Elephant Aid International

4th of July

Written by

Carol

in

Happy 4th of July!

It was a relief to know there would be no loud fireworks to scare the 60+ dogs that have found sanctuary at The Elephant Nature Park. When the sun goes down so does human activity and the noise level…well most of the time. The past couple of nights have been the exception. The dogs have been engaging in dog culture.

Their lives are different from anything you might experience in the US: they are free roaming. Like in India and Nepal, the dogs in Thailand actually have their own culture. They are loved, fed and cared for by humans, but they are also allowed to be dogs in the most basic way. They have self-designated packs and form close bonds with fellow pack members.

In addition to providing ample freedom for the dogs, their freedom brings with it dog disagreements. It takes some time for most of us to appreciate that allowing the dogs their culture means leaving them alone when they are establishing the pack hierarchy.  It’s hard to stand back but that is the best thing. Their boisterous yelping and barking is usually as bad as it gets.

Comments

3 responses to “4th of July”

  1. Sandra G Avatar
    Sandra G

    Glad to see you enjoyed all the dogs at ENP. I helped each day with the afternoon feeding and yes there were a lot of disagreements between them. But, I saw injuries happen too and the lesser dogs chased from their meal so I started to show them I did not agree with that behavior by focusing my calm, assertive energy during feeding time on the more aggressive dogs. When I left after two weeks the fighting during meal time had stopped completely. I had hoped that peaceful behavior would continue but judging by your entry here, sadly it has not.

    Reply
    1. Carol Avatar
      Carol

      The peaceful behavior during mealtime has continued. I am happy to report that I did not observe any meal time fighting. The dog culture displays that I observed were territory issues. The dogs clearly have established territories. The displays usually involve one dog invading another packs territory. With tens of acres to roam, an invader is not trapped and can simply run away.

      I understand that ENP is working towards creating a seperate sanctuary for dogs. Lek’s plan is to continue to give sanctuary to needy dogs but wants to do it in a different location. I think this is a fabulous idea which will give the dogs a continued quality of life and volunteers another activity option when they visit the Park.

      Reply
  2. Sandra G Avatar
    Sandra G

    Thank you, Carol.

    Reply

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