At the mercy of stray dogs.

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irene
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:42 am
Location: Greece
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At the mercy of stray dogs.

Post by irene »

Hello lovely, positive people.

I have a 10-year old spayed boxer dog, Lara, and I recently moved into a remote house with her inside a fenced garden. Now, I live in Greece, a third-world country with regards to stray dog management. In this area there are stray dog packs all over the place, each one guarding their own turf. People feed them but they live on the road. A pack of 5, 2 male and 3 female, only one of them neutered/spayed, lives outside my house. They are approaching our fence ever since we came and showing teeth, barking and trying to grab Lara, who only wants to make friends. The first time I stepped out of the fence to go talk to the neighbor, leaving Lara inside the house so they do not even see her, they immediately surrounded me showing teeth and barking at me, and while I was trying to figure out how to handle the situation, one of them bit me in the leg and the two others followed. I saved myself by crawling back inside the fence while the shocked neighbor (‘I can’t believe they did that!’) was shooing them away.

I called the authorities, the municipality and the police, filed complaints etc. and they basically said they will do nothing about the problem. They will just let those aggressive dogs be. The law protects them more than me. No one cares, no one helped me. I even asked a local dog trainer to come advise me (not for free!) and they did not bother. I'm left alone to deal with these beasts and I cannot even step outside my fence to go and throw my garbage away. I am like a hostage in my own house. The only advice people gave me is to build a higher fence and start feeding them so they see me as a friend, and also hold some kind of stick when I go walking.

I feel like I have no other option than feeding them, although this will enforce their territorial behaviour and will not make them less likely to attack other people or my dog. How can I teach them with positive training to calm down, to respect me AND my dog and not see us as intruders or threats? I tried to feed them today and they were sitting outside the fence very well behaved, expecting the snacks. But I want this to have a meaning. Can I use the feeding sessions to teach them good manners?

Please help.

Thank you so much!
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