Dangers For Dogs

[laosuwan]

Hi all:

I am moving to Chiang Rai (Mae Chan) next month and am bringing my two dogs. They are Dobermans, both purebred and although they look dangerous they are lacking in street smarts (soi smarts?). Here in the south dogs face dangers of muslims and poisoning by insecticide-laced meet lobbed over the wall, snake bite, and liver damage from blood parasites carried by ticks. Can anyone advise me, in general terms, what dangers dogs face in the north around Mae Chan, if any. Just a general feel for how dogs do and what to expect. The house we will live in is in a fairly rural area.

Also, I am told that Dr. Anon, vet at Sat leang Animal Hospital is the best in Chiang Rai. Any opinions on that?

Thanks in advance to all.

Regards to all,

Laosuwan

Edited June 12, 2012 by laosuwan

[harrry]

Well first they must learn phasa mah lanna then they will get on well with the local dog population which generally do not speak phasa ma pak thai

[harrry]

In a more serious vein I do not think you will have any problems if you care for your dogs responsibly.

[villagefarang]

Most of the dogs in our village die from being hit by vehicles of various sizes and shapes. We have four dogs and a cat. Three Thai dogs and a cat who live free outdoors and only occasionally are allowed in and a Golden Retriever who lives with us indoors and is kept on a leash when walked. The leash is mainly to keep her clean as we only let her swim once a week. The resulting shampoo and blow-dry is too time consuming to do more often.

Our GR is 45kilos of hair and tongue and would never hurt anyone but most of the villagers are scared to death of her, just because she is big. We have more luck getting children to pet her on our evening walks with the adults being harder to win over.

You will need to learn the dynamics of the neighborhood packs but if your dogs are well socialized there really shouldn’t be any problem getting to know the other dogs. I would keep them on leash unless you are somewhere they cannot hurt anything or be hurt themselves. If you are a good neighbor no one will poison your dogs.

We are happy with the vet you mentioned and take our GR there exclusively.

[jubby]

I suspect they could face exactly the same dangers here that they face in the south although I'm not exactly sure what dangers they face from Muslims , but we do have quite a few Muslims too. Is it some sort of Allergy ?

Northern Dogs do tend to sleep on the Highway and I would urge you not to allow your dogs to do so

Edited June 12, 2012 by jubby

[Blueskyramblinman]

Nice Golden,

When you bathe your dog do you use a special shampoo for ticks and fleas or are you using an ointment such as Frontline

( Frontline Plus is called Frontline Combo in the U.K but contain the same active ingredients ) that you apply between the shoulder blades every month?

[Traxster]

Great pics

Beautiful dog........and cat.

Good Luck with your move.

[laosuwan]

Well first they must learn phasa mah lanna then they will get on well with the local dog population which generally do not speak phasa ma pak thai

They are trained to respond only to commands in English. However, as a concession to local conditions they were not taught pronouns, plurals, tenses or prepositions.

[laosuwan]

In a more serious vein I do not think you will have any problems if you care for your dogs responsibly.

thank you

[laosuwan]

Most of the dogs in our village die from being hit by vehicles of various sizes and shapes. We have four dogs and a cat. Three Thai dogs and a cat who live free outdoors and only occasionally are allowed in and a Golden Retriever who lives with us indoors and is kept on a leash when walked. The leash is mainly to keep her clean as we only let her swim once a week. The resulting shampoo and blow-dry is too time consuming to do more often.

Our GR is 45kilos of hair and tongue and would never hurt anyone but most of the villagers are scared to death of her, just because she is big. We have more luck getting children to pet her on our evening walks with the adults being harder to win over.

You will need to learn the dynamics of the neighborhood packs but if your dogs are well socialized there really shouldn’t be any problem getting to know the other dogs. I would keep them on leash unless you are somewhere they cannot hurt anything or be hurt themselves. If you are a good neighbor no one will poison your dogs.

We are happy with the vet you mentioned and take our GR there exclusively.

Thanks very much for your recommendation and advice. I always keep my dogs leashed and thought I was the only one in Thailand who knew what a leash is, so good to make your acquaintance. I have the same problem of people who people that fear my dogs even though they are leashed and trained, even while they are surrounded by packs of dangerous unleashed biting local dogs. Go figure.

It does get a bit old for my dogs, being charged by aggressive unleashed local dogs but I know the rule here is “other guy is always wrong” so I usually try to take my dogs places where there are no other dogs around, places that are not always easy to find.

Your Golden looks like a real sweetie; my two Dobes would never lie down with their sworn enemy, the cat, like that (ha ha).

Thanks again.

