For many years now we've fed a dew dogs out the back of our house every evening. Different dogs have come and gone, a few have remained for years at a time. Some of the dogs 'belong' to neighbours who have the habit of disappearing for weeks at a time, leaving their pets to fend for themselves. Most however have no homes and just turned up.
One such dog was a tan coloured bitch my daughter named Anna (Anna has a sister called Elsa - she was in to 'Frozen' at the time). Anna is distinctive because not only does she have a lovely ridge down the centre of her back, hinting at some Thai ridgeback in her ancestry, but she also has terrible scarring across her hind quarters and tail. It looks as though at some point in the past she's had boiling water or oil thrown at her. Nothing really surprises me in this part of the world any more.
Anyway, at first she would watch from a distance as I fed our usual pack, and run off when I came towards her. After a while I'd leave her a bowl of food and hide behind a tree. She would come and eat, but as soon as she saw me she'd run off. She was very timid and scared of humans. Eventually, after a few months, she would come up and feed with the rest of our 'outside' pack. She had done well to get the others to accept her. Being a girl seems to help - another male turning up would have been chased off.
Anna still lived elsewhere, but started spending more time out the back of our house around feeding time, and she gradually started getting tamer. Then, nature being as it is, one day she turned up with some suitors...
When these poor bitches come into heat they are shagged mercilessly for a few days by every dog in the neighbourhood, one after another. As well as a few locals, other dogs turn up from nowhere, and then just disappear again when they're done. In the pic above Anna (second from left) had no fewer than eleven males following her around (there are also two up the lane in the background). Needless to say the female street dogs have a pretty poor time of it. They come into season, have puppies, come into season, have puppies.... until they are just worn out and die. Most girls don't make it past puppy-hood as no-one wants a girl puppy and they're left to fend for themselves from the get go. The 800 Baht it costs to neuter them is just too much...
After all Anna's boyfriends had disappeared she started getting larger and larger, until after about eight weeks she disappeared and stopped coming for food. She had obviously whelped somewhere. Eventually I went out looking for her...
She was in a patch of grassland about a kilometre up the road from us. I was walking our dogs and they sniffed her out. Anna knew me by this time but still didn't like me coming too close to her pups. I left her some food but wasn't happy about leaving her there. A big problem with nursing mothers is that they become so desperate for food to produce the milk for their young that they start travelling ever increasing distances to find food, risking busy roads etc etc. In Korat its common to see obviously nursing bitches trotting along the side of roads. They get killed by cars and then the puppies all die of starvation.
So, I went to see her every evening to leave some food. I had to put her up on this old cable spool to dine or else other dogs would steal her food. Anna was becoming tamer and tamer and increasingly trusting of us. It was no problem to lift her up onto the spool for food. By this time I had a keen young helper who enjoyed going to see the puppies every night.
One night we had some unseasonably late rain and I made a shelter for Anna and the pups to try and keep them dry (Bear Grylls would have been proud). It was nice and close to the dining area so all looked good. In this pic you can also see the terrible scarring across her hind quarters.
One night we had a storm. I went to see the family and they were soaking wet, even with using my shelter. I wasn't happy leaving them that night... Anna and seven beautiful pups! Incidentally, all the locals in the area think I'm absolutely farkin mental. You'd have thought they'd never seen anyone build a tent for a street dog before.
The next day I decided to bring Anna back home. I built her a small kennel and went to pick up the family... but there were only six pups. One had disappeared. I went back the next night and still only six. After much consideration I brought back Anna and the six pups, thinking that the remaining one had either been taken by someone or had wandered off. I couldn't see a puppy surviving for two days in the rain without any food or shelter. Not an easy decision to make by any means, but I reckoned to save the remaining six was priority.
So here is my daughter trying to encourage Anna into her new home. Its amazing really, I've given up trying to get my daughter to sleep in her own bedroom, even after spending a weekend painting it pink. Build a bladdy kennel and she's straight in there.
Anna was easily persuaded.
Nearly a week later I had a call from a guy who lives up the road to say he'd heard a yelping noise and found the seventh pup, the one that had gone missing. God know's how it had survived for so long on its own, and it was a bit skinny. I sneaked it in with the rest of the pups when Anna wasn't looking, in case she rejected it. But no problems and after giving it a good sniff she was happy to let the new pup feed with the rest.
A couple of cute puppy pics...
The missing pup (on the left) reunited with his fatter brother.
And just because it's a nice pic...
As the puppies grew they became increasingly difficult to control, so I transferred them to a small cage we use for broody hens. I left the top open so mum could come and go at will...
For some time Anna had been discharging a pinkish fluid from her vulva (I've spared you the pics), which was also swollen. I'd been assuming that it was some kind of post-pregnancy infection but antibiotics didn't help and the vet eventually found a large tumour up inside her woman bits. It was going to cost a few thousand Baht in chemotherapy to sort out, but what can you do... Yes, sometimes I think I'm too soft to live in Thailand...
After we'd found homes for all her pups she went off to the vet for a couple of days of chemo, followed by injections every week for a month or so. That was nearly three years ago, and today she is happily living out the back of our house with two boyfriends. She is one happy, contented dog.
She has been neutered, vaccinated and has regular meals. Her two boyfriends are long term residents out the back and they all make a lovely small pack of dogs. They're very friendly and have even become popular with the neighbours who occasionally also leave some food out. Contented, well fed dogs are rarely a problem.
And when it rains, they all crowd in to the original kennel!
Out of all the dogs we've helped, Anna has been a special favourite. She has become incredibly friendly and affectionate and my little girl loves her to bits. Every time we go outside she runs up, wagging her tail. When I walk our 'inside' dogs she comes along with us every single day. I tried to bring her in with our four dogs, but she just couldn't settle and howled every night. I think that some of these soi dogs are too used to the street life and freedom.
If there is one moral to the story, I would urge anyone to help out these dogs if possible, especially the girls. I have found it incredibly rewarding and without help these guys don't stand a chance. I know that many people have limited sympathy for street dogs, and I can understand why to a certain extent. But, the only difference between these soi dogs and the pampered lap dogs and huskies you see in Thailand is that the soi dogs have never been given a chance. They all deserve that, I think.