Walking My Dog

[KKK]

I'm the proud owner of an 18-month old Golden Retriever spayed bitch named 'Honey' in Pattaya. A dog like this requires a lot of exercise. I do my best with weekly visits to a quiet beach where she swims, plays catch & fetch with ball or Frisbee. I also take her for walks locally up and down my soi. This is also good exercise for me, one of the reasons for getting her. She is not a guard dog: she's a pet, a companion that I like to take with me when I go out. People stop and pet her, ask her name, shake hands/paws etc. Kids especially are fasinated and whilst initially afraid because of her size (27kg) soon calm down and are kissing and cuddling her. Some even say 'Mummy, buy me a dog like that.' Goldens are one of the best dogs a family could ever have. They are pretty useless as a guard dog; more than likely a Golden will carry out all your precious possessions to the waiting thieves with a friendly wag of the tail. They do require a lot of exercise which I'm trying to do.

I say ‘try and exercise’ because it is becoming more and more difficult. She's on a short leash connected to a halter that fits round her nose and the back of her head. The halter comes from Australia (you can't buy them here), designed by a vet to train large dogs not to pull while walking on a lead. Because the lead is attached to the head rather than the usual neck-collar or chest-harness (in those places a dog can apply lots of pulling power) she can't pull me over. It is often confused with a muzzle even though it is only 1cm wide and the dog can still drink, eat and bark with it on. She could of course also bite but it's not in her nature to do that. She will however give you a good licking given the opportunity. Sometimes people run away in fear when they see what they think is a muzzled dog screaming 'ma cut', 'biting dog'. When on the few occassions I don't use the halter and use a regular collar or harness to test if she still pulls they don't blink an eye while passing us and often stop for a chat. We carry enough small plastic bags with us in case she has a poop. I collect her ‘stuff’ in a bag, tie it tight, place it in another bag also tied and carry it with me until I find a suitable bin into which I place it.

As we stroll down the street we are often harrassed and attacked by other dogs. Not to much problem with the “nobody-owns-up-to” street kind, they all seem far more interested in napping. It's the obviously “owned-by-somebody” breed variety, Alsatian, Poodle, Rotweiler, Ridge-back etc. that are allowed to freely roam and 'guard' the public street outside their property that are the problem. No matter the breed or size of dog they all come up yapping, snarling, barking trying to attack me and my dog for encroaching on what they consider their private property even though it is in fact public property, a street or soi. This is how they get their exercise. When was the last time you saw a Thai walking a dog? You’ve got more chance of seeing snow here than that.

I was under the impression that all dogs on public property had to be leashed and under the control of a human. There used to be some very large yellow signboards around town saying as much, if not in words certainly in the pictures. So the other day I went to the City Vet for confirmation of this. The vet unfortunately wasn't available at the time of my visit so I spoke with one of his assistants.

I was presented with a poorly photo-copied single page, dual-languaged (Thai & English), undated 'Pattaya City Announcement' signed by 'Subdivision of veterinary, Bureau of Public Health and Environment' that reads (English Version):

Topic: Having dogs in possession and letting them out in public area

1. Dogs' owners must register each of their dogs at the Subdivision of Veterinary, Public Health Center, Pattaya city hall.

2. Dogs' owners must put on a collar and rabies control tag around the pets' necks and those must be in good condition.

3. Dogs' owners must pick up their pets' waste in the public area. Violators will be fined not exceeding Bath (sic) 500.

When I questioned why the announcement made no mention of 'dogs must be leashed' all I got was a blank face. So I said it a different way. 'Can a dog freely roam public areas without a lead?' I pointed to my dog on a short leash. 'Yes' was the reply 'as long as it has a collar and rabies tag like', and she showed me one, 'this'. My dog at that time was haltered not collared and had no rabies tag. A tag and Honey’s vaccination certificates were however in my pocket. The veterinary assistant did not say anything about the missing collar or tag.

Well my jaw dropped and I left in utter amazement. Dog owners can legally let their dogs out into public areas unsupervised and unleashed. All they have to do is collar and rabies-tag it and somehow find its poop and pick that up. They are not required to leash and supervise.

