Hi, Coby, it's easy to see how the Thais might suspect dogs of being reincarnated monks, with them possessing the insight and sophisticated behavior you've ascribed to the dog in your neighborhood. As for our "wild" dogs, there is this one pack that I and Rawkus have seen, which is probably the same one that ran past my wife early one morning at Puerto Cancun. Other than that, I've literally just seen an occasional dog on the streets, much as you described seeing in Playa. I can't question the numbers provided by the experts, such as Rivergirl quoted: it's possible, I suppose, given that Cancun may have nearly 1,000,000 human inhabitants. That would mean about 3-4 stray dogs per 100 inhabitants. There may be a higher concentration of them in poorer parts of town, especially if the residents there maintain the relationship with them that Rivergirl described.
There definitely ARE higher numbers of street dogs out in the regiones. It's hard not to hit them with your car when you get out there. I know the city does a better job of scooping them up in the wealthier and middle class parts of town. But out in the poorer areas dogs are everywhere. And there are lots in Bonfil too. It's a MUCH bigger problem here than you would realize if you never go where the dogs are. The same my be true in Playa. Coby certainly lives in a nicer part of Playa. I too have seen a pack of dogs at Puerto Cancun, several times. The first time was at least 3 years ago. They never gave me or my dogs any trouble, but it's not nice to have them surround you. There was a pack of dogs roaming the airport for a while, but the authorities went and got them, that was probably in early 2009.
My local pack of street dogs (of the someone-is-feeding-them-but-they-aren't-pets variety, I think) know who I am and let me pass without a fuss. One morning they were giving warning there was a stranger/bad guy nearby, but I failed to read the signs. Just as I was talking to the dogs asking them what's up with all of them having the hair up on their backs with low growls, and feeling a little scared of the dogs, I was jumped from behind and pushed to my knees with the guy's foot in the middle of my back. (I won the battle for my purse with the f*#$&$er. ha! On a side note, I was yelling and cussing like a sailor at this guy at the top of my lungs, and not a single neighbor came out of their houses. Nice.) I now see what at first seemed like an intimidating pack to walk through as a form of neighborhood security, which I guess is why someone is feeding them. But it's still a sad situation for the dogs.
Another remarkable dog story, Cancungringa: their instincts are pretty uncanny. Sounds like you were pretty remarkable, yourself!
Well, the incredible rush of adrenaline like I've never felt before, combined with the guy's underestimation of how much leverage my long legs gave me to keep from being pushed face-down all the way to the ground and eventually get back on my feet, made me Superwoman for a minute. :aktion047: When the guy took off running I pointed at the guy, looked at the dogs, and yelled "Get em!!" They just gave me blank stares like, hey, we tried to warn you. haha.
They either thought you were doing nicely on your own, or they were afraid to come anywhere near you!
I just read an article in Readers Digest that if attacked dont yell help, instead yell FIRE!! It said people are more likley wanting to help when yelling fire as opposed to I dont want to get involved with a yell for help.
Wow Gringa, sorry to hear about that particular piece of nastiness! Can I hire you as a bodyguard? ;-)
CancunGringa and I used to have a street dog follow us around everywhere. He was only ever spotted in SM-22 and the SM where city hall and immigration are located. He would be the sweetest dog to us but if certain men walked too close to us, the dog would bark viciously. He didn't do this to all men...just certain ones that he deemed to be dangerous. The dog would see us safely to our destination and then go back to whatever he did when he wasn't protecting us. He was such a cool dog. I wanted to adopt him, but thought he would be miserable as an indoor doggie. I wish we didn't have so many street dogs, of course, but this one was fabulous.
