Being a dog in times of economic crunch Dogs need lots of love and time with people for them to stay happy and healthy
Dogs need lots of love and time with people for them to stay happy and healthy

Dogs need lots of love and time with people for them to stay happy and healthy

Ignatius Mabasa Shelling The Nuts

Keeping a dog is like looking after a child. You have to take care of your dog’s welfare, training, talking, walking and bathing it. A well-trained dog will not bite people or make a mess in the house. It will know how to behave.

Dogs in the cities can be a type of barometer to measure the well-being of their masters. When the economy tailspins, and people start making budget cuts, it is the non-essential things that are affected. Unfortunately for most people, dogs are part of the non-essential.

This week as I was leaving my house in the morning, I found my neighbour’s untidy and shaggy puppies shivering and whimpering in my yard.

They were sniffing and scavenging for something to eat.

My neighbour’s dog has had some puppies, and he now has more than five dogs to look after. I don’t think he has the money to accommodate the dogs in his budget because for the past seven months, I have observed that he has been making some domestic economic structural adjustments.

One of them being that he is now using kombis to go to work. He has parked his ex-Japanese car, and is only driving it to church on Sundays.

He told me kuti, “Mudhara, zvakakiya zvichibva zvarasa makiyi acho.” And now, his dogs have increased and he has more mouths to feed.

I pity him. Only if he had the poor dog spayed, because now he is breeding a bunch of stray dogs that roam the neighbourhood like avenging spirits, looking for food and the company of other canines.

Yet it is not just my neighbour who is having dog problems. A few houses down my street is another visibly distressed sheepdog which has been limping badly for the last couple of months. Paul Simon in one of his songs called Graceland said, “Losing love is like a window in your heart. Everyone can see that you are blown apart . . .”

I thought that losing love was something that was only noticeable in humans, but I was mistaken. The eyes of a dog are a type of speech that says things the mouth is unable to say.

My neighbour’s dog has very sad and tired eyes. Those sad eyes are worsened by the fact that this poor dog’s black and white skin has become discoloured and dishevelled. This dog is almost always in the same spot next to the road, curled up. Yet there is something pleasant about that dog which makes me think only if he could get a little bit of love and care.

I love dogs, but I am too busy to own one because dogs need a lot of care and attention. When I was growing up herding cattle kumusha, I learned to value the friendship and faithfulness of dogs because usually, they were the only company I spent the whole day with. My very first pet was a brown Rhodesian ridgeback. He was also the very first thing I ever gave a name to. I called him Jumbo Jet, but my father thought Jet, without the Jumbo would be fine. Although I didn’t know much about caring for my dog properly, I know that Jet knew that I was his master and that I loved him.

The only time I tried to fight an adult was when one farm worker kicked Jet in the hind leg. We had taken cows to the diptank. I remember how my eyes became blind with tears of pain and rage.

People laughed at me as my tiny fists tried to hit the big man who had harmed my dog. I was so enraged that I even picked a stone to attack that dirty man who had a cigarette that carelessly dangled at his lips, before I was restrained. On our way back home, Jet was limping while I also limped in my heart. That was more than 40 years ago. I still have a soft spot for dogs.

I believe there is more that dog owners need to do besides buying a dog and giving it a name. I have problems with people who keep dogs but do not have the space, food, love and an idea where their dog poops! I am not a vet, but common sense requires people to consider several things before getting a dog.

It is like buying a car, a house or a pair of shoes. It must be fit for purpose. Dogs come in different shapes, sizes and colours. It is important to know that buying a dog by the roadside when you don’t know the breed and its behaviour can cause serious problems. Dogs need the right kind of food and a suitable place to sleep. Most importantly, dogs need lots of love and time with people for them to stay happy and healthy.

Keeping a dog is like looking after a child. You have to take care of your dog’s welfare, training, talking, walking and bathing it. A well-trained dog will not bite people or make a mess in the house. It will know how to behave.

I have noticed that most people I talk to, who keep dogs in town, think dogs are a good security item.

I know that generally Zimbabweans consider dogs to be dirty and repulsive, and we have too many idioms and metaphors that show this. Generally, we ill-treat dogs and give them bad names and that explains why we love dogs that bite. In Shona we have dog names that are a special documentary of intra-personal and interpersonal conflicts. You will get dog names like Maraini, Majaira, Muneinazvo, Zvomoendoko, Hwanwiwa, Muchaneta, Dzungu, Muroyindishe and so on. Even if you study idiomatic expressions to do with dogs, you will notice that generally canines are not highly regarded. In Shona you have the most common metaphor, “imbwa yemunhu.” In English, there have hordes of bad dog expressions.

While the English had a low regard for dogs like us, it seems they have come a long way and the dog is now well respected and considered a good pet.

Unfortunately, the majority of us still think dogs are for hunting, for guarding and biting our enemies. We love to keep miserable dogs that we don’t feed or look after properly. We are like the Hebrews described in Easton’s Bible Dictionary. The Hebrews used dogs as a watch for their houses and for guarding their flocks.

There were also then as now troops of semi-wild dogs that wandered about devouring dead bodies and the offal of the streets. As the dog was an unclean animal, the terms “dog,” “dog’s head,” “dead dog,” were used as terms of reproach or of humiliation. Paul calls false apostles “dogs.” Those who are shut out of the kingdom of heaven are also so designated. Persecutors are called “dogs.” Hazael’s words, “Thy servant which is but a dog,” are spoken in mock humility, meaning it is impossible that one so contemptible as he should attain to such power.

Back home, we have a popular traditional song which says, “Imbwa yangu Machena, yaenda yega musango. Yaenda isina munhu mugwara.” Loosely translated, this means, “My dog Machena has gone unaccompanied for a hunt. Machena is a lone hunter.” This song besides talking about social and political issues of the pre-colonial era, reveals that dogs were domesticated animals that were trained and kept for hunting purposes. Hunting was a highly respected profession — rated the same as farming and healing. Even when I was growing up kumusha, there were people who kept lots of dogs, but specifically for hunting and not as pets. These hunters would go hunting about three times a week. They had a special bond with their dogs — a bond based on man and dog forming a hunting pack.

There is a king described by the late nationalist Herbert Chitepo in his epic poem titled Soko Risina Musoro, who had dogs that he loved dearly. What is remarkable is not just that the king had dogs, but Chitepo provides a window into how Africans related with their dogs. The dogs of the king of Chinyamatimbi had extraordinary names — hwandinda, kundidira urombo and kutu, kukutura manyepo. Through the names of the dogs, the king preached great values of ubuntu/hunhu. Hwandida kundidira urombo — comments on how traditionally, love was not about material things, it was unconditional and the poor were also happily married. Kutu, kukutura manyepo was a name to shame gossipers who loved to tell lies. Most probably, this king was a very good king as he lived the philosophy and values captured through his domestic pets. Unfortunately, a lot of dogs in towns are kept by people who, metaphorically have become dogs.

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