Timorese Dogs
and how to NOT deal with them
Taking a walk in Timor Leste can be more challenging than expected. Firstly, if you are white, people love to stare at what you are doing. Not in a bad way, but I don’t like the feeling of being watched. Secondly, there are countless animals running around freely: Cows, goats, chicken, pigs, cats, - and dogs. Usually, all of them are easy to get around, just leave them in peace. Only the dogs sometimes suspiciously growl at you. In this Blog Post I will tell you two of my experiences with them and what I learned from it.
The first one was at the shortly past my arrival in Timor Leste. I had been told that if a dog should get nasty, I should just act like I was going to throw a stone at them. Or actually throw a stone. So, I wanted to go to a nearby supermarket to buy chocolate. There’s a bunch of dogs the street where I live, always sitting in front of this one house they appear to be guarding. Normally I just walk past and nothing happens. I was about to do the same thing when I started realizing that the dogs really didn’t want me to take this passage today. They started growling and barking. They started running at me. I was doing my best at staying calm. I acted throwing rocks them at distance, which kind of worked. As I started panicking I started screaming at them, I tried going, then running backwards. It worked well enough and I considered myself out of danger. I wanted to go a detour to the supermarket now, but my nice neighbor, who had watched the whole situation, had other plans. He took a stick and used it to safely walk the terrified me past the dogs. I felt very stupid after that. I swore to never take that way again, which I didn’t end up doing because I am too lazy to take the detour.
This went fine for a few months until the same dogs decided to show their dislike for me again. Really, I don’t know what’s up with them. One day, they are lazily basking in the sun, ignoring me completely, the other day they act like I’m about to rob their house. Anyways, this time I was going for a simple walk. As I was approaching the dogs I immediately knew something was wrong. I tried taking a few brave steps forward, which were a few steps too much because they went running at me again. Me, in full panic mode, was screaming, throwing both real and imaginary rocks and just running backwards. This time, there was no neighbor, no stick I could have used. Luckily, the dogs stopped following me after a dozen meters. I shakily walked the other direction, faintly greeting an unsure-how-to-behave Timorese women with “Bontardi”. She had been watching the situation, but I can’t blame her for not intervening because she also had been nursing her baby. A second time, I swore to not take that passageway ever again, and again, I am successfully ignoring that.
Now, one thing I learned later is that you shouldn't run from dogs because that is exactly what makes them chase you. This fact proved correct the third time I went past those dogs, because even though they were barking and growling, I got past them unharmed by just walking slowly.
So, should you ever come past a growling dog in Timor, just ignore it and try to stay calm. If they do get nasty, throw stones or act like you do. Make sure to get vaccinated against rabies before you come here. However, most dogs will not bother with that anyways. I remember an old, chill dog I always pass on the way to the beach. He is always just relaxing on the side of the street. If you are lucky, you can also get to see some incredibly cute puppies. If you are not so lucky, you can see a heartbreaking, limping dog. Sadly, there are a lot of street dogs in Timor, many in a bad condition. You can easily feel sorry for them.
