The fact that he has a name suggests that he is a pet but to
a casual observer his lifestyle would probably indicate otherwise. He spends all
of his time on the street outside our house in Chiang Mai in northern
Thailand. The family opposite us look after him, providing some food, company
and shelter from rain in a covered area at the front of their home, and if he
has owners it is these neighbours of ours. We also give him and his companion
some leftovers occasionally and enjoy his calm, genial greeting whenever we go
out.
I have no idea whether his genes contain any ‘breeds’ and I
just describe him as a distinctive mongrel. Some might argue that he has something of the
look, if not the typical coloring, of a “Bang Khaew” from northern Thailand,
and they may well be right.
There are a few other dogs sharing his lifestyle in our area
and also several dogs that are more obviously pets that are allowed to wander
around the street occasionally. They all know each other and socialize whenever
they get the chance, with tensions and rare fights only occurring when dogs from
other areas get too close.
The only time I ever see Mee barking is when unfamiliar dogs
wander along. I have never seen him bark at a person (although, he might be
doing it at night as far as I know) and I have never seen him show any aggressive intentions
towards people. He ignores the chickens that wander around the roadside and is happy
to play with the local kids. He also enjoys the chance to explore our garden if
we leave the gate open.
The pet dogs that are allowed to wander the street part of
the time (and I’m sure Mee counts amongst his closest friends) are behaviorally
quite different. Even on our first meeting Mee was relaxed and friendly but the
pets at first approached me quite aggressively. It took several encounters
before they started to ignore me and we are still not on particularly friendly
terms. I have also seen them challenge other people quite nastily. To me it is
a little sad that a stranger who gets confronted by these pets on the loose
would call them strays and lump Mee into the same category even though at the
time of the encounter Mee was probably just sitting there watching.
Then there are the half a dozen dogs just down the road, which
all look like they came from the same litter, that are never allowed out onto
the street. They are real pets that live day and night in their owner’s garden.
Even over two years after first barking at me they still do whenever I (or
anybody else) walks passed their gate. Six dogs barking like this ensures the
owner is safe from burglars but as you can imagine the noise pollution is
significant. Again, Mee just sits there watching these neurotic dogs in their
barking frenzy and probably wonders what on earth is wrong with them.
In spite of his close connections to people Mee is undoubtedly
a street dog who decides his own movements and activities, and I’m sure many
people would call him a stray rather than a pet. But this tag has negative
connotations and he seems so suited to his lifestyle that I cannot think from
what he has supposedly “strayed”. I prefer to just call him a dog being a dog.
Mee is not a problem to anybody, in any way. The local pet
dogs, on the other hand, are.
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