[harrry]

Well first they must learn phasa mah lanna then they will get on well with the local dog population which generally do not speak phasa ma pak thai

They are trained to respond only to commands in English. However, as a concession to local conditions they were not taught pronouns, plurals, tenses or prepositions.

just for fun I told my wife what I posted and she is sure I was right....she thinks the dogs be lonely as they will have trouble talking to the other dogs here as they will not be the same

[harrry]

Most of the dogs in our village die from being hit by vehicles of various sizes and shapes. We have four dogs and a cat. Three Thai dogs and a cat who live free outdoors and only occasionally are allowed in and a Golden Retriever who lives with us indoors and is kept on a leash when walked. The leash is mainly to keep her clean as we only let her swim once a week. The resulting shampoo and blow-dry is too time consuming to do more often.

Our GR is 45kilos of hair and tongue and would never hurt anyone but most of the villagers are scared to death of her, just because she is big. We have more luck getting children to pet her on our evening walks with the adults being harder to win over.

You will need to learn the dynamics of the neighborhood packs but if your dogs are well socialized there really shouldn’t be any problem getting to know the other dogs. I would keep them on leash unless you are somewhere they cannot hurt anything or be hurt themselves. If you are a good neighbor no one will poison your dogs.

We are happy with the vet you mentioned and take our GR there exclusively.

Didn't have the puppy on a leash at the PotLuck when he went for a swim and gave us all a shower

[laosuwan]

I suspect they could face exactly the same dangers here that they face in the south although I'm not exactly sure what dangers they face from Muslims , but we do have quite a few Muslims too. Is it some sort of Allergy ?

Northern Dogs do tend to sleep on the Highway and I would urge you not to allow your dogs to do so

Here the allergy problem, as you call it, is the poisoning of dogs with insecticide laced meat lobbed over your wall or fence; as you go further south the symptoms of this allergy become worse, with the dogs being shot and burned. According to police and locals this is done because dogs are “unclean” according to the koran. The sunni interpretation in Thailand is that the presence of a dog in a city or village is problematic because the community is deemed to be “keeping” it, which reduces the muslims merits for good behavior on judgement day (“two qiraats will be deducted from his reward each day”) and because acciodental contact with a dog obligates the muslim to undergo a cleaning ritual (“The purification of the vessel of one of you, if a dog licks it, is to wash it seven times, the first time with soil”). It’s much easier to kill the dog of a non believer, which incurs no demerit in sharia, than to tolerate the dog remaining in the village, which does. Of course, not all muslims are devote, but only one or two who are can take out a lot of dogs. This has been our experince in the south and also when we lived in Spain near a muslim community.

My dogs sleep inside and there is no highway near the new house but thanks for your advice, nontheless.

[laosuwan]

Well first they must learn phasa mah lanna then they will get on well with the local dog population which generally do not speak phasa ma pak thai

They are trained to respond only to commands in English. However, as a concession to local conditions they were not taught pronouns, plurals, tenses or prepositions.

just for fun I told my wife what I posted and she is sure I was right....she thinks the dogs be lonely as they will have trouble talking to the other dogs here as they will not be the same

Thank god your wife has you to talk to.

[harrry]

Well first they must learn phasa mah lanna then they will get on well with the local dog population which generally do not speak phasa ma pak thai

They are trained to respond only to commands in English. However, as a concession to local conditions they were not taught pronouns, plurals, tenses or prepositions.

just for fun I told my wife what I posted and she is sure I was right....she thinks the dogs be lonely as they will have trouble talking to the other dogs here as they will not be the same

Thank god your wife has you to talk to.

No....Thank God I have her to talk to.

[jubby]

Wow, Well thanks for explaining that.

[alfieconn]

I would never let your dogs off the lead in rural areas even when it looks perfectly safe to do so. Apparently the locals use all sorts of poisons on rice fields and in general use so nowhere is safe.

Recently had a a lab die on one of the most beatiful walks,which consisted of walking along side a river and then a klong surrounded by rice fields, not another dog or other dangers to be seen but somewhere she picked up some poison and was dead within 25 mins of me realizing something was wrong.

[tracker1]

Ive had a lot of problems with ticks lost 1 dog to anaplasmosis which was disheartening now have a new dog and have had it vaccinated but the vaccination seems to be as deadly as the ticks so now im only using Advocate which treats most the nasties. Snakes are another problem 3 in the last 2 months one being a cobra

[Blueskyramblinman]

Can you give further description of snake encounters where,what time of day etc

Thanks

[sceadugenga]

Snakes generally avoid humans and dogs, we're a far greater danger to them than they are to us.

They like to eat rats and mice which live and breed in piles of rubbish.

The best strategy is to keep your yard clean, don't allow piles of garden rubbish to build up or old furniture and unused building materials to accumulate outside.

I live in a rural area but rarely see snakes, I think we've had three in ten years. Our neighbours get one occasionally and it ends up as tom yam ngu.

[krobert6]

I was unfortunate enough to see 2 dogs severely hurt by cars on my last trip. I would never have dogs in Thailand outside of my fenced home area,

[villagefarang]

As Scea says, snakes try to avoid us and dogs. When our dogs corner a snake it is usually in the early evening. You can generally tell by the way they are barking. To keep them from getting hurt I usually dispatch the snake, after all my dogs come first.

