Taiwanese Dogs

There are lots of dogs in Taiwan, just like in the US, but they seem to lead very different lives than American dogs.

Taiwanese dogs appear to be pretty independent and they are rarely tied up or leashed. It’s normal to walk ldown a Taiwanese street and see a dog lazily watching people pass by their storefront or apartment building. You also see the more active dogs doing a studious patrol of their own little area. You often see dogs walk down the street without a person nearby looking like a canine neighborhood watch when they walk in a group.

The dogs mostly ignore strangers. Sometimes they will make the effort to look a person over and almost always decide you’re not interesting. If they think you have food, of course they’re more interested but I’ve never seen a dog here act aggressively toward a person.

The dogs usually ignore other dogs in the area but I have seen a few squabbles, usually involving dogs on leashes. When another dog looks at you in a certain way, you just have to respond. You know what I mean.

Taiwanese dogs appear to be mostly mixed breeds. I have seen some pure breed dogs-- some Pugs, a Golden Retriever, and some Daschsunds--but these were exceptions. To me, they’re the kind of dog you look at and say “I wonder what kind of dog that is.”

The funniest/scariest thing is watching Taiwanese dogs ride with their people on motor scooters, sometimes on the back and sometimes down by the pedals. I saw a very small leashed dog hop off the scooter at a red light, run around the scooter, and then hop back on.

There is a restaurant down the street from the Beauty Star Hotel where you can bring your dog to eat dinner with you. It was kind of empty the first few times we went by but they did have some decent business by the time we left the neighborhood.  (What do you suppose they do with all the dog hair they sweep up?)

For you cat lovers, yes there are cats here but I don’t see them much. Besides, cats are the same everywhere, right? :)