A Personal Guide To Making Your Dog A Better Companion

When I adopted my Lhasa Apso, he was barely two weeks old. His eyes had not completely opened yet. He looked like a piece of cotton wool gliding along the floor.

I have never felt the need to hit him for any wrong that he may have done. As a pup, he tore up shoes and slippers when he was left alone. Socks used to be scattered all over the house. I just told him how sad I was to come home tired from work and settle the mess he had made. These incidents stopped fast.

One day he ran away from home when the front door was open. We ran all over looking for him and calling his name. After about half an hour he came running home to us. I yelled at him and told him never to do such a thing again. He probably sensed what I had gone through. He never did that again.

I took him for walks and talked to him about everything. As time passed, he learnt more and more words. He got sensitive to my needs.

When I was sick, he sat by my side. He responded to everything I said by lifting his ears and tilting his head to one side. He learnt about a hundred different words just by listening to me speak. If he could not understand what I was saying to him, he would just stare into my eyes and sniff at the words.

If he could not make it out on time for his job and there was an emergency, he used our toilet. Everyone was amused with the way he knocked at the toilet door when he had the urge to do his job.

He always wanted to be part of the family. When my children brushed their teeth and washed their faces, he would come to do the same. He never even refused the cream that I smeared over my children’s faces, and then his. I knew he did not much care for the cream because he made funny faces. However, he had to allow me to do it just to be part of the family.

So, from my own personal experience, I would say that in order to make your dog a better companion, keep him close to you all the time and talk to him like you would talk to another person.