Dogs. Thai Dogs.

[robsamui]

Can anyone explain why? I'm not talking about the sois of BKK but all the other places in Thailand.

A Thai person has a dog. The dog is not allowed in the house - it has to stay outside, but develops a territory, usually close to the house that feeds it.

The theory is - I suppose - that the dog will bark if a stranger comes by.

OK the dog barks. What do the Thai owners do - rush outisde with a shotgun? No. They ignore it. Totally.

Not so long ago, one of the dogs close to me went into AUTOBARK. Woo woo woo woo ... pause woo woo woo woo... pause - woo woo woo woo and so on. For two hours. For no reason other than it was looking at the moon - or was bored - who knows.

It woke me at 3.am and after 30 minutes I was so annoyed I took a chunk of timber and went after it.

I chased it round its house for 3 or 4 minutes, whacking at it with the wood and chucking rocks and yelling at it.

Not one light came on and not one person came out to yell at me. (or shoot me)

They don't train them, they don't cuddle them, they don't love them and they ignore them completely.

So WHY do Thai people have dogs?

Any ideas?

Robh

Edited August 29, 2007 by robsamui

[OneeyedJohn]

Have just done something similar...with my catapult. Bloody thing was barking incessantly on the country road outside. More annoyingly if you just loook at them sideways they cower away like the cowardly mangy beasts that they are.

I like dogs don't get me wrong, but there are so many of these uncared mongrels around my village, you become accustomed to almost regard them as one would rats.

[tracer5050]

My wife and her family have had 5 or 6 dogs that iIremember, I really like dogs had one when I was a boy and while in the US. But as luck has it my inlaws house near the road . Thai dogs love to chase trucks. But they keep replacing them . What can i say.

[sbk]

I think the difference between here and the west is that here there are so many stray dogs that one will end up attaching itself to a home (or the people will take a puppy to make someone happy--usually a kid) when they don't really want a dog. Whereas in the West, people who don't like dogs or don't want one, don't get one. Here they can get thrust upon people.

I know of many many bungalows on the island that have multiple dogs because guests find a puppy, bring it back, feed it while they are there and then leave. Never asking the owner if they really want the responsibility of another dog.

[Mai Krap]

Dogs barking all night is simple, it keeps the ghosts away from the house so the owners can sleep without bad dreams, Just go ask for yourself.

It is a damm shame to see two mangy mongrel dogs stuck together every time one gos out. Another litter of unwanted dogs to spread disease around.

[crewcut]

"I chased it round its house for 3 or 4 minutes, whacking at it with the wood and chucking rocks and yelling at it.

They don't train them, they don't cuddle them, they don't love them and they ignore them completely."

I guess from the dogs perspective no cuddles and training lessons is better than being whacked with a piece of 2 by 4.

PS. Did you yell at the dog in Thai or English? This may be the key to why it didn't obey you!

CC.

[sriracha john]

I bet they have no trouble understanding and obeying Granitetonean.

Edited August 29, 2007 by sriracha john

[tracer5050]

do Thai dogs Know english ?? I dont think so or maybe they do.

one thing i know i saw the family feeding dogs chicken bones . I told them no. I wa stolds thai dogs can eat . afte that i kept my mouth shut.

[jaiyenyen]

I remember when my Thai G/F visited England for the first time, she was amazed to see people in the streets, walking their dogs on leads.

I don't think i have ever seen that happen in Thailand.

[KhunDennis]

I think some of the Thai families look at them as trading stock, for free plastic buckets.

[Etrigan]

My former neighbours kept a poodle caged up 24/7.

When it woke my family up at 4am, I made certain that the owners knew my displeasure in the strongest terms.

Woke up the whole street actually.

Never had the problem since, and my immediate neighbours became a lot friendlier.

So my question is this, why didn't my Thai neighbours sort this out before we moved there? They must have suffered for years because they didn't take action.

