When we were in Thailand, we definitely noticed that there are street dogs everywhere! You’ll find them on the streets, around the temples, on the beaches – pretty much everywhere you go you’ll come across street dogs.
They are an accepted part of life over there, and we never witnessed anyone shouting at them or abusing them. Instead there were little plates and bowls with scraps or dog biscuits randomly dispersed throughout the streets.
Most of the time, these dogs entirely ignored us, and after a short while, you’ll get used to seeing them everywhere. Also, since these dogs are generally fed and watered, you won’t have them coming up wanting food or love – they generally leave you alone.
Still, every now and again you might encounter a dog that seems to have a problem with you walking by.
During our three months in Thailand, we probably had two or three of these situations. In this post, we’re going to share some tips for dealing with street dogs, so you’re prepared should a situation like this arise.
Tips for Dealing with Street Dogs
1 – Avoid Conflict
Dogs are pack animals and as such their social behaviour is mainly about conflict prevention. A dog will not randomly threaten or attack you just out of unpredictable viciousness. There is most likely a reason why it’s upset with you.
It probably wants to defend itself or something that is important to it. It will also want to avoid an escalation, even though it does not necessarily look like it to you. So don’t panic! It’s not a pleasant situation to be in, agreed, but the calmer and more confident you are, the better.
2 – Freeze
You really want to avoid confrontation and show that you’re no threat. If a dog faces you, growling or barking, neck hair standing up, etc., just stop and stand still. Depending on the situation or how you feel, you could slowly sit or even lie down.
But if any movement results in further growling, just don’t do anything and wait. Do not run! If it makes you feel safer, you can curl up in a ball on the floor. You can also slowly move your bag/backpack/sweater in front of you to shield yourself.
3 – Slow Motion Movements
When you move, make sure you do it really slowly. Keep your hands down, don’t become hectic, don’t shout or scream.
4 – Avoid eye-contact.
Do not stare at the dog and do not look him directly in the eye – that is aggressive behaviour and not in your interest to demonstrate. Instead, lower your eyelids, look at the floor, squint.
5 – Turn your head away
Or even turn your whole body away. This is another way of stating that you are no threat to the dog.
6 – Ignore the dog.
If you were a dog, you might start to sniff the floor, or scratch yourself, or stretch yourself with the upper body on the floor and your rear up.
It basically means “I have better things to do than fight with you – don’t you see how busy I am, uhm, scratching my ear?”.
7 – Lick the edges of your mouth.
Yes, dogs do that.
8 – Yawn.
Even if you just fake it, breathe in really deeply – dogs are sensitive to breathing patterns.
9 – Let the dog check you out
If the dog approaches you slowly, just don’t move and let it check you out.
It’s more likely though that it will just stay where it is and seem to lose interest in you, giving up its aggressive posture. At that point you can start walking away, still slowly.
10 – Don’t approach the dog directly
Do not walk directly towards/past the dog. Instead, move in a curve around it and try to keep your distance.
Ever since I tried these actions out and found they worked, I have integrated them into my behaviour towards dogs. I can imagine some of them might sound a bit awkward to anyone who has not come across anything like this. I did not make them up, though!
These are all so called “calming signals” that dogs use in their communication with each other, and they are dog-valid worldwide. What a bonus! This means you can start practising your new set of doggy social skills wherever you are (or at least wherever dogs are…)!
I hope I awakened the dog whisperer within you and provided you with some useful tips. If you have a question or want to share more tips, drop us a comment! And as always, thanks for reading.
simon says
what if you are on a bike and a dog sees you. then walks towards you and starts barking. and as you continue riding away, it starts chasing you? this happened in penang twice at the same spot with the same dog at night. i had blinking lights on my bike. i wonder if that set it off. luckily i was able to bike away from him. thanks for the post…. people here say that dogs bark but never bite but I’ve never been chased on a bike before so it feels dangerous. i didn’t want to stop.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Simon
This is a tough one. Some dogs definitely like to chase things that move, including bikes and cars. I think your response was probably the best option, because who knows what might have happened had you stopped? It’s likely he might have left you alone once the fun of the chase was over, but best not to take the chance if you were able to safely cycle away.