Soi dogs make me think... too much

[Emdog]

"They will not bite you unless they are sick or feel threatened by you. Animals don't hurt other animals for pleasure. Humans does."

Not true. I was attacked and bitten in Bang Saen while riding bike on back road. I got off bike right away and faced them down. Other time was bitten while walking by dog I had walked by many times before. I was past the dog and it came up from behind and chomped me. I suggest rocks over sticks. Sometimes just acting like picking up a rock is enough to send them running.

[wayned]

They make me think too! What life would be like if I had to live on the street with no real home and had to beg for food everyday like some many homeless people world wide do!

[dapsolapsalai]

yes soi dogs everywhere, and the final solution cannot be implemented as there simply isn't enough rat poison in Tesco so I'll be investing in either a BB gun or a catapult, one of those crossbow things is probably taking it too far.

The crossbow thing is not taking it too far if the dog is going to attack you unprovoked. any animal or human who attacks anyone without provocation, can't complain if they are stopped by the person they are attacking by any method.

They don't attack me, they just bark at me, I think I'll get a BB gun first and consider upgrading if necessary

[slipperylobster]

Dogs here are very protective of their area. Not all dogs you see on the street on Soi dogs, as many owners let them roam free. Watch how the Thai people walk past the dogs on their street. If you are nervous, afraid, or look at these dogs in a threatening manner (holding a stick is guaranteed to catch their attention) you will always be seen as an intruder/enemy. On my street, I walk without problem, and learned to never show fear or look in their direction. Just walk as you normally would, as if they were not there. It works. When my buddy came over, he kept on jerking his head around and became noticeably worried about the dogs. They immediately detected his fear, and that started a chain of barking up and down the street. Now they are in attack mode and that means you need to take up a defensive position (sticks or rocks). I only did the stick/rock thing in the Philippines. The dogs there are so used to a rock defense, that one only needs to bend down as if you are picking up a large stone...that is enough for them to turn tail

[Josasp]

"They will not bite you unless they are sick or feel threatened by you. Animals don't hurt other animals for pleasure. Humans does."

Might be true for pets and generally normal dogs

Inbreeded, street brought up, and possibly sick dogs with rabies and whatnot.
Hit in the head by cars and motorbikes a few times with some nice skin disease.

Those WILL bite for no reason at all, they are real soi-dogs.

Batshit crazy and dangerous as hell.

Not very common, but migt show up anywhere for no reason.

[lucjoker]

soi dogs are a pest!

They even hate each other !

They are not there because of nature,

but because of selfish humans who only like

puppies and then kick them out.

And because such id**ts ,we have to cope with all

these aggressive dogs?

The shit in front your door ,the noise,danger of accidents....

Blue powder is the solution,available in every little shop.

The dogs will be happy to be out of their misery,they also understand they don't belong there.

They deserve a loving master and a safe home and healthy food.

Maybe i will buy a nice small puppy?

[The Shirt]

I have known for many years when from 19yrs old old in Delhi when I had no choice but to walk through a 50+strong wild dog pack without showing fear in the dark coming home from my sitar lessons with my teacher -they looked at me astounded I was alone ,toying with the idea I was a meal but again because I showed no fear & kept to my same gait there were no growls,no barks, just a silent acceptance as they parted for me to pass....truly amazing to be part of but damn scary at the time...

The very same applies here also -show no fear ,walk at the same pace & just ignore them -give them no eye contact because that is threatening to them & they see you as no threat &leave you alone. Of course there are exceptions -I got badly bitten by a large poodle in Samui but only because I startled it by coming into the family home garden area by mistake -it was on a leash & I soon found out why as it had been badly treated by a farang & hated them all -fine with Thais though.

Another example was recently this year when I tried to swim in our village pool for 1st time -one brown spaniel type dog that I found out lives there didn't like me invading it's home so called to her much bigger more aggressive old owned dog -half rotweiler-cross breed who gave me the Hound of the Baskervilles roar & went into attack mode from 15 m away -again I knew if I ran or turned to face it I would 99% be attacked so I remembered in a flash back to the Delhi situation 45 yrs before & just ignored them both & literally it slid up to my leg & I was waiting for the bite ...but he just stopped & left me alone ..both of them went silent & I had my swim.....

[Cuban]

Dogs are trigger by a Prey Response - if you run they will chase.

[pomchop]

I have been walking five miles a day most everyday for years in many different places all over Thailand....I have walked by hundreds or soi dogs and have never been bitten or had a serious problem..my "solution" is to learn how to interact with them so as not to set them off....for that there are some good tips on this very thread.....the main thing that really ever bothers me about dogs is if you are unlucky enough to live next door to a neighbor who has dogs who bark nonstop....or some idiot who has a pit bull type that they purposely train to be super aggressive.....and for that I lay the blame on the human more than the dog.....(though to be honest I have never ever understood the idea of having a pit bull which was purposely bred to have the jaws of death...why the hell would anyone with a brain take a chance of having a dog like that around is beyond belief..but of course they are all such sweet little dogs...until they rip off some kids face)

[Cuban]

Dogs are triggered by a Prey Response - if you run they will chase.

