I have the long-time, intimate acquaintance of a woman whose extensive experience with dogs, and whose understanding of the manner in which best to communicate with them has gained her the knowledge required to expertly understand them. This woman advertises her services to assist other people to understand how best to communicate with their dogs, to instruct the dogs and to anticipate that they will respond in a manner that ensures mutual respect between the species.

She accepts contracts whereby she goes out to peoples' homes, assesses their situation after extensive interviews upon meeting them and their companion animals (for occasionally there exists more than one dog, sometimes two, three and more) before she launches into a full explanation to edify them on what has been occurring and what its remedy will be. And then, for a period of several hours she takes those people through a series of exercises with their dogs to have them understand how they, as owners, can best make contact with the dogs' intelligence, fulfilling both their needs. In the process also taking to the public arena to demonstrate to the owners how well their dogs respond when they are given adequate instructions in the proper manner.

She informed me this week that she had received two communications from clients. One, from a couple with three rescue dogs to which personal menagerie they had added a fourth and were faced with an addition, with the fourth, that was confused, fearful and apprehensive about how it should fit into their family life. They wanted advice as to how the dog might be assured, how to treat its fears, and assure it that it is welcome to share their lives. Their after-service message was to thank this woman who had solved their problem, to their great relief.

The second missive was from a couple who had evidenced little patience with the detailed explanations given them about their dog's needs and how best to fulfill their obligations to this dependent creature, informing it in the process how it was expected to behave, and ensuring it fully understood its obligations to its owners. Their message to this woman who had completed her agreed-upon contract with them, leaving them with the assurance that if they followed her instructions their problem would be solved, but it would take time and patience and determined routine, was that they had, after all, decided to euthanize the dog. Unless she would herself agree to adopting it.

This came as an excruciating shock to the woman. Who rejects euthanization entirely as a solution to peoples' inability to be responsible with their companion animals. And who has herself, over a period of years, assembled her own coterie of rescued dogs, dogs that had been abandoned, mistreated, and left to their own helpless devices to survive.

It is this woman's contention that whatever goes wrong with companion pets can be generally attributed to the lack of understanding on the part of the pet owner respecting communication and assurance. Or outright deliberate mismanagement and a propensity of some people to be cruelly controlling to animals. She believes implicitly that dogs look to their owners for direction, responding with alacrity when it is given properly, resorting to ill behaviour when that direction is absent. Her theories, when they are put into practise, appear to work well.

But, as she emphasizes, it takes commitment, a willingness to give it time, and a determination to be a responsible pet owner, taking the initiative and exercising an informed will. Obviously, not everyone is willing to take the trouble, the time and the responsibility required.