In the Australian Capital Territory, a draft code of practice for the welfare of dogs has proposed, making it compulsory for owners to spend a minimum of three hours daily with their pet.
00:00I think the ACT is to be commended for taking this on board.
00:09Clearly, it's an issue that's going to require a little more thought.
00:15It's going to depend on the breed of dog, where they're housed,
00:21whether there's a companion with them.
00:23But I think the idea, we consider dogs a member of our family
00:29and they need to be treated that way.
00:31Their needs need to be taken care of.
00:33So I think this is opening up a good discussion.
00:38Proposing three hours a day of human contact for a dog.
00:41Is that the minimum that a dog needs to be happy?
00:50Well, dogs are like people.
00:52They're all individuals.
00:53It's going to depend on the breed of dog.
00:57And really, what you do during those three hours,
01:02particularly if you have large dogs or working dogs, they need that contact.
01:08They also need a lot of exercise, a lot of stimulation.
01:12And so I would think three hours of showing them that you care is probably good training for all of us.
01:18There are critics of this proposal who describe it as overreach.
01:24The RSPCA, for instance, says that, you know, people looking to adopt animals,
01:28they already need to satisfy a whole range of conditions in order to do that.
01:32And there are already processes in place for, for example, reporting irresponsible dog owners.
01:38Do you think that these extra requirements are necessary?
01:42Well, not everyone is going to adopt through the RSPCA.
01:48So they've made some good comments and they recognize the importance of interacting with dogs as sentient beings,
01:56meaning that they have feelings just as we do.
01:58But I think by raising this CACT will make this a more common thought process so that irrespective of where people are going to get their dog from,
02:11or even if they already have a dog, they're going to reflect on what they can do to enrich that dog's life.
02:17And in return, they're going to get a very healthy, happy dog that will make us feel better as well.
02:24And Robert, I'm sure a lot of people watching this are wanting to maximize the health and happiness of their dog.
02:31They're going to factor in that three hour time period.
02:35But what does quality time look like?
02:37We know that dogs obviously need walking.
02:39They like to fetch sticks.
02:40What other kinds of things can dog owners do to make sure that their pets are enriched and really engaging?
02:48They need to understand the background and the breed of their dog.
02:52What have they been bred to do?
02:54If you've got a working dog, they love challenges.
02:57If you've got a Jack Russell, they're also working dogs and they love challenges.
03:04They're very inquisitive.
03:05So understand what your dog has been bred to do and find ways that engage them, engage their skill, engage their intelligence.
03:14And by doing that, we learn as well, as well as keeping those dogs active and occupied in an enriched environment.
03:25The draft code made some other recommendations, including this one that caught my eye, restricting surgical debarking.
03:34Do you know how common that practice is and why it's a problem?
03:37As far as I know, it's not that common in Australia.
03:44It is practiced in other places.
03:46But can you imagine someone taking your voice away?
03:50It's not really what we should be doing to dogs.
03:54When they're barking, they're telling us something.
03:57And the same for people who want to stop roosters from crowing in backyards.
04:03This is part of an animal's natural being.
04:08And barking is a way of communicating something.
04:11If you've got a dog that's particularly unhappy, a dog that's not getting enough engagement, that's completely bored in the backyard, it might be barking more than usual.
04:21So I certainly approve of the idea of making it very clear that we don't want to debark dogs, but use what they're trying to tell us for us to figure out what we need to do to make their lives a little easier, a little happier.