[Jasun]

yes soi dogs everywhere, and the final solution cannot be implemented as there simply isn't enough rat poison in Tesco so I'll be investing in either a BB gun or a catapult, one of those crossbow things is probably taking it too far.

Not if you're prepared to dress in medieval garb.

[Rimmer]

Posts about poisoning dogs have been removed
Profane posts swearing at other members have been removed

We do not need either of these on here thank you

[lucifer666]

When i first came here, I was bitten by a soi dog, causing a fair sized injury, which then turned septic. So i started to carry pepper spray with me, and strangely, I have never had to use it. The dogs see the can in my hand and make off.

[techboy]

Vietnam has the problem sorted.

Eat them.

Have you tried the street food in Bangkok? Enough said.

Hmm. Here begins a classic flow of forum data:

Cretin, curmudgeon etc. posts whimsical lie or false innuendo > Ignoramuses will assimilate this information and pass it on > People will read hearsay from an unreliable source presented to them as fact

[techboy]

Vietnam has the problem sorted.

Eat them.

Took some time to come up with that one, did it?

[silver sea]

I do a lot of walking during the day and at night. I find that during the day the dogs can be friendly or they just ignore you. They prefer to sleep whilst the sun is out. There are several dogs along my route who now recognise me and come over to be petted. I like dogs and so I am happy to play with them. They also become used to my scent. After dark, these same dogs can become very aggressive and territorial, but will leave me alone if they recognise me.

A few months ago I was walking down one soi after dark. Suddenly a dog ran into the back of my legs. It didn't bark or snarl; it just ran off again in the other direction. A few nights later I was walking along the same soi again but in the other direction. Suddenly, I felt a sudden sharp pain on the back of my thigh. I turned round and it was the same dog but this time it was snapping and snarling, running forwards and then backwards, accompanied by two other dogs who were doing the same. They were in an extremely bad mood; almost demented. The soi was quiet, but I had not heard them coming up behind me. I only became aware of them when I felt the pack leader's bite.

I thought at first they were going to set about me. I started shouting at them. There were no stones around to throw, but I kept bending down, pretending to pick one up. This made them wary and they kept their distance, but they were still snapping and snarling, as I backed my way up the soi and out on to the main road. Phew!

I looked at the back of my thigh. There was no blood but there was a bite mark. I walked back to my apartment and then got on my scooter and headed to the local state hospital, which was about a 40 minute ride away.

The doctor and nurses at the Emergency Department were very kind and helpful. As they could not be sure whether the dog had had its annual rabies jab, it was decided to play it safe by giving me 5 fast acting injections in the wound itself and then four routine injections in my shoulders. I then had to return to the hospital a further four times, to have another injection in my shoulder.

The whole thing, including journey costs, probably cost me just under 5000 baht.

At the time I did have some dark thoughts about that soi dog, but with the distance of time, my mood has lightened. For a time I carried a big wooden stick, but rarely do so now.

I am still not happy about the way owners, both Thai and Farang, just leave their dogs to roam around unchecked, but that's Thailand for you. I am a guest in someone else's country and that's the way they do things here. The onus is on me to look after myself. "Be alive, to stay alive."

[techboy]

Aren't you supposed to mount them to show dominance or something?

[chrisinth]

With no offence intended towards the OP, if you act like a pussy in front of a dog, you will either be attacked or chased. They don't like pussies.

I know it can be difficult, but don't do eye contact with them and don't show fear towards them. If they charge you, stand still, let them approach and check you out, again no eye contact. Never back away from them, they do see this as weakness and will act on their prey drive if you run from them.

Of course there are exceptions, if the dog is red-eyed, frothing at the mouth then the brick or big stick approach should be considered...........

Seriously though, the above points have kept me bite-free so far. I walk through a pack of about twenty of them almost every night with my two dogs, the majority of the pack verging on feral (in that they have never had an owner). Lots of barking, and if they come too close, I just stop for a minute or two. I have only had to let my dogs off the leash a couple of times, this tends to quiet them down a bit...........

No eye contact unless you are going to do something about it, very important.

[KOZMO]

All you need to do is press the zap button on your stun gun. The noise will make the biggest of them high tale it away from you. Also they learn fast, if I see one in the road they will go back to their home without me turning on the zapper.

[dapsolapsalai]

All you need to do is press the zap button on your stun gun.

....and for those of us who do not have stun guns?

[Ulic]

One really good smack on the head with a stick if they are overly aggressive usually does the trick.

Nothing mean, just establishing dominance in the pack.

[maximillian]

I never had problems with soidogs. When they approach me then i walk right into them (no matter how many) and look like i will kick them all to the outerspace.. Then i just stand still and if they bark i will bark back. Then the first one will back off, the second one runs away and then they all act like they never had any plans to get me.

If you show fear then they sure will pick that signal up (smell it) and then they know they got you.

I also love dogs but i hate soidogs. They give too many problems and on my motorbike i 'm scared to get them under the wheels.

Also what works is to act like you pick up some stones from the floor to throw at them.

