Ever since I've joined SOSD (Save Our Street Dogs), I'm beginning to be more aware of the stray dogs than I ever was. Spending every Tuesday's with them was short, yet sweet for me and I always want to stay back longer to spend more time with every one of them. But as I am not a regular, and strays are at an entirely different league as compared to domestic or even pedigree dogs, I didn't.
One needs to have an authoritative and confidence aurora in them as these dogs are extremely sensitive to a person's emotions and may react accordingly which requires the handler's calm mind and experience to handle it. Eg, I've learnt that it's not okay for dogs to jump up on you when they are happy as it could lead to them being rougher with you and could lead to aggression in future if not handled well. Would I have known of this fact when I have a Jack Russell of 14 years with me? No. I've learnt these all in the shelter.
Extracted from The Dog Behaviorist :
A pack leader is one that teaches dogs to obey by respecting and not obey out of fear. Excessive compulsion causes dogs to obey out of fear, but with a balance and communicating with them by body language will naturally cause them to obey out of respect.
To be a strong pack leader to dogs, You have to learn to be a leader yourself towards humans. There will never be such a thing as only a good leader to dogs.
A leader is one who respects their members first. Understanding the member and providing support to a member before themselves. A leader never looses their cool, but always remains calm but firm to put boundaries in place. A leader is one who is sincere and never longing for power. A leader is one who dares to admit to their mistakes. A leader is one who is able to listen without judgements.
Strays are really beautiful, and I can't express how much courage, dignity and respect they have for each other, dogs and humans alike, unlike domestic dogs as they are not born & bred in the wild. Still, sometimes when I look at my dog, Rex, I am thankful that he does understand what we meant and he knows of the Do's and Don'ts
(with exceptions that he will defy sometimes). But one thing is for sure though :
Dogs love us unconditionally, no matter their breed, size, or where they come from.
I hope this video inspiress everyone out there to change their views that strays are not dirty, dangerous and probably disgraceful.
In fact, we are the ones instead. We are the ones who have strayed too far to even notice that we are nothing close to being selfless, compassionate & understand that this world does not only belong to us humans alone.
