48/ 100 Puppy Pile Dogs
Puppy Playing Peril
I truly believe that being amongst the feral dogs in India is safe. I am possibly biased because I love dogs and have been around them my whole life, but during the three months or so that I’ve spent in India I have never once felt threatened by a dog.
The dogs are everywhere and unavoidable and they want to keep out of your way. They are usually wary of people and their natural response is to avoid people, not to run up to them. The only occasion when they might approach you is when food is involved.
Once morning in Delhi we were walking along the road and Fiona made the mistake of stroking a beautiful dog that walked up to her, clearly being friendly. It ‘belonged’ to one of the guards who was sitting in his little hut in the affluent area of Hauz Khas. Once she had patted this very good-natured chap on the head it decided she was it’s new best friend and, most likely, would be a good source of snacks. Fiona was welcome to join the pack any time.
It followed us along the road a little way before she felt a gentle nibble at the back of her trousers. Her furry friend was carefully nudging her and tugging her jeans to try to get her attention as a last ditch effort before she, and her potential bounty, disappeared out of sight for the day. Sadly for the pup Fiona had no snacks so it gave in eventually. But it was there again the next morning and came bounding up to us for a second go. Incidentally, read this story to hear about Fiona’s other animal-feeding escapades…
On our last trip I witnessed for the very first time in India what I would consider to be a dangerous situation regarding the dogs, and it was entirely the person’s fault. A tourist was walking along the busy ghats in Varanasi and foolishly grabbed up a very young puppy and started to cuddle it. The puppy wasn’t happy and after a couple of squeaks the mother, along with plenty of backup, arrived to reclaim her pup. When there’s a threat like this, every dog in the area will come and help, which I find amazing.
Soon there were several dogs hassling the woman holding the puppy, barking and growling at her. The puppy was crying and it was all going a bit crazy. Everyone was shouting at her to put the puppy down but, perhaps out of fear, or confusion, she didn’t. In the end it took a local woman to go and grab the poor dog and put it back on the ground with its mother. The locals did a good job of chastising the woman for her actions and she was very lucky she didn’t get bitten.
Dogs safety rule #1 – Don’t interfere with the dogs, especially the cute puppies.