There are also very friendly soidogs though, yesterday on the beach i played with one and then he went to swim alone. They amaze me how fearless they are for traffic. They can lay on the road with their frontlegs to all the traffic and look like nobody will ever drive over their feet. Unbelievable.

Well, go to any dog shelter like Dog & and Cat Rescue Samui, you'll find a lot of dogs missing a leg or two. And that's not all.

Neutering ALL the male stray dogs would be the solution. But the Thais don't seem to see a problem with the many homeless stray dogs. Barking at any time of the day or night, shitting and urinating at everything.Thousands of accidents, bitings, even killings of babies and smaller kids could have been avoided without these dogs.

This is not a question of being a dog lover or not, it's a case of responsibility and common sense.

[jacko45k]

Did you mean to entitle this topic: Soi dogs make me think... too mutt?

And, what is the important historical role played by dogs in Thailand? (genuine question).

There is an ancient picture of dogs playing cards, smoking and drinking that used to be seen in many places.

It started the whole tourist thing off here!

[harber8]

"I rode a push bike into a random area."

I know you want to explore, everyone who comes here does to a certain extent. But be careful.

I'm pretty sure if you are scared they can sense it and react. Stay cool, sabi sabi thai style and most of the time you're ok.

[Ghostnigel]

What is all the "don't make eye contact with them" <deleted>? Most of you lot are scared of shadows, eyeball the sh*t out of them i say. I ride a pushbike often, and they would have the taste of a size 10er on their hooter if they came near me, but they don't!

[Thomas33399]

I think you are scared of dogs but too embarassed to accept this fact.

Dogs in Thailand is not beaten, badly treated by humans as much as dogs in Middle-east and around. So, they are not aggressive and harmful as you think.

They will not bite you unless they are sick or feel threatened by you. Animals don't hurt other animals for pleasure. Humans does.

I recommend getting a puppy to overcome your fears about dogs.

The best way not to fear them is if they are dead.

[namdocmai]

I never had problems with soidogs. When they approach me then i walk right into them (no matter how many) and look like i will kick them all to the outerspace.. Then i just stand still and if they bark i will bark back. Then the first one will back off, the second one runs away and then they all act like they never had any plans to get me.

If you show fear then they sure will pick that signal up (smell it) and then they know they got you.

I also love dogs but i hate soidogs. They give too many problems and on my motorbike i 'm scared to get them under the wheels.

Also what works is to act like you pick up some stones from the floor to throw at them.

There are also very friendly soidogs though, yesterday on the beach i played with one and then he went to swim alone. They amaze me how fearless they are for traffic. They can lay on the road with their frontlegs to all the traffic and look like nobody will ever drive over their feet. Unbelievable.

Well, go to any dog shelter like Dog & and Cat Rescue Samui, you'll find a lot of dogs missing a leg or two. And that's not all.

Neutering ALL the male stray dogs would be the solution. But the Thais don't seem to see a problem with the many homeless stray dogs. Barking at any time of the day or night, shitting and urinating at everything.Thousands of accidents, bitings, even killings of babies and smaller kids could have been avoided without these dogs.

This is not a question of being a dog lover or not, it's a case of responsibility and common sense.

The Thai don't even see the problem locking up dogs in small cages in expensive villaparks. Then they bark for many hours in row and when the neighbours kindly ask them to stop that they don't give a s...t. I speak out of experience and it doesn't matter if you live in hi-so or low-so villaparks the Thai will do it everywhere. In our villapark there are rules like maximum 2 dogs in a house but even here they still have more dogs.

Neutering is to expensive and to much work, just kill them would be my solution. Thai are not responsible at all, they don't care if motorbikes get accidents by the dogs that they feed. They don't care for motorbike-drivers in general, wether they are farang or not or rich or poor or black or white. They also don't care for the safety of other vehicle-drivers they are just selfish in my opinion and even to lazy to use blinkers on their car which also can kill babies or kids even in villaparks.

I can understand it when other people go kill streetdogs, also when they feed them. Dogs are cute but should not live on the streets in groups.

[dao16]

If I am out at night I will carry a few rocks with me (talking about village and I know where the dogs are). You don't need to even hit them. Bounce a stone off of the ground a short distance in front of them and they will typically scatter. I only do that if they seem aggressive from the get-go (a lot of calm daytime dogs bark at anything at night). If things are at closer quarters, a feigned lunge in their direction will also usually send them running. As most have said, though, don't act scared and most likely nothing will happen. They can smell fear.

[GinBoy2]

Maybe I'm out to lunch on this, but at least up here in the Isaan badlands the dogs, far from being aggressive are docile to to point of being darn stupid. They sleep in the road, you are supposed to drive around them! Never really see packs of them prowling the streets, thats restricted to teenage boys....now I wouldn't mind neutering a few of those I know!

Edited December 17, 2013 by GinBoy2

[tomta20012]

Maybe I'm out to lunch on this, but at least up here in the Isaan badlands the dogs, far from being aggressive are docile to to point of being darn stupid. They sleep in the road, you are supposed to drive around them! Never really see packs of them prowling the streets...thats restricted to teenage boys!

groups of teenage boys wondering the streets??? are they dangerous?