'Caring a dog'

Introducing a guideline for dog owners:

by Dr. Janith Gunasekera B.V.Sc (Sri Lanka), PG Dip. Psych

Ever since man has begun his sedentary life, the dog has become man's best companion animal. The reason is by nature dog relies very much on man for its food, shelter and welfare. Today the dog forms an integral part in many households, in all societies, irrespective of caste, creed, race, wealth, status or power and at every level whether it is primitive, rural, or urban.

For food and shelter, the dog depends entirely on its master's. Dog health care ranges from feeding, grooming, cleaning, breeding, and preventive worm treatment and vaccination to providing very sophisticated veterinary care involving examination, laboratory testing, diagnosis and treatment including in some instances of invasive treatment procedures.

With the increase in social expectation and with the advancement of technical knowledge and skills in veterinary medical sciences, companion animal medicine and surgery has advanced as comparable to that of human medicine and surgery.

As in the case of human medicine, prevention is always better than cure. Hence, there is a great need to educate the pet owners about the fundamentals of dog care; from making the decisions to selecting and owning a pup to providing all required love and care.

The dog owner must be having general awareness about the general body architecture of the animal (anatomy), its body process (physiology), body disorders (diseases), caused either by derailment of physiological processes or by disease causing organisms and common signs and symptoms of diseases and derailments and most importantly how to prevent disease causing agents attacking dog's body and biological processes.

Besides that most importantly the owners must know the general behaviour of the animal and what the pet expects from its master.

Unlike the developed countries, the availability and access to information is very limited in Sri Lanka. There is hardly any print material on pets available to the public. It is during this period that a book written on behalf of man's best friend had emerged Dr. Janith Gunasekera's book titled "Caring a Dog', is a comprehensive guide that provides all the required information on dog rearing and health care.

It's a very timely and valuable publication and the author has presented all the essential information of dogs in a very simple and attractive style. The book is designed and developed in such a way that dog owners can progress systematically from fundamentals of selecting puppy to caring at various ages and to more details of their psychology.

Janith's love for companion animals, enriched with the knowledge through his professional education, and his skills in veterinary procedures developed through long years and his compassion for companion animal practice has made him uniquely qualified to write this book.

I have no doubt that this book will become the most sought guide that every pet owner must possess read, understand and become knowledgeable about their much' loved pets and thereby, optimise the love and care that the pet deserves.

Prof. Harischandra Abeygunawardena,
BVSc. MSc & PhD,
Vice Chancellor,
University of Peradeniya.