Thinking that there maybe was some misunderstanding between me and the young vet assistant or perhaps something was lost in the translation of the Thai in the announcement to the English I decided to follow up at a private veterinary clinic (the largest one in Pattaya). I was given my usual greeting, with the staff all coming to see and play with Honey. They adore her. I said she was not sick or in need of any attention but we've come to say hello (woof-woof), buy some doggy snacks and could I have short chat with one of the many vets. One of the vets came out to see me together with his front desk clerk. I showed them the 'Pattaya City Announcement'. They read it (Thai version). Both said they had never seen it before. 'Any problems' I asked. 'No, seems fine' said the vet 'but I don't see any mention of leash. In Bangkok a dog must be leashed when on public areas'. 'Exactly' I said 'thank-you for confirming that'. We then had a small chat about exercising dogs or rather the non-exercising and how that would be cruel to the animal. The vet said that I must exercise my dog and that it would be cruel to just keep her locked up in my yard. 'I know you don't do that', the vet said, 'as the one time Honey was very sick was due to over-exercise when she caught pnuemonia from ingesting too much sea water during swimming.' Actually it happened when I let an 8-year-old child ride on her back while swimming that did it. Dog and kid had lots of fun but I won't allow it any more. 'Your dog is in perfect health, playful, non-aggressive, very content and much-loved' the vet continued. 'I wish I could say the same for some of my other clients.' I told him that I had taken to carrying a walking stick with me to use as protection when Honey and I are attacked by all the free-roaming dogs as we wander around town. 'You don't hit them do you?' he quickly questioned. 'Sometimes' I replied ashamedly. 'I don't want to, but sometimes it is the only way to get them to back-off.' 'You mustn't hit them' he said 'that would be cruel. Please try and not do that.' 'I'll try,' I replied 'but I have to protect myself and my dog. We should be able to walk down the public street without being attacked all the time.' 'I understand' he replied. I thanked him for his advice, paid my bill and left.

So now I have a conumdrum. If I don't exercise my dog and keep her locked up in the yard I'm being cruel. If I exercise her and risk being attacked by unleashed dogs who I then hit I'm being cruel. Either way I'm cruel. I don’t want to be. I've tried to find some quiet local place where we both can exercise in safety. It is impossible. Everywhere you go in Pattaya there are dogs freely roaming around protecting 'their patch'. Ban Amphur beach (30km round trip) is the only place I can find where we can exercise unhindered. A very friendly male (completely intact) beach-mutt joins us and chases away all non-friendly beach-mutts in exchange for some doggy-snacks, fresh water and butt-sniffing. But Ban Amphur is too far to go every day. I manage it once a week but that's not enough. Ban Amphur is not part of Pattaya. Don’t I as a Pattaya resident who spends most of his 800,000+ baht per year pension here with all of its corresponding taxes etc. going to this city deserve to have some public space where I can exercise my legally owned dog in peace? I think I do. Should I have to go to another district where I pay no taxes and only spend a nominal 100 baht a week to a beach vendor to sit in a chair, have a drink, and eat a simple rice dish? I think not. Pattaya and Jomtien Beaches are just too small and over-crowded to be of any use in exercising my dog. I’m not allowed in the fitness park with a dog. A local land owner who has a couple of Rai of undeveloped land gave permission for me to exercise Honey there. But recently it has been taken over by dozens of street dogs so I don’t go there anymore. Any other pieces of undeveloped land are quickly being filled up with shopping malls or shop-houses; condos or housing estates. Soon Pattaya will be a concrete jungle with no open space at all. So now I’m left with one choice; walking up and down my soi, waving my stick at any unleashed dog that comes near me and mine. At the rate of about 1 dog every 20 metres you can imagine how frustrating that is. In an hours walk I’ll come across 100 or more dogs sometimes in packs of 3 or 4.

Should I get rid of my dog? Lose the one thing that makes me exercise, hopefully adding a few years to my life enabling me to spend more time and money in Pattaya with all the benefits of that brings to the people. When I die, my pension goes with me. Nothing gets left behind as a donation to the Thai people. I don’t want to give up on Honey. But all the time the present chaos prevails preventing me from properly exercising my dog I get closer to it day by day.

This city needs to revise its laws by making leashing compulsory as it seems the sensible people in Bangkok have done. They then need to educate the dog owning public by issuing proper instructions on these rules at both the city vet and private veterinary clinic level.

A dog park would be nice, where responsible pet dog owners can go and exercise their dogs while socializing them with other dogs to remove aggression. No guard dogs allowed of course; that's a whole different story of which I have no experience. Does Bangkok have such a place? I’m not sure.

Does the fine mentioned in part 3 of the ‘Pattaya City Announcement’ only apply to not picking up their dogs’ waste or does it also apply to parts 1 and 2 as well? It certainly reads as though it is only part 3 as that’s the section in which it is placed. If it is also applicable to parts 1 & 2 then the statement would be far better and clearer as:

4. Violators of any of the above will be fined not exceeding Baht 500 per instance.

So if you had an unregistered dog in a public area without collar, without rabies control tag and you didn’t pick up its waste the fine would be Baht 2,000. The same as beach hawkers and garbage recyclers are suppossed to be fined on Jomtien Beach.

Incidentaly the bylaw as I understand it in Bangkok goes something like this:

A dog in public areas must be controlled by a leash not more than 50cm long. Leash holder must be aged between 15 & 65. All dogs must be microchipped. All conditions in 'Pattaya City Announcement' also apply.

