Africa-Press – Uganda. Dogs are man’s friends and the story of Mr Shafick Walusimbi with the canines tells a lot about a relationship built majorly on trust.
For many, they are just pets and guards but Mr Walusimbi now makes a living out of his 17-year relationship with dogs.
The 28-year-old spends most of his time at home at Seeta in Kasangati, Wakiso District with his dogs. He keeps bours nearly 40 different breeds.
Over time, Mr Walusimbi has become an expert dog handler, trainer, and breeder, a craft he learnt at a tender age.
Growing up in an environment that did not fancy dogs, Mr Walusimbi would rear the animals in the neighbourhood.
“I had a dog called Poppy, it was very strong, and it was a village dog. I used to sit on it while coming from school and it would take me a few steps. But every time villagers told my mum that I was sitting on that dog, I would be given serious kiboko (canes),” Mr Walusimbi said.
While in Mombasa, Kenya, he made friends with a security officer whose job was to train and rescue dogs for beachgoers who would find themselves caught up in the ocean tide.
“Since that is where my mum used to stay, she had a friend called Samuel. He used to train army dogs. He used to pick me up every morning to help him. That’s how I learnt how to train dogs,” he said.
Beginnings
All the while, Mr Walusimbi opened a social media account on Facebook about his dogs.
“It is called ‘Best Dogs Uganda’, so I used to post pictures of puppies there, and people would come home and buy the dogs. While in Kenya, my dog produced puppies, so whenever anyone would call me, I would direct them to my Jjajja (grandparent). So all the money from puppies went to my Jjajja,” he said.
This was an eye-opener for Mr Walusimbi’s grandmother.
“After my Jjajja realised that dogs bring a lot of money, I went back when she had constructed nice kennels for me. And as they say, the rest is history,” he said.
Mr Walusimbi is now revered for his job in training dogs. On an acre piece of land, he has more than 35 dogs of different breeds. It is on that land that he has set up different drill sets like jump hoops and hurdles, climbing planks, and wooden walls for his dogs. The land also has a man-made water body where the dogs practice swimming and recovery of items from the water.
The facility focuses on handling, breeding, and skilling fresh dog handlers.
“I have bought land, about five pieces, and I am just growing [the business]. And, now people know me. I am a famous dog trainer,” Mr Walusimbi said. He trains the dogs in attributes such as aggressiveness, sniffing, and tracking, among other things.
He has put together a team with whom he demonstrates these skills.
In the field, he instructed his Belgian Malinois to get on its two hind paws, sniff out money hidden at different spots around the field, and pick up plastic bottles littered within the compound and dump them in the rubbish bin.
He said this breed is the most talented in terms of grasping skills.
“This Belgian Malinois can bite, run, and bark, it doesn’t know the value on the note but it knows the chemicals used to make money,” he said.
On training both dogs and their trainers, he said a two-month course is adequate for all to learn the basics but more practice would make them perfect. “I normally charge Shs1.5m per month for the training,” he said.
He said each dog breed has attributes it performs best.
“For example, dogs that track like the bloodhounds, you can’t use them to bite. Their only purpose is to track. We have breeds that learn so fast like the Belgian Malinois and Rottweiler,” he said.
Mr Walusimbi said they have made a huge investment and the dogs are pricey. “Our puppy’s prices start from Shs1.5m. For the big dogs, it depends on the breed,” he said.
Dogs can be very dangerous and Mr Walusimbi admits that he is also afraid of them. “The more you stay with a dog, the more you understand it. In case it gets hostile, run away. Get people who know how to handle dogs,” he cautioned.
He added that the healthcare of the dogs is also important for the canine and the people they safeguard. Many diseases can be transmitted from dogs to humans.
One of the ways to prevent diseases in dogs is by vaccination.
He said any dog owner must ensure that the canines are vaccinated against rabies.
“If it is vaccinated, you’ll only treat the wound in case it bites you. But if it is not vaccinated and it bites, there are risks of getting very deadly diseases like rabies,” he said.
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