I have two big dogs, both rescued off the street. The boy, Chokky, is coming on for 5 years old now and he’s my best friend. We do most stuff together, including a 5k run every day, which he absolutely loves, and with his harness on, he knows my various running speeds and can make instant adjustments. We run a stretch of the road that leads out of my moo bahn, with jungle either side, this is the only place we can run, as the various street dog gangs have their own respective territories (which Chokky won’t cross), so he hangs out of the car while we drive the short distance to our running stretch.

So, there we were the other day, about halfway through our run, when suddenly at least 10 street dogs appeared from nowhere and circled us! It was obvious that I wasn’t the centre of their attention, no, it was my big boy they were after, and much to my surprise, he instantly reacted to my ‘sit’ command, as the dogs circled, teeth bared. I stared down the alpha and stood my ground, which was the best thing to do, and much to my amazement, Chokky took it all in his stride, confident that I was in charge of the situation.

 

Stalemate

They weren’t going to attack, that was for sure, but they weren’t going to let us move either, and after about 10 minutes of this stalemate, I reached down for a stone, which I launched into the rear of the alpha, who yelped and moved back. The car was some 500 metres away, and we inched towards it, with the whole pack around us, keeping a 2-metre distance and following our every move, then they seemed to get bolder, so I charged at the alpha, which caught him by surprise and I managed to connect my right Nike with his body, so well, in fact, that it lifted him clean off the ground! Otherwise unhurt he backed right off to about 30 metres away, with the others now behind him.

 

It was at this time that I decided to try a different approach, and very slowly, I squatted down and made clicking sounds, all the time watching the alpha male, and suddenly his tail started to wag! The atmosphere changed, all the others began tail wagging (dogs would be hopeless at poker), and with that, the alpha turned and disappeared back into the undergrowth, followed by his possee.

 

We’ve seen them again a few times, and I now have a nice bamboo stick, which I carry when we run, yet they see us and come close, non-aggressively, then they leave us be. I guess they no longer see us as a threat.

A gun would be better than a stick....

Just now, simon43 said:

A gun would be better than a stick....

It would if I wanted to harm them .....

Interesting.  Thanks for your lesson and story on dog behavior.  

Good for you (and Chokky of course)

4 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

Interesting.  Thanks for your lesson and story on dog behavior.  

Good for you (and Chokky of course)

When confronted with a pack, always stare down the alpha ..... and never run!

Yes!

 

It was exactly the same as "Plug Ugly" the leader of a particularly daring gang of soi desperadoes...who objected to my dog on his patch..

 

He later died in my arms-a victim of a snake bite.

 

Dear old "Plug" RIP  old fella..

 

 

 

 

That’s also my problem and in this case a lot of dogs have a owner .....

1 minute ago, Duke30 said:

That’s also my problem and in this case a lot of dogs have a owner .....

That kind of changes things

I'm glad it ended well for you...I too have had run-ins with street dogs while walking in early mornings.  Carry a big stick now and try to avoid their territory when possible...

glad you worked out the method for converting a soi alpha,

into a 4 legged chicken  

it always good to have doggy style stories

4 hours ago, tifino said:

glad you worked out the method for converting a soi alpha,

into a 4 legged chicken  

Crimey, those hands are jacked up looking. But hey, my thumb ring makes it all OK.