Quite how a 2 meter tall human walks his or her Chihuahua with a leash only 50cm long I’d like to see. And surely the age range of the leash-holder would depend upon the size & strength of the dog and the human. A Chihuahua would probably be best walked by a preteen especially considering the allowable length of lead. A 50kg plus Rotweiler would probably be too much for any 65 year old of frail health. I know many people under 60 that couldn't handle that much dog.

Microchipping; well without:

1) DNA testing of some mysteriously abandoned dog poop that nobody owns up to;

2) DNA testing of all dogs in the area to try and find out who the poop belongs to;

3) Scanning the offending dog's chip to try and trace the owner to pay a fine;

I can't see much point in microchipping as far as policing poop goes. Do we have poop police anyway? I’ve heard of tourist police, highway police but poop police! Any volunteers?

With the lack of a publicly available database, (see if you can make any sense of http://www.pettracthai.com/. It’s Thai language only), where all chip numbers are registered with the corresponding owners name and address I don't see them being much help in the return of a lost or stolen dog either.

And what use is a rabies control tag? That doesn’t prove the dog has been vaccinated. Tags are undated and fall off very easily. My vet has given me plenty of new ones when Honey lost hers while having a good scratch at her neck. It’s the record of vaccination book that really gives the true story but even that can’t be linked finitely to a particular dog as it does not have a place for microchip number. I could give the owner of another Golden, of similar age, sex and weight, Honey’s vaccination book and nobody would be the wiser.

Honey is microchipped and I have the certificate for what it's worth. She has been registered with Pattaya's Subdivision of Veterinary, Public Health Center, which is to be found in the 3rd Road entrance to the Fire Station not Pattaya City Hall as incorrectly stated in the 'Pattaya City Announcement'. That registration has been done twice, before and after microchipping. In both cases the registration entailed a clerk writing my name and address down on a scrap of paper and throwing it on a heap of other pieces of scrap paper. Not a computer in sight, no reciept to say I've registered, leaving me open to trouble later if they decide to say I didn't do it. No checking of the chip number I gave them. Do they even have a scanner? 'We don't need to see the dog' they said on my first visit but I took her on the second anyway. The whole process is a joke; a complete waste of time and whatever budget has been allocated to it.

[Mobi]

I have 3 year old golden. I used to walk her every evening but have long since stopped for all the reasons you have quoted. Interestingly, I found that if I took the same route every day, after a while all the street dogs got used to us and the amount of attention and bother dropped. However, there was always some new dog around who decided to have a go, and in the end I just got tired of it.

It is strange that you seem to have problems bringing your dog to heel. I am a lousy trainer and never trained Cookie to heel, but after a few months I even took her out without any lead on at all and she stayed with me the whole time. I just kept the lead handy in case of trouble with the soi dogs. When on a normal collar and lead she is perfectly obedient.

Fortunately I have a large garden, and I leased some land next to me which I have fenced off and there is plenty of room to exercise my dogs without the need to walk them. It has made me very lazy though.

[Geroc]

I suppose that it's not pleasant for some Thai people to live in a city so crowded of farangs, but they need their job and then they do with. And dogs are well accepted by people. But a farang with a big dog "that needs a lot of excerice"... And a farang who wants that Thailand change the rules about animals... Because he's enough stupid and selfish to buy a big dog when living in a condo.

Maybe you're from a country where you drive on the right side of the road ? Don't you want Thailand change for you ??

Don't forget you live in a foreign country. You live here because of pleasant weather, and cheap price. Not for the country. Not by philanthropy. Stop to think about what you could get more and give.

Rules for long stay visa have hardened last year. One day, only tourists will be accepted, because of awkwards like you.

[cmsally]

Welcome to dog walking in Thailand.

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about the street dogs. My dog is also a Golden and needs to be exercised even though she runs around in the garden. Just about anyone who visits us knows if they sit around with nothing to do they will be given the job of throwing tennis balls for the dog.

We either take the dog where there are no others around for a walk or more conveniently we have worked out a route from our house that passes only fenced in dogs or no dogs. There was the odd problem but found out that bribing them with sausages regularly, built up pleasant associations. Unfortunately if you live in an area with a lot of street dogs it is a big problem.

[bob4you]

Unfortunately some people from other countries (farangs) expect Thailand rules and regulations to conform to what they are used to in their country instead of trying to conform to w that Thailand considers normal. It was a big step get licensing required in Pattaya area, but it was passed but a leash law or enforcement of licensing, or dog catchers in Thailand, get real. When you move to a foreign country it is you that must adapt.

[draggons]

We use to have the same problem with beach dogs every day when walking our dogs and had to whack a good few of them before they got the message not to attack our dogs. We've since moved house and have our own beach front, no strays. Our 2 goldens, shitzu and heinz 57 spend a good part of the day in & out of the water and tearing up & down the beach.