[jackr]

Guy up the road used to keep is rotty caged all day and night outside the house. Never walked it but let it out by itself muzzled once in a while. Same, same with next door neighbour and her poodle but at least she takes it in the house. If they spent even 1% of their efforts in looking after the things properly as they do their cars, it would surely be a better situation for the mutts. There is an old geezer on the moo baan, though, that takes his dog out every evening while cycling and dog on leash. The masses could learn a lot from this guy but I fear there's a good few generations of evolving to do

[Scott]

It's a different perspective, I guess. I have a dog. Keep in the house and garden--as per the rules of the Moo Baan. Out on the main soi people have dogs--or at least they feed them, but when there is a problem, like someone gets bitten, they deny it's their dog.

[chavy]

Guy up the road used to keep is rotty caged all day and night outside the house. Never walked it but let it out by itself muzzled once in a while. Same, same with next door neighbour and her poodle but at least she takes it in the house. If they spent even 1% of their efforts in looking after the things properly as they do their cars, it would surely be a better situation for the mutts. There is an old geezer on the moo baan, though, that takes his dog out every evening while cycling and dog on leash. The masses could learn a lot from this guy but I fear there's a good few generations of evolving to do

Problem is he runs the risk of his dog being ripped to shreds by the semi wild soi dogs that take their bit of the soi very seriously

[Thaddeus]

Some Thai families keep dogs as pets, some as an early warning system, people are people, go figure...... the pet version numbers are kept down with various methods of birth control, some with injections (that are seriously bad for the dog in other ways) some by seclusion. Our poodle wears Pampers when she is in season (it's quite funny watching a lust-filled boy dog bouncing off the back end of a poodle without getting anywhere, but he thinks he is)

The non-pet dogs are of course allowed to do anything they want and breed out of control. Overly aggressive dogs get exchanged for buckets (as do the livestock killers, of which there are many) and overly stupid ones end up as road kill..... if their numbers get too large, then starvation takes a hand.

The families that do genuinely keep dogs as pets take care of them very well. As for the others, don't expect them to change any time soon.

[kmart]

My neighbour keeps four dogs chained up in his yard 24/7. He never lets them out for a bit of exercise or a runabout. Consequently, the mutts are never asleep and bark all night. He obviously just sees them as a cheap burglar alarm.

I used to rent a house right on the beach in Rayong, and remember cars coming along the beach road at night to throw dogs out and abandon them. Obviously some ###### decided that their puppy has grown too big or isn't as cute as before, and wants rid. Sometimes to get another one just after chucking the other one away....It was pretty saddening to see dogs driven crazy with worry running around trying to find their owner's car or their way back home.

[tracer5050]

You know come to think of it . I dont think i have ever seen aminal control in Thailand?

Or what i thought was control.

[goldfish]

It woke me at 3.am and after 30 minutes I was so annoyed I took a chunk of timber and went after it.

I chased it round its house for 3 or 4 minutes, whacking at it with the wood and chucking rocks and yelling at it.

Not one light came on and not one person came out to yell at me. (or shoot me)

So WHY do Thai people have dogs?

Any ideas?

Robh

Why? So they can watch the stupid farang chase it round the house. No lights were turned on cause they didnt want to spoil the fun

[lazeeboy]

Can anyone explain why? I'm not talking about the sois of BKK but all the other places in Thailand.

A Thai person has a dog. The dog is not allowed in the house - it has to stay outside, but develops a territory, usually close to the house that feeds it.

The theory is - I suppose - that the dog will bark if a stranger comes by.

OK the dog barks. What do the Thai owners do - rush outisde with a shotgun? No. They ignore it. Totally.

Not so long ago, one of the dogs close to me went into AUTOBARK. Woo woo woo woo ... pause woo woo woo woo... pause - woo woo woo woo and so on. For two hours. For no reason other than it was looking at the moon - or was bored - who knows.

It woke me at 3.am and after 30 minutes I was so annoyed I took a chunk of timber and went after it.

