Dogs in China
This past weekend was National Day in China, which starts on October 1st every year. To celebrate, I headed back with my girlfriend to her hometown. For the most part it was a decent time. There isn’t much to do there (although they do have the world’s largest collection of dinosaur eggs), so besides sitting around and listen to her relatives talk back and forth in one kind of Hakka (a Chinese “dialect”, read: language), we headed up to her father’s hometown, which is definitely rural China. There I saw something I wasn’t expecting, even in China.
Eating Baby Poop
The house belonged to my girlfriend’s uncle (her father’s brother, and the house was on the same plot where they both grew up), who raises lots of dogs. Maybe dogs in China are different than dogs back home (see Dogs Peeing on Cars in China), and maybe this would happen just as easily in rural America as it did in rural China, but what I saw was priceless. A baby, probably about one and a half years old, stood up and pooped through one her pant legs on the floor. Then one of the puppies in the house immediately ran over, scooped up the poop, and made a getaway (he had to contend with the other five puppies that might want the poop).
Needless to say, we all thought it was pretty funny, but it was also a little mortifying. I guess some things are hard to get used to no matter how long you have been in China, and perhaps dogs are different in China (I know any dogs I have had would be way too picky to do something like this). Whatever the case may be, I don’t think I will forget this incident any time soon.
Hey mate! It could have been worse: They could have eaten the dog later for dinner! However, they usually eat dog in the winter, stops colds or whatever.
Actually they offered for us to take one of the puppies home to eat later. Not kidding!
It is still happening in rural/provincial Philippines, too. That’s why we cannot relate to dog-owners kissing their dogs on the mouth.. (hahaha!)
I can’t count the number of dogs that I’ve had that would have a little Litter Box Buffet as soon as they were given the opportunity. I remember asking someone why dogs eat shit and they told me it was an instinct that allowed them to assure that their “mark” was the only thing marking their territory… pretty shitty way to show ownership if you ask me.
I am interesting in selling red standard poodles in china as pets. These are expensive dogs and i am worried they could be eaten or that their fur could be used for clothing. How do I ensure that my dogs would be well cared for . Does China have routne vaccination programs for dogs and humane societies? I want more information on dogs in china as pets.
Cathey,
Unless you set up the operation yourself and trained the people appropriately, it is likely things would not go as you are planning. Most pet shops in China are full of pets that do not get sold - this is my observation.
Although there are recommended vaccination programs for dogs and whatnot I know many people would likely ignore them in China.
If you set up your own “distribution system” you would have control over whether all the dogs found homes and how they treat the dogs in the pet store, etc. This would likely be very , very difficult if you are not Chinese. As to where the best market for such dogs would be, think Shanghai or Beijing. Shenzhen hasn’t quite caught on to the dog frenzy although its getting there. Elsewhere I doubt there would be but a handful of people who would consider buying a high end dog. Good luck, sorry but I am not a dog specialist and can’t provide too much info.
[...] VIP-Pets is currently targeted at English-speaking expatriates. The Chinese and Swedish editions of the website are incomplete. This doesn’t really matter because most Swedes speak excellent English, and most Chinese people give their dogs table scraps (although there are other options). [...]
[...] Saw the baby who pooped on the floor and the dog that ate it. [...]
That’s not unusual at all. Any dog anywhere will eat human turds, unless it’s been trained otherwise.
What James said is true, dogs like to eat poop. I have a dog and a cat, I don’t let the dog in the room with the cat’s litterbox anymore, because everytime I did, he would dive into the litterbox and chow down all that shit!!
Also, dogs use their tongues to lick their assholes! It’s their TP.
Dogs are nasty. I don’t understand people who let their dogs like their face, it’s like licking a toilet bowl! And they can transmit you parasites too…
Cathey—
I live in Hangzhou, China, and it is pretty amazing how many people here love keeping dogs as pets.
I actually have a Chinese friend that has her own dog-grooming shop. She herself has NINE poodles.
She is actually planning to move to Yunnan soon, and taking her business with her.
At least in my city, it is not uncommon to go to a bar and see anywhere from 2–10 dogs and their owners in the bar.
On just my block alone, there are at least 15 seemingly well-cared for dogs–all owned by native people. And we even have a pet shop across the street.
My email is cecilhbelle@gmail.com. If you like, I can put you in touch with me friend. Her English is pretty good, and she knows a lot about the dog situation here.
Apparently dogs that eat poop are short on potassium or something like that. I had a dog in south africa who used to chow down other dogs poop. Yummy!