Dogs

[Robert Spenger]

The subject of the dog problems has come up a number of times on this and other
camino lists. A general theme is that dogs are rarely a problem in Spain, but
that the same is not the case in France. Anyone planning to walk any distance in
France before crossing the Pyrenees should be aware of this. Fortunately, most
of the dogs I encountered in France were securely fenced, chained, or both. It
seems to me that it is quite common for the rural residents of southern France
to have trained guard dogs. On my way along the pilgrimage route through the
northern outskirts of Pau, I went right by a very large commercial facility for
the training of guard dogs. In a recent book by a Norwegian photographer, he
tells about a nasty bite that his traveling companion got when a dog (a setter,
I believe) dashed out from behind a hedge and got him in the leg. They had to
walk several miles before they got to a physician, who took several stitches to
patch it up. Incidentally, the book has excellent photographs. I am sorry that I
have neither the name of the book not the author at hand at this moment, but I
called the friend that lent it to me a couple of years ago and he said that he
will let me know when he finds it. (Yes, I did return it.)

Spain does not seem to have the prevalence of guard dogs, but there is a general
warning to avoid getting between a shepherd dog and his/her charges. His/her job
is to protect them from any possible threat and that includes you and me. The
most disturbing reports have been about packs of wild dogs in the vicinity of
abandoned villages, principally Foncebadon. Those were the ones that Ms MacLaine
had been warned about, but that was several years ago. Things have changed a
great deal on the camino since she was there. Personally, I carried a couple of
stout sticks, but they were mostly to help get this ancient bag of bones up the
hills. They did help me to defend the friendly camino dog that adopted me as a
traveling companion for a day. As we passed through small villages, the local
dogs ignored me and other pilgrims, but made a big fuss about this canine
stranger invading their territory. As "Peregrina" was quite small, I was worried
that the bigger dogs would make a meal of her.

regards,

Robert