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Switzerland makes dog training mandatory
Switzerland recently passed an innovative mandate ordering new dog owners to have dog training, leading some to suggest that the law be introduced to Australia as well.
“Dog listener” Tony Knight told ABC, "I often say that having a dog is like getting a car – you have to learn how to drive."
"Ideally people should have some sort of compulsory learning but when they are forced to do it, they may not want to do it."
The dog trainer suggests that the problem lies not in our dogs, but in the owners:
"We forget that dogs are dogs, because we have humanised them," he said, suggesting that learning how to currently train a dog isn’t at all time consuming:
"You don't have to spend hours, but just learn to communicate the way the dog understands. It's easy to learn and makes a lot of sense, provided it is done correctly.”
Knight even went so far as to suggest dog bites are primarily a fault of humans,
"Over 95 per cent of dog bites happen because people invade dogs ' personal space," he said.
"All dogs should be treated with respect because if you do that, you are less likely to get into bother."
"There are some dog owners out there that just let their dogs run riot and understandably some non-dog owners who think it's not fair," Mr Knight said.
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