Resources

Here you'll find general advice and information to help you train your dog and teach them to become wonderful, well-mannered members of the family.

Keeping children safe

Picture
Most dog-related injuries happen to children in their own home or in the home of a relative or friend and by a dog that they know and have sometimes spent time around before.  When a dog is around, children should be supervised at all times because:
  • They can unwittingly provoke an attack, for example by trying to take a bone or toy from a dog, frightening it, hugging it too tightly, or being too rough with it.
  • Dogs may get excited by games being played and jump on or chase a child.
  • Dogs may try to dominate a child because of a child’s small size.
Children should be taught basic safety habits around dogs, with parents and caregivers showing the way.  Children learn by example – so be a good role model by setting good dog safety rules with your family and following them yourself. 
​Have a look at the Internal Affairs Dog Safety website for more info.

Gaining your dog's respect

Picture
​Never give your dog a command which you know they will disobey and or that you can not re-enforce. In most situations you are better to say nothing than to yell at or discipline your dog: in most cases the dog is trying to get attention from you and quite often it doesn't matter whether that attention is positive or negative as long as it gets a reaction.

The dog is a social animal; they dislike being ignored.  If they don't receive any attention chances are they will do something to get your attention – sometimes good and sometimes bad.  You must praise the good behaviour and continue to ignore bad behaviour.

Start as you mean to carry on – don’t let your dog get into the habit of doing something that's OK when they're young but that you don’t want them to do when they're fully grown.

Emergency planning for your pets

For the latest information on how to be prepared in an emergency please refer to the latest guidelines from Animal Evac:
isbnemergencypreparednessguideforpetowners.pdf
File Size: 779 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Where to walk your dog

We are lucky to have a large number of wonderful walking tracks around Porirua and the Wellington region. Follow the links below to see the most up-to-date information on where you can walk your dog.