For westerners, keeping a puppy as a pet means keeping it for companionship and for enjoyment as well as all the importance and benefits associated with being with a dog. In the African context, however, the definition of pet in the case of dogs is different. For most Africans, dogs are kept for providing internal security, for hunting and for its meat. The purpose for keeping dogs may therefore be different.
As far as the provision of meat in the African context is concerned, dogs, rated as the most popular animal kept as pet, are used in two different ways. First, they serve as a means of getting bush meat by aiding owners to track down animals during hunting and second, as meat, when they are killed for that purpose by owners.
For the few rich people in African communities where crime levels are high, provision of internal security is usually the motivating factor for keeping dogs. In this sense, poodles are kept as sources of security rather than as pets.
Different Types of Dog Training for Different Purposes
Dog training and dog care mechanisms also differ from place to place and are mainly based on the purpose for which a dog is being kept. For those interested in keeping a dog strictly as a pet, the training could be centred on how to make it friendlier and even be able to participate in some human activities as well as being able to understand and comply with instructions from the owner. For those who keep the animal just as a pet, dog care is paramount.
Where poodles are kept for hunting, the training is centred on speed, strength and the sense of smell. Hunting dogs are supposed to have speed to be able to track down animals during hunting and have the strength to fight and capture comparatively bigger animals during hunting with owners.
Training a Dog for Hunting
In Africa for instance, dog training may be different. Hunters will usually take their puppies to the bush, stand at a place and throw objects into the bush while shouting “kyeno, kyeno” which literary means “catch it, catch it.” This training is done on daily basis for the puppy to gather more speed, develop confidence, take instructions from the owner and learn hunting tricks. This kind of training is usually followed by using the dog for hunting smaller animals like squirrels. Again, the purpose is getting it to have speed, confidence and be able to take instructions.
While training it, a puppy will, from time to time, have some liquids that are squeezed out of special scent-enhancing herbs, dropped through its nostrils to equip it with a perfect sense of scent. This is done to ensure that dogs will be able to trace hunted animals that are miles away and will not only be chasing animals that are in sight.
When the training of a puppy continues for a while and it becomes apparent that it has acquired the necessary hunting skills, it is then included in main hunting for bigger animals like deer and antelopes which hunting might involve the use of other older and experienced dogs.
Different Dog Games
Dog games, in the context of those who keep dogs as pets would mean games that involve a dog, or games played by dogs as pets but elswhere, dog games has a different meaning. Dog Games in Ghana are annual competitions held over dog meat. Dog meat is the most popular meat in the Frafra and Dagarti communities in the Upper East and Upper West regions of Ghana. For the Dagarti and Fafra tribes, dog meat is so popular that the two groups have an annual games competition which has dog meat as the ultimate price and a live dog as the ultimate trophy for the winning tribe. At the annual games, dog meat is sold and at the end, the winning tribe receives a live dog which will then be killed to be enjoyed by team members and officials.
The dog may be a popular animal kept as a pet the world over but the reasons for keeping dogs differ from society to society.
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