A paw on our hearts

> These days, a dog is not only a pet to its owner but also very much an acknowledged member of the family

They know that their master is back despite other cars passing by. Even when he changed to a new car recently, they still knew!

An ex-colleague, Stephen Anthony, known as Dog Stephen after having trained more than 100,000 dogs over the last 30 years or so, says dogs often seek our attention and love.

That’s why they prefer to wait for us to return home. Their loyalty is undisputed.

Stephen also says that proper training from puppyhood would allow pet owners to get the best out of their dogs.

In the late 1970s, Stephen boldly travelled to Saudi Arabia for dog handling training, alongside American special forces personnel.

He’s now certified to train guard dogs, sniffer dogs, tracking dogs, pet dogs, and even dogs for the handicapped.

He operates out of Bukit Hartamas in Cheras for guard dogs services, and runs a training academy for canines together with his son, Raphael Anthony, who was trained in the Netherlands.

Today Stephen, who liked to emulate singer Cats Stevens in his younger days, is vigorously promoting the use of speciallytrained dogs to help local government enforcement agencies in their work.

Citing an incident when a forest ranger was ambushed by illegal loggers in the jungles of Pahang sometime back, he said that wouldn’t have happened if tracker dogs were sent ahead as reconnaissance.

Before I end, I’d like to cite a comment by another excolleague, the broad-minded A. R. Amiruddin from Penang.

He said: “Even as a Muslim, I love dogs because they’re also the creation of God.

“Dogs have wormed their way into my heart. If I happen to encounter stray dogs, I usually give them some of the bread or biscuits which I keep in my car.”

Jeff Yong, after making his mark in the twisty maze of mainstream journalism, has finally decided to enjoy what he does best – observing the unusual and recounting the gleeful. He can be contacted at lifestyle.borak@ gmail.com.