Before anyone tries to correct me, I know that the phrase is supposed to be “dog eat dog world”. When I was young, like many people, I actually thought that the phrase was “doggy dog world” and could never understand it. And even though I know that it’s just a commonly misspoken or misheard phrase, I think “doggy dog world” could apply to Moldova.
Stray dogs are in abundance here. During my walk to school, I will see at least a dozen stray dogs around, more when the weather was warmer. You can see in their face that with each person that passes them, they have a mixed feeling of hope for food and fear of being kicked or swatted at. Some may bark at you as a defense mechanism, but it is easy to see they are still more scared of you.
Pet dogs are a little better; however, they are viewed very differently than dogs in America. Most pet dogs have one of two proposes: guards or doorbells. The dogs are kept outside, often chain very close to the front gate, which can help scare off intruders. They might also bark like crazy when a guest arrives, serving as a warning for the owners. I have seen/heard of very few accounts of dogs that are kept as companions.
As I mentioned earlier, dogs are one the two main greatest dangers for a Moldovan volunteer. When we were being told this, the PC was referring to the stray dogs. But in my experience, I haven’t been scared of any strays yet. In fact, the strays are usually quite friendly or very scared. There have only been two times that dogs really scared me, and both times, the dogs had owners. The pet dogs tend to be more aggressive toward strangers than the strays.
My host family has two dogs: Constanța and Charlie. Constanța is small and black, and full of energy. She is chained near the front gate, and she barks excessively whenever someone enters the yard. Charlie is also small, but has blonde shaggy hair. He is chained at the back of the driveway, and he is very quiet. Both are very sweet dogs, and neither one shows aggression towards me. Although Constanța barks whenever I come home, it is out of excitement.
As someone who grew up with dogs as companions and has a general care for animals, seeing the dogs in Moldova is often a very heartbreaking thing for me. Even though I’m almost nine months into my service, it is something I’m still not used to. And although I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it, I am glad that my host dogs are at least sweet and seem to be treated better than others I’ve seen. When I get back to the States, I will need some serious canine love from my family dogs.
