Street dogs

theicarus

So this isn't a strictly IM topic and I struggled to find a forum to post this in, but knowing that IMers are a wise and socially observant folk, I thought I'd do it anyway.

It's to do with an observation I've had about Indian street dogs and how their behaviours and I might add, physical appearances, vary across towns. Whether it's Chennai, Mumbai, bangalore, Delhi, Goa, Nashik, Srinagar (towns I've been to the last couple of months), the street dogs in each town share some common traits amongst themselves and are quite unique.

So my theory is that street dogs offers a window into the people of the city. Which by itself seems self-evident. Street dogs (and taxi drivers!) sample a wide variety of behaviour and the summation of that sample should be quite close to the "human" quality of the town. Dogs are perhaps better 'sponges' than other animals purely because they represent the pinnacle of human domestication.

So laugh at me, but I've often found the dogs in chennai to sensible, the ones in goa to be the friendliest (and well-off), ones in Mumbai to be perpetually in survival mode, etc etc

Does this make sense? Can anyone relate to this?

Nick-H

Sure it's an IndiaMike topic! We don't exclude cats and dogs, so long as they are Indian.

However, this really is the wrong place for it. You'll find a whole subforum -->here. Perhaps the mods will do a thread move.

As to the idea... Interesting! Next time I travel, I'll bear it in mind!

Mod Note : Moved thread to Dogs, cats and Langurs Forum.

birds

Good observation. We have come to similar conclusions and it is logical too that they adapt to their environment and the way they are treated. So treat them nice and they will be good to you. Not so different from people except that with dogs you can be sure and never with human .

__________________
Of the estimated 500 million dogs in the world, approximately 75% are strays, of which about 25 million live in India.

edwardseco

The concept anthromorphism comes to mind..

Nick-H

If you kick a dog, it might bite you.

If you stroke it, it may wag its tail.

Anthropomorphism?

Whilst we may well embellish our interpretation of animal responses with anthropomorphism, the basics are really obvious

brishti

what of the dog that bites when you stroke it ?


the attached thumbnails for you birds


:brishti

Attached Thumbnails

 

Nick-H

Grrrr!




.

PRIYA

What a wise hotel owner!

__________________
Happiness is for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives. (Anon.)

brishti

aaah - thought so...
methought they were the woof-woof-snarly types


great story no ? loved it!
how've you been priya... long time no see.
let's not even begin africa... its disheartening



:brishti

Nick-H

Just caught up with the attachment.

Delightful

birds

[quote=brishti;764400]the attached thumbnails for you birds /QUOTE]

Where is that hotel!! I will book all my ten dogs in and if they are an international chain I alert my dog friends across the world. .

Thanks Brishti, very nice!

[quote=brishti;764400]what of the dog that bites when you stroke it ? QUOTE]

People do that all the time! You know in all the time working with dogs I have been bitten only a couple of time by dogs that turned out to be rabid. So if you stroke it and it bites..

DrHeckleAndMrSnide

Hi birds,

have sent a PM to you asking for advice on transporting a dog from Delhi to Bangalore. Would appreciate it if you could take a look and give your inputs.

__________________
If at first you don't succeed, try management

edwardseco

My wife has a scar from a time she attempted to free her dog from an entanglement. It must be love.

However, she takes the opposite view from me and says her animals talk to her and she understands them. My boy is the smartest of the bunch. He just laughs and leaves the room..

Nick-H

Now, that is pretty smart for a dog.

Almost as smart as my cats!



This is one of those discussions that inevitably becomes like trying to explain red to a colourblind person, but... "talking"...

My cats are undoubtedly able to communicate certain basic things; the need for food, the desire to be let in or out, the need for affection. In fact, my wife, who is not a "cat person", frequently understands what they are trying to tell me when I miss it. Some of this communication is vocal, though the vocabulary is somewhat loose, rather like that of a five or six-month child. Is it talking? it is certainly communicating.

As for those occasions on which I find myself taking some of life's problems to the ear of a cat --- well, I am prepared to admit that there is some projection going on there. The words that they understand are, as far as I can tell, strictly limited to their own world, eg "Fish!"

indiaddict

No laughing at you, can fully relate to it. That's a very perceptive observation. Cannot comment on Chennai and Goa, as I have never been there, but agree on the Mumbai strays.