I chased it round its house for 3 or 4 minutes, whacking at it with the wood and chucking rocks and yelling at it.

Not one light came on and not one person came out to yell at me. (or shoot me)

They don't train them, they don't cuddle them, they don't love them and they ignore them completely.

So WHY do Thai people have dogs?

Any ideas?

Robh

they all love puppys .but they soon become dogs ,they then have to feed them ,as for whacking the dog with a chunk of wood ,its a good job theres no rspca in thailand ,you bully.

[threelegcowboy]

Barking dogs are not a problem for the Thais for the most part. I have rarely seen a Thai out chasing dogs with a bamboo stick in the middle of the night. I have tried most everything to stop the barking and nothing has worked. Yelling, water, water in plastic bags, firecrackers,bull whips,rocks(Thais do use slingshots),talking to the neighbors are all just temperary fixes. SO THE PROBLEM MUST JUST BE THE FALANG.

The Thais do a roundup every so often but there must be a great number of dogs in order for the DOG HARVESTER to show up and take the dogs to a dog farm. There at the dog farm they get good treatment and fatten up real nice. You can guess the rest.

The real solution can be as simple as making a background noise to drown out the barking. A fan tuned on near your head can drown out very loud noises. I would recommend using only as needed. You may drown out a noise that you need to hear.

[a2396]

I think dogs in Thailand are the equivalent of sacred cows in India. They seem to have the higest level of respect and never harmed. Thai culture? In my opinion there are way to many strays wandering all over the streets day & night, creating hazards to pedestrians & motorcycles, let alone the noise they create. It is clear that safety is a low priority here and most Thais seem to be totally oblivious to extraneous noise, so don't wait up for a solution. Change your residence to a location where they are not so populous, if that is possible.

[sukanyacondo]

I remember when my Thai G/F visited England for the first time, she was amazed to see people in the streets, walking their dogs on leads.

I don't think i have ever seen that happen in Thailand.

And picking up its crap!!!

[Etrigan]

Threelegcowboy - ......and just how exactly does one drown out the noise of a barking mutt at the wee hours of three, or even four in the morning?????

Perhaps you can astound us with your brilliant method of doing this?

Maybe you have no concept of time, and therefore you truly believe that one must create an early morning racket in order to prevent one?

May I respectfully suggest you use the matter between your ears before posting next time.

I thank you.

[Nienke]

When I moved with my 25 dogs, the whole village was complaining about the barking especially at night, they said.

As it is quite rare my dogs bark at night, I stayed up once in a while to write down times of barking and their location. It were my neighbors poodles that are caged up 24/7, that certainly kept me awake initially. Now I´m used to it and don´t even hear them anymore.

Since I moved in I see these dogs outside their cages on a lead so once in a while. At least some imporovement. A second neighbor has the big boss of the neighborhood who will follow his human leader wherever he goes. The dog looks good. Then a neighbor who has MoMo, a golden chow mix and loved by the whole village. Momo walks loose always. A little furhter there is a Thai couple with their dalmation and poodle. Their house isn´t more than a shed, but the dogs are very well cared for and the dalmation travels with them quite often on the motorbike.

At the kennel all my Thai customers really love and care for their dogs whether they walk loose or not.

Everywhere there are people who care or do not care about animals. Here it is visible. In the west it´s not so visible. Nevertheless, every holiday period the rescue houses in the west are overfull of animals dumped by their ´loving´owners and I´ve seen figures of dogs euthanized on a yearly basis in the US of about 4 million . Not even to talk about the many ´loving´owners in the west who are not prepared to invest some time, effort and money in the species they ´love´so much and then are unpleasantly surprised that their animal will develop ´behavior problems´. Some animal owners will try to solve the problem through an animal behavorist, but many are dumped at a shelter or immediately end up being euthanized.

