BeatriceKarjalainen
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Finished: See post signature.
Doing: C. Levante
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This dog (Santiago) joined me in Vale de Figueira.
Hi Beatrice, and everyone! I'd like to use this topic to call pilgrims' attention into the issue with Camino dogs:
Please, if you find a dog along your Camino, try your best to find where it belongs; some times they are just looking for company and do not want to scape their home at all, but once they've walked a certain distance, they can't get back by themselves.
So dear pilgrims, if you find a dog walking with you, first of all check for its collar (maybe it has the owners' contact details); then ask in near-by houses or bars; if a police station is nearby, take it there, where they can try to read its microchip and find the owner; if none of this is possible, my advice is to leave it in a house, bar or albergue as close as possible to where you found it, as the owner might come looking for it, or they may even already know the dog and can call or locate its owner somehow. We've had quite a few owners of lost dogs from the Camino behind us, asking if their dog has been in our albergue, following some pilgrims.
Bye!,
Hi, Juanma, I understand your concern, and can see why it's beter for Leon to be out and about rather than tied up. But as a "non-dog person" who is more often than not on the Camino terrified by dogs rather than tempting them to come with me, I think it's likely that there are many pilgrims who will simply have no idea what to do when they have your dog following them. If they see the sign, sure a phone call is easy, but they may not see it.
Once on the Vdlp after Caparra, a dog started walking with me while we were in the middle of a big field. I told him to stay and go back many many times but to no avail. I tried both English and Spanish. So what was I to do? There was no way I was going to go to his neck and look for identification, I'm sorry, but I have two big scars on my knee from a very bad dog bite. So I just kept on walking and eventually the owner drove by.
I don't know what the rules/laws are in Spain, but I would think that loose dogs simply should not be allowed in places where there are numbers of strangers coming and going, whether they bite or not (see Luka's posts on her Invierno thread, dogs were a big reason she left it --
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/luka-on-the-invierno.35038/) I am so tired of hearing owners saying to me "no hace nada" while I stand terrified with a big barking dog blocking my way. I know that's not your dog, but I'm just trying to point out that this is a bigger issue.
I don't mean to be harsh, but I think that it's the owner's responsibility and not the pilgrims'. I am actually in the process of trying to train my son's wild two year old untrained Labrador (it was either the dog or me, I couldn't stand going to their apt. anymore) and I have seen tremendous improvement in the last six days. I imagine, though I don't know, that Leon can be trained to stay and resist the urge to walk with pilgrims.
Buen camino, Laurie
@Juanma, I tried the invisible fence idea on my two Labradors (sadly recently deceased) when they were boisterous young dogs and it was very effective. As they grew older and a 'bit' more sensible, I could then dispense with it. But the fence system was worth it at the time................. the standard obedience course would not prevent him from leaving. ............ probably the only effective system would be an invisible fence, which we will try by the way next Fall.........
These stories have been so amazing to read! I hope I encounter some dogs when I am able to go, I will miss my dogs terribly.
You certainly will. Here are two that we met along the Way, one walking the Camino with his master from St Jean Pied de Port (he even has a shell on his collar) and another a local who had worked out the best places for lunch.
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