Arts
Time to train and bond with her four-legged friends
Training your dog is about building and strengthening your relationship with your best friend, says Terunie Senanayake, 25, a certified dog trainer and behaviourist who runs Pet’iquette or Pet Etiquette.
Special bond: Terunie Senanayake with Luna
Terunie specialises in dealing with different canine behavioural issues such as separation anxiety, nervousness, socialization of dogs, leash reactivity, nipping, pottying inside, excessive barking, and hyperactivity. She doesn’t cover aggression but is currently studying more about it.
The story of Pet’iquette began several years ago with her own dog Rusty, Terunie says though she launched it just seven months ago. Terunie has always loved animals ranging from lizards to cats. Rusty was only three weeks old when she rescued him off the street.
“I didn’t know anything about dogs. I only knew how to keep him happy and healthy. When he started biting he was very young, and as the years went on he just started getting worse and worse. I contacted a few trainers but wasn’t happy with their approach to training.Thankfully I finally did find a behaviourist who became my good friend and helped and supported me on my journey to help him and me become what I am today.”
Given Rusty’s problem, Terunie was inspired to learn more about dog training. Realizing she had a knack for it she decided to pursue it professionally. She has currently completed a British course in canine care and behaviour and is following an American course on solving behavioural issues such as aggression and nervousness.
Terunie believes that if a pup has been separated from the mother before 8 to 12 weeks then it won’t know how to interact with other dogs and humans and won’t learn impulse control which is something best learnt from the mother and the litter. That’s where Luna comes in. Luna, Terunie’s other dog, behaves much like a good mother dog would by teaching her pups how to interact appropriately. Luna is two years old and is probably the best behaved dog you will ever meet, the ideal assistant dog to help to socialize and teach other dogs.
Terunie says sometimes she can almost hear the dogs conversing with each other.
“So during a play date my job is to watch their behaviour. It’s amazing because you see them having conversations: one is like ‘can we play?’, and the other is like ‘look I’m not in the mood, go away’.” Terunie’s new pup, Irah, is a Labrador and golden retriever mix and she has been conducting group puppy classes where she teaches the pups basic commands such as sit, stay and focus work, leash work, socialization and any other issues the family needs.
She also gives advice and tips for all dog owners on Instagram and is happy to reply to any questions. On a recent post, she provided a list of do’s and don’ts for when you get a new puppy. For Terunie the most important thing is for the dog and the family to be happy together; so that’s what she works towards.
Terunie is passionate about dancing, singing, and drawing too. She did art for her A’Levels and carried on that passion to her interest in design. She also enjoys teaching the Bible in her spare time.
Visit her Instagram page to learn more about Pet’iquette: https://www.instagram.com/petiquette_sl/?igshid=t03peygmfa7dor email: petiquette.info@gmail.com
All smiles: Luna (right) with Irah the puppy