People are by far the greatest threat to dogs. Reckless and inconsiderate driving or malice motivated by fear. Weed killer is used excessively part of the year so it is best to keep an eye out for signs of spraying. On our walks we are charged and barked at as we walk past the sois that belong to other dogs. That is just dogs doing their job and we try to stop and make friends. Some are just too fearful, while others will get close enough for a sniff and tail wag.

There is only one quiet little Thai ridgeback that I have to keep an eye on. She has a high prey drive and always looks like she is stalking prey. If Cookie is being playful with other dogs in her pack she might try a sneak attack from the back. As long as she knows I am watching she keeps her distance.

Cookie and I are often accompanied by her three Thai brothers who love to dominate other dogs. I love the style of this one old dog that just stands his ground as my pack runs to within inches of him. He just stands there wagging his tail calmly. They stop and sniff, perhaps do a little sent marking and then we continue on to the next soi.

In our village, any dog that is genuinely aggressive and a danger to people or livestock generally doesn’t live a very long life. Even when I am out on the mountain bike I never have any real problems with dogs. Then again I don’t go putting my foot in their mouths out of fear. Just yesterday four dogs chased me up in the mountains and I stopped to have a drink and got the scar-faced leader to come over and sniff my hand.

Sorry for rambling on but dogs are a favorite subject.

Edited June 15, 2012 by villagefarang

[sceadugenga]

Muttley Crew?

[villagefarang]

Muttley Crew?

What’s up Scea, you competing with Scorpio to see who can be the most verbose and loquacious? Anyway, muttley is a good descriptive word, though I doubt these guys could carry a tune.

[sceadugenga]

I'm trying to post a restaurant review in the appropriate thread but having problems.

The image location buttons aren't even showing up.

Frustration does my social skills no good what so ever.

And now the emoticons have disappeared here as well.

[jubby]

People are by far the greatest threat to dogs. Reckless and inconsiderate driving or malice motivated by fear. Weed killer is used excessively part of the year so it is best to keep an eye out for signs of spraying. On our walks we are charged and barked at as we walk past the sois that belong to other dogs. That is just dogs doing their job and we try to stop and make friends. Some are just too fearful, while others will get close enough for a sniff and tail wag.

Got to agree with VF. Chemicals must be a real threat, nobody seems to cut the grass around our way anymore, they just spray and then burn it off.

I've been guilty of reckless and inconsiderate driving too, ran straight over two dogs in one week in the early years in the pickup. then another that I startled with one blow of the Horn.

I give multiple blows of the Horn these days which seems to do the trick.

I couldn't help the Dog that I witnessed ran over while sleeping in the road by a Bus at dawn last year and did have to dispatch one of my own Dogs a couple of years back with a matok after he had ran under the wheels of the inconsiderate Schoolbus driver who was travelling with an excessive speed of over 10kph.

Must not forget I ran straight over a dog last year on the motorbike that rushed across the road in a flash and straight under my wheels. So I guess we need to be more considerate to Dogs or maybe keep the F****** things off the Roads

I also have been barked at many times by the local Soi Dogs who just want to sniff my balls or something, mostly its harmess fun, I did beat one over the head with a stick that I found at the side of the road which had a beautiful balance and reminded me of a 3 wood. but only because it was showing its teeth and wasn't going to let me pass , I guess that was malice motivated by my undue fear and was an Isolated incident. Although there is a local dog who wants to make friends with me at the moment by showing its teeth and running towards the motorbike, I'm in two minds wether to show it my balls directly or beat it around the head with a stick with a nice balance.

So I guess if you keep your Dog on a leash or in your own walled garden away from Chemicals and inconsiderate drivers they will be fine

Edited June 16, 2012 by jubby

[sceadugenga]

They seem to mainly spray with glyphosates around here, you can tell by the short term effect, and while it's not exactly good for you it wouldn't be any worse than say.. Thai beer.

Some of the stuff that they spray the crops with is far worse, I've been told of birds dying from it so it can't be much good for dogs , or for that matter, people.

[jubby]

your probably right about the beer Scea. just noticed a vast increase in its use. cheaper than benzine for the brushcutter and I just doubted they would be using the best available environmentally friendly stuff, because like they don't give two hoots to put it politely.

[sceadugenga]

It's not good news for aquatic stuff if it runs into the waterways but they mainly use it for weeds around the house and street rather than agricultural purposes.

Strangely enough when I first came here most houses had a crippled up granny chipping weeds with a hoe around the yards and on the street front to keep busy but the new generation of grannies don't seem to have the motivation.

[jubby]

They are using it for the edges of the rice fields so they can burn off the grass quickly and prepare the rice fields. and also to clear the mountains quickly for rubber production. to clear grass in orchards too, The rice fields get some nasty stuff to kill snails anyway . Just about every conceivable place. never seen it used like this before. I guess its cheap and easy , but its effectively a blanket operation in our Valley