BarkingDogs.net

Dog Owner Education Classes as a Prerequisite to Licensing

Owner education classes should be required of everyone applying for a dog-related license, regardless of the level of certification they seek. No true dog lover ever wants to see a dog in the possession of an irresponsible person, and pre-licensing classes could take us a long way toward keeping that from happening.

There is no doubt that such courses are long overdue. The Centers for Disease Control has recommended dog owner education programs as a means of dealing with the nation's epidemic of dog bites. The idea is to take preemptive action against biting injuries by teaching people how to select the right dog, and how to train their dogs, as well as by spelling out the responsibilities that are incumbent upon those who keep dogs. By requiring prospective dog owners to attend such a class before licensing, we could make major inroads against both the biting and the barking epidemics in one fell swoop.

The current animal control system seems to hold sacred the credo: Don't say anything at the time of licensing that might discourage perspective owners from getting a dog. And, for God's sake, don't require anything of them that might change their minds. It's an industry-friendly perspective. I'm sure they like it very much. But it's killing dogs, and it's hell on humans.

As a society, think how much money we spend every year attempting to correct dog-related problems after they occur. Imagine what it costs: rounding-up dogs; keeping them in shelters; trying to place them; putting them to death; providing emergency services and follow-up medical care to those bitten by dogs; processing tort cases over dog bites; processing barking dog complaints, and moving them through the courts; removing excrement from public places and providing police services to referee rancorous disputes over barking and menacing dogs. Add to that the hours of lost productivity because barking dogs left people too exhausted to go to work or so upset that they could not perform their work-at-home jobs. This system of reactive, as opposed to proactive, animal control is costing us a vast fortune as it drains resources that could be more productively spent elsewhere. The Center for Disease control estimates that just the medical cost of treating dog-bite victims comes to $254 million each year. Think how much better off we'd be putting our money into classes designed to prevent problems, instead of attempting to remedy them after they occur.

Many times, dogs end up with an insider's view of a gas chamber because their owner-to-be bought a dog without knowing what he was getting into. Which is why I have no sympathy for those who think it's too much trouble to study their dog-to-be, and learn about the obligations that fall to those who choose to shoulder that responsibility. If you really want a dog, you should acknowledge your obligations and learn how to handle the animal. If you don't care enough to learn what you need to know to do the job right, then, no doubt, all parties concerned will be better off if you just forgo dog ownership altogether.

People attending owner education classes would learn about canine development. They would also learn all about selecting a dog, including the horrors of the puppy mills and the pitfalls of acquiring animals spawned in those dungeons of deprivation and suffering, which means we could shut down the puppy mills overnight through this simple measure. That alone is reason enough to require such courses.

The pre-licensing education class should be the time to tell perspective dog owners everything they need to know: All about care, housing and feeding; how to bark train a dog; where to purchase an electronic collar; an overview of the process of obedience training and instruction on how to locate a professional trainer; which breeds are most amenable to obedience training; how to prevent aggressive behavior from developing; how to cope with aggressive behavior after it is established; how to treat common ailments; how to know when it's time to call a vet, and all about health insurance for dogs.

One should never have to debate with the owner of a noisy dog about whether or not the animal can be bark trained or whether that person has an obligation to keep his dog's barking in check. Local government should go over all that with the dog owner before they ever issue him a license. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of quiet.

The owner education course would provide the instructor an opportunity to spell out the owner's obligations, and to get a written commitment from the potential owners to live up to those responsibilities. Through that process, we could ensure they are aware that they must provide medical care for their dogs, and that they know the extent of that liability, given the cost of canine medical services these days.

During the pre-license process, the city can record the licensee's phone number at work as well as those of friends or family who will be available to take immediate action if the city gets a complaint that the dog is behaving disruptively while the owner is not home. That way, when your neighbor's dog launches into barrages of frequent barking on any given day, you can phone the authorities who can then call the dog owners at work, or wherever, and tell them to go tend to the animal. Think of the countless hours of aggravation that could be avoided if local government would stop scapegoating the victims just long enough to take that much responsibility upon itself.

Finally, the issuance of a license should be contingent upon the licensee's written consent to allow the authorities to immediately impound his dog if he barks disruptively and there is no other means readily available to quiet the animal and restore peace to the neighborhood.

This page is part of The Cure section of barkingdogs.net