A new public art installation in San Ġwann launched earlier this month shows dogs that are happy and relaxed.

What is unusual is that the artistic work shows settings that are associated with making many dogs uncomfortable, such as sharing space with cats, children and the loud noises made by fireworks.

The wall on Bella Vista Street was painted by Christine X, James Micallef Grimaud and Cooker for Dogs Trust and SPCA Malta with the permission of house owner Jack Calamatta.

Dogs Trust Malta thought of the idea after their mother organisation did something similar in the UK to promote their famous slogan ‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas’.

The organisations are currently campaigning for better socialisation of puppies in the first 16 weeks of life.

To help breeders and new owners know the right time and way to socialise puppies, Dogs Trust is providing booklets that break down these 16 weeks into stages and outline the tasks for each stage, along with video tutorials which are also available on its website www.dogtrainingmadeeasy.org.

The aim is to train dogs that are more sociable with humans and other animals, comfortable with unexpected loud noises and noisy appliances, travelling, different walking textures in any environment we choose to take them and be happy to be left alone.

All this good behaviour does not come naturally to a dog and is best achieved the earlier the dog is socialised.

In the long run this will ensure fewer dogs would need to be re-homed by making them more suitable pets.

The educational value of the project was recognised by Borg Cardona Co. Ltd, who sponsored the work on the wall in San Ġwann.

San Ġwann local council encourages other localities to enable such projects in order to educate the public and embellish Malta’s roads.

Dogs Trust Malta hopes to be able to start working on another wall in the near future.