Dealing with Dogs?

GauhatiBoy

I think too much is made of the danger from dogs in India. I found them to be very timid in general, but as in any place where there are dogs, there will be isolated incidents of attacking humans--this is true in the USA also. My Dad was almost killed by a German Shepherd, unprovoked, when he was a kid in New Jersey.

lotus blossom

both of my dogs, though not feral, are guilty of killing other animals. kali, who is part wolf, has killed numerous little creatures, but i think that she may extract some vital parts and devour them before she buries them and then later digs them back up and buries them again, etc., some sort of ritual she has. when kali was a young pup she would lay field mice at the foot of my bed, as a gift, i'm sure. i had to explain to her that i had no use for such things.

now that the dogs live with my daughter, who has a much smaller yard than i did and with little foliage, i don't think that there are as many opportunities for kali to hunt. she seems bored with no squirrels to taunt her as they loved doing from the high trees i had in my yard.

some people hunt for sport so should we exterminate them too?

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Not all who wander are lost

vargoje3

I have no problem with animals killing for food or for that matter humans, I'm an avid hunter and fisher myself. My problem with the situation is that feral dogs kill these animals due to thier nature but don't even try to eat them, they simply wander off for the scraps left by the local villages. It's a waste and i agree with the above people that its always going to happen but if there was more funding which isn't going straight into the pockets of the corrupt then there can be a solution.

Nick if you could send me a link to a newspaper article that explains the situation i saw in Point Calimere that would be great. The guide we had that day while we were mapping out prosopus trees was so afraid that we would find the black buck carcasse he tried to hide it from us before we found it. From what i was told they don't want that information getting out and forbade me and my collegues from writing any scientific papers about it in the future.

vargoje3

I know what you mean but thats a lot different than your animals killing an endangered species on what supposedly is a protected reserve.

Nick-H

Sorry... re news items I meant in this area.

I recall reading about dear attacked by dogs in parks here.

double-dolphin

Ok, agressive dogs at night is not a new thing at all. It is very common and happens to me and my friends all the time. Yes they do seem to get very very agressive at night. They will attack anyone and anything including moving cars, which they seem particularly attracted to.

These are things you can do

1. DO NOT RUN - REPEAT - DO NOT RUN - that is like inviting a dog, and his whole pack to come after you.

2. I'm not sure, but I think dogs can sense fear, which is why appearing to be not afraid is important.

3. They can distinguish tone of voice, so a stern yell will make them go away, or atleast stop.

4. Don't look at them, act like they don't exist. If you don't care about them, they won't care about you either. If you see them on one side of the road, cross over to the other side.

5. Street dogs are usually a very cowardly lot, and mostly just bark and don't go beyond that. If you turn around and face the dog and make a gesture like picking up a stone and throwing it, it'll drive them away.

6. Carry a stick, use it, if necessary.

7. High frequency whistles are a VERY BAD IDEA - they're used to call dogs, not drive them away. It'll drive them crazy!!!

8. My favourite - take a cab!!!

brownboy66

yes...you can buy small ultrasonic whistles that are used for training purposes. The 9 volt, battery powered ultrasonic dog repelling devices, however, do not attract dogs. They give the equivalent of an ear splitting headache to any creature capable of hearing in that range. In various countries cops have them as standard issue.

double-dolphin

Oh Really? Wow! There's something I didn't know. I'll have to get myself one. But are they available in India?

GauhatiBoy

I just had a great idea, ty brownboy. Repelling dogs. I work in heating and cooling, and i go into people's homes for my work. Sometimes their pets are &&^% way past helpful. Sometimes I wish they would just go. I could really use one of those. The customer would never have to know why the dog ran away.

brownboy66

They might be?! The one I have came with me when I moved to India - but I did a google search for them here in India and discovered there is a distributor here in Delhi (just couldn't find an outlet store or market). In any case they are widely available for order online (for the US, UK, etc). Its called an "ultrasonic dog chaser". Type that into google and you'll get a whole bunch of listings. Costs about $20 US. They work really well, as well as being non-lethal. Also works on monkeys!

brownboy66

yeah...I got one after being chased one too many times while jogging.....

Selkie

I had a bad experience with feral dogs on Kovalam beach... walked to a bar at the far end of the beach on my own one evening. On the way back quite late at night two dogs came racing out of the blackness growling and being really aggressive, I was sure that I was about to be bitten.

I retreated to the sea! I had to walk the length of the beach (with the dogs alongside growling and barking) in knee deep waves which the dogs didn't want to go in until I came across a couple of Indian chaps who drove the dogs away. They were the same dogs who were chilled out and friendly on the beach during the day.

Nick-H

Yep.

I'm sitting here listening to various howling and barking noises.

TBH, I think that they are mostly house dogs, that have owners that think this noise at night is a good thing, and I wish they would eat their damned-stupid humans --- but they are to be avoided in the hours of the night, when they are doing their pack, territory thing.

Bucnh of sweeties in the daytime

PeakXV

Somehow those crazy barking dogs rarely worry or engage me. The only times I've almost been bitten are by the silent ones who come out of nowhere, sneak up beside and utter those low throaty growls ....

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What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

edwardseco

Same here. Man, I must be ugly. Do have one of these devices on order since walking the dogs here often involves dog-frontations with those let loose despite leash laws. Hopefully, I won't get a report from my better half as to whether they work..