none of their masters are around.

"The presence of people who love and care for them or other
dogs to play with, would prevent your pets from feeling lonely
and bored," Wiwiek, who is also secretary general of the
Indonesian Veterinarians Association (PDHI), said.

"Dogs are sensitive and they can sense who love, hate or are
afraid of them," she said, adding that these animals would
certainly miss the affection of their owners.

However, if the whole family have to leave for a weekend or a
long holiday and had delegated the care of their pets to someone
else, the care-taker is advised to call the dogs by their names
and pat their heads once in a while.

"This treatment will help the pets forget that their beloved
owners are away," Wiwiek said.

Having more than one dog is good for the pets during play
time. However, dogs may perceive the presence of the other pets
as rivals when it comes to food and their owners' love and
attention.

"Dogs do have jealousy, especially when they think that their
owners favor one of them," she said.

She suggested the owners respect this and try to avoid making
the favorite dog in the house became hostile to the others for
not being fed first, for example.

"The most important thing is that all dogs are well taken care
of and receive equal attention and treatment," she said.

The veterinarian, however, said it is better to take care of
pets from when they are very young to enable owners get to know
their personalities.

Puppies need training not only to make them obey simple
instructions, but also to do routine activities, such as urinate
or defecate at a specific spot.

"Give them a special location to play and train them to litter
on newspapers or a sandy area to make cleaning easier. And once
they get accustomed to these instructions they would not do it in
other places," Wiwiek said.

Puppies, just like children, love to play with anything that
attracts their attention. Pet owners are also advised to give
them edible chewy bones, made of skins, to munch on as it would
help them remove their snout from furniture or other objects
lying around on the floor and soothe their itchy gums.

Regular daily exercise and a periodic visit to the
veterinarian to keep them in good shape are necessary and dogs
also need special food to fulfill their nutritional intake.

"Dogs have specially made food. It's okay to throw them food
from the dining table every now and then. But pet owners need to
understand that human food contains some ingredients, which might
affect the animal's organs and would later fatten them," Wiwiek
added.

Many pet owners only love to cuddle and play with their dogs
but when it came to treating their sick dogs, they will
immediately delegate it to their domestic helpers, who might not
really like the animals, let alone know how to treat them
properly.

"It's not fair for the pets, because once you have decided to
have a pet, you are responsible to take good care of them,"
Wiwiek added.