Nienke

Edited August 30, 2007 by Nienke

[jackr]

Guy up the road used to keep is rotty caged all day and night outside the house. Never walked it but let it out by itself muzzled once in a while. Same, same with next door neighbour and her poodle but at least she takes it in the house. If they spent even 1% of their efforts in looking after the things properly as they do their cars, it would surely be a better situation for the mutts. There is an old geezer on the moo baan, though, that takes his dog out every evening while cycling and dog on leash. The masses could learn a lot from this guy but I fear there's a good few generations of evolving to do

Problem is he runs the risk of his dog being ripped to shreds by the semi wild soi dogs that take their bit of the soi very seriously

No 'soi dogs' in this moo baan per se, just about all are locked away (perhaps one of the stipulations of living here)... apart from the odd poodle.

[LongThaimer]

They don't train them, they don't cuddle them, they don't love them and they ignore them completely.

So WHY do Thai people have dogs?

Any ideas?

Robh

Genuine dog lovers keep their dogs in their houses or in their yards.

Problem comes from casual dog owners, people who like to have dogs around their neighbourhood for security but could not be bothered to raise these aninmals properly in their own compounds, so these dogs ended up staying outside the houses who feeds them leftovers. They grow into rowdy packs over time causing nuisance around the block.

[Tywais]

Threelegcowboy - ......and just how exactly does one drown out the noise of a barking mutt at the wee hours of three, or even four in the morning?????

Perhaps you can astound us with your brilliant method of doing this?

Maybe you have no concept of time, and therefore you truly believe that one must create an early morning racket in order to prevent one?

May I respectfully suggest you use the matter between your ears before posting next time.

I thank you.

Actually Threelegcowboy is correct but depending on the individual as to the effectiveness of it. It's called 'white noise/pink noise' which is a known mask for external sounds and a fan loosely represents it. Below are a couple of many references to this technique.

"White noise is good at masking most other kinds of sound because it effectively overloads or “numbs” our auditory systems. Just as it’s difficult to hold a conversation at a crowded restaurant, it’s difficult for your brain to identify any one sound or voice when you’re already hearing sound at every frequency. So it’s not the white noise itself that promotes sleep as much as the fact that it reduces audio clutter, drowning out other sounds that may distract you and therefore keep you awake." Source: http://itotd.com/articles/339/white-noise/

"Still others use white noise to mask the sounds that interrupt their sleep. Whether you must contend with traffic rumbling down nearby thoroughfares, barking dogs or your spouse's snore, white noise can be used to effectively mask these sounds as well. The net result is a more restful sleep with the full rejuvenating benefits a good night's sleep can bring." > Source: http://www.howstuffworks.com/question47.htm

BTW: Personal attacks, aka flaming, is against forum rules.

[Nongwahyay]

The problem with dogs barking and howling at night is THE thing which is making me think twice about moving to Thailand. When I first went with my thai wife to her family in a Moo Baan just outside Nong Bua Lamphu I don´t actually remember being really put off by the noise. However, the more often I went, the more it annoyed me - and the last time, about a year ago, the persistent howling at night and the sight of aggressive packs of dogs in the "main road" really go to me. I asked various neighbours, as well as the Poo Yai Baan" why they put up with it - and was met each time only by laughter, but no answer. I´ve spent many hours since then, wondering how to fix the problem - but have also come up with no suitable answer (yes, I´d love to poison or shoot them all...............but I´m not allowed to say that here.....). I will get one of those high pitched devices, which various people have written about in other threads, to try out when we go again next year................. but I doubt that it will help much.............. The "white noise" idea, is a good one, though..............I´ve done the same thing in other places to drown out traffic noise.......and it basically does work.......although it can´t drown out the sudden sharo bark of a dog in the early hours of the morning......

[qwertz]

Maybe they keep them just because they know farangs abhor scruffy dogs.

Could it be they're sending you a message?

[tracer5050]

Even as I have tryed to tell them in the village , They let them run loose . The trucks take care of them . I hate it as i am adog person. but waht can i do. mia ben lie