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| Articles
on Dogs by Maneka
Gandhi |
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About
Maneka Gandhi & People for
Animals :
People
for Animals was founded in 1994.
By Pritish Nandy and Maneka Gandhi,
two people were convinced that
India needed a people's movement
to stop cruelty towards animals
and spread the message of ahimsa.
Gandhi, writer and politician,
minister of environment and forests
in the Indian Government, a crusading
activist for the cause of animals,
was the chairperson.
Heads & Tails later became
a cult book and its author, Maneka
Gandhi went on to receive some
of the highest awards in the world
for her pioneering work among
animals. |
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| How
to understand your dog? |
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It always amazes me that people
think they are cleverer than their
pets. Let us look at the actuality.
You expect your dog to learn several
languages. You speak in Hindi,
your daughter in English, the
servant in Purabi or Telugu or
Nepali , small children in “
tootli” but the dog is supposed
to - and invariably does - understand
each person’s commands. These
commands are not simple and few.
These range from come here, stop,
no , yes, stop it,sit, go, lie
down, get off the bed/sofa/chair,
go sit there, stop licking , don’t
irritate the guest, run slower,
wait for me, stop barking,leave
the room ….
All these in at least 3 languages.You
want the dog to learn manners
: to be obedient, not to use the
house as a bathroom , not to bark
at night, not to jump on guests,
to stand still when he is bathed,not
to want the food from the table,
to know what time he is fed and
to appear immediately, to eat
whatever rubbish you give him
and be happy with it, to learn
that the puja room is taboo inspite
of the prasad in it, not to be
a nuisance in any fashion. And
you expect him to make out the
difference between human and human
: know the difference between
the night colony patrolman and
a thief,.to be gentle and patient
with children, to be frisky with
the master and run for balls which
are meaninglessly thrown for him,
to slow down and be attentive
when he walks with the lady of
the house.The fact that a dog
can discriminate between words
shows that he has a developed
power of reasoning.
All this from an animal you consider
to be less intelligent than humans.
The only thing about him that
is less intelligent is that he
will adore you even if you are
a bad, immoral, careless, cruel
owner. When I moved into Maharani
Bagh in 1984 there was a dog called
Moti who used to sit outside my
neighbour’s house and growl
at them when they came out into
the car but never do anything
else. Soon I found out that two
years ago they had taken Moti
who had been a most loving and
intelligent pet of theirs for
three years but was unfortunately
Indian in pedigree not foreign
and this embarrassed this man
who had been an Indian Member
of Parliament who put him into
the dicky of their car and threw
him out in Chandni Chowk at the
other end of Delhi . It took two
months for Moti to come back and
he sat outside their house accusingly,
did not take food from them but
would not let them forget how
mean they had been. It took me
two years of leaving a bowl of
food in front of him to respond
to me and then only he entered
my house - and that too as a favour
to me. He never spoke to or came
near a human again.
So the dog is supposed to understand
everything. Do you understand
a single thing about him ? Do
you know why his tail rises in
different degrees, why he scratches
himself ( nothing to do with an
itch), why he howls , why he sometimes
defecates where he is not supposed
to, why he rolls over , why he
bites some people and not others
. Can you interpret his smile
? Do you how he says : I love
you and what he expects in return,
how to recognise his bad temper
or when he is feeling ill ?
In this article I will give you
a few pointers: then you send
me the things that you notice
and I will interpret them for
you. Soon you will also be able
to speak their language . Think
what a wonderful surprise it will
be for an animal who cannot communicate
to anyone in the house he lives
in.
When a dog grins and hangs his
tongue out , he is not smiling,
he is totally fed up. He is either
in pain or tired or in a situation
which he hates.
When you call a dog and he suddenly
sits down and starts scratching
himself , it is because he does
not want to come but does not
have the courage to say no so
he invents the scratch and will
continue scratching till your
attention is diverted elsewhere.
When a dog looks at you , open
his mouth and then closes it without
a sound , he is saying I love
you.. If you open your mouth and
looking at him , lick an imaginary
cone , you are saying I love you
too.
When you scratch a dog and then
stop , he will sometimes pick
up a paw and rub it over his face.
This means please scratch me some
more.
When a dog is completely happy
he will lie on his back and offer
you his stomach. This is his most
vulnerable part and he is saying
I trust you. Some dogs when scolded
do this . Again , it is a form
of total surrender.
When the dog wants you to play
with him he will stretch out his
two legs and bow in front of you
several times. This may be accompanied
by a high pitched yap. When you
want a dog to play with you ,
you could do the same.
Send me your observations. Maybe
someday , we might be able to
compile a dictionary of dog language. |
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By Maneka Gandhi |
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