Dogs and Car Alarms!!

Dogs are very prevalent in Ecuador or so I have heard. Since Cuenca is the only place I have spent much time as of yet, I can only be certain of the state of dogs and car alarms here.

In Canada, most people keep their dogs inside at night. That is not the case in Cuenca. As a result, you can expect to hear dogs barking at night.

Last night was a case in point. Between car alarms going off and dogs barking I did not have a very good sleep.

I have stayed in other parts of the city and can attest to the fact that there are areas that are more quiet than others. Also, I would think living in an apartment that is 6 or more floors up that the affect of noise would not be as great.

Some apartments have double-paned windows which help to reduce noise as well.

On another note regarding pet care, people do not treat their dogs the same way we do in Canada. They often do not get proper veterinary care.

There is a dog that lives across the street from us that has severe hip dysplasia. He looks like he is in pain most of the time, but the owners do nothing.

Coco, my girlfriend's dog, was in a fight with another dog and suffered some nasty abrasions to his nose. The wounds were left to heal on their own.

Most dogs are infested with flees and left that way. And they rarely ever get a bath so they smell.

Dogs are, typically, kept in a confined area at night, but are allowed to roam the streets during the day. 

Since about two weeks ago, dogs roaming the streets seems to be on the decline. This could be as a result of the city implementing a much needed law that would result in a stiff fine ($300 - $1000) if an owner's dog is caught wandering the streets. Whether this law will be enforced or not remains to be seen.

Hopefully we will see less poop in the streets as well. I am not trying to indicate that there is a lot of dog poop in the streets, but you do have to watch your step.

My girlfriend has two dogs she rescued from the street. She feeds them table scraps (if there happens to be any) and dry dog food. They each get a cup full of dry food twice a day. And most of the time they are hungry. I guess it is better than them trying to fend for themselves. They seem to be happy and do not look malnourished.

I have been trying to teach them not to bark at passing cars, dogs and people and have had some success. Since I am not allowed to use a shock collar I have been throwing water on them whenever I catch them barking. It stops their barking immediately. The problem is it is difficult to catch them in the act all the time.

Since I have been living with her, and knowing that I dislike her dogs barking, my girlfriend makes a concerted effort to chastise them.

I have heard of a collar that vibrates instead of applying a shock. I may give that a try if I can find one that is not too expensive.

The other problem is finding some way to stop other people's dogs from barking. The owners don't seem to care if their dogs bother anyone. 

Some nights I feel like poisoning a piece of meat and throwing it in the yard where the dog lives. I don't think I will ever go that far. But, I may invest in a gun that can spray a strong stream of water. That might help.

As to car alarms there is not much to say other than I don't think Cuencanos should have ever been given car alarms. They seem to have no clue how they work.

I was walking in the street yesterday and this guy was wandering around his car opening and closing the doors in an attempt to get the alarm to cease. I don't suppose it occurred to him that he had to depress the button on his keychain to deactivate the alarm after making sure the doors were closed.

There is an older person living across the street from us. Almost every time he uses his car he opens the door before disabling the alarm and of course the alarm goes off. And, it seems to take him a few minutes to figure out that he should push the deactivate button. Very irritating especially when he does this at night.

I hear car alarms going off all over the city every day and sometimes during the night. Fortunately, most of them, except for the guy across the street, are in the distance.

One other source of noise that is not great is motorcycles that have no muffler. Young people love that wild and nasty sound.

If anyone is really sensitive to noise you might want to consider another locale than Cuenca. I think this is one reason why some expats live in small towns like Cotacachi. However, the disadvantage in living in a small town is there is not much to do.

Don't get me wrong:  Most of the hours in a day are quiet. But when the noise happens it is not pleasant.