About 6 weeks ago I adopted some sort of jindo/akita/huskey mix (no one is quite sure) from a shelter. He's a 6 year old uneutered male. Not much is known about his past life other than he escaped from his previous home (he was found with an old harness on but no tags or forms of id) and some indications that he was abused or not that used to human contact as he'd flinch anytime you touched him.
I'm currently living in South Korea and here many pet owners with dogs his size or larger (he's about 45lbs) usually keep the dogs chained up or caged all day and its really sad. Dogs here are also often eaten and basically are tortured/beaten to death as people think this makes them 'tastier'. People have told me to be careful with my dog because due to his size and coloring he is apparently prime eating material so while I would be reluctant to let him off his leash regardless I refuse to do so at the risk of him becoming someone's dinner.
I feel like in the 6 weeks I've had him we've come a long way. He no longer flinches when i pet him and he seems to feel fairly safe with me. My big problem is in walking him. He managed to pull out of his harness once so I got him a new ruff wear harness and now he is walked in his harness and collar on two leashes because like I said I don't want him to be anyone's dinner. While he's getting better at not pulling I have a huge problem with him lunging. Whenever he sees a squirrel or rabbit he just lunges for it and then I have to literally drag him away. I've been trying to work on getting him to "watch me" and I know I haven't had him that long but its as though I'm completely invisible.
While the lunging for squrrels is a problem the bigger problem are the unleashed dogs. There are leash laws here in Korea but apparently not enforced. I no longer walk him in town due to all the unleashed dogs and walk him on the mountain hiking trails which usually during the week is ok, but inevitably we run into other dogs on weekends.
Since I don't speak Korean I'm unable to communicate with the unleashed dogs owners (if they're around) and because I've never seen him interact with another dog I'm not sure how he'll be. He usually just seems like he wants to meet them but I'm afraid of starting a dog fight. In addition people are scared of my dog due to his size (although he ignores other people) so I worry that any dog fight that breaks out regardless if the other dog is unleashed my dog will be blamed for it and we'll be banned (people have already tried to tell me I'm not allowed on the trails which I know is not true).
I know I probably need professional help in training him, but as I live in a very rural area of South Korea where my vet speaks minimal English I don't think that will be available until I take him back to the US with me in 7 months.
Is it safe to allow other dogs to approach us if they seem friendly? I do carry a stick and am willing to use it but once again being a foreigner here in Korea makes you a bit of a target and I'd rather not hit someone else's dog.
I'm currently living in South Korea and here many pet owners with dogs his size or larger (he's about 45lbs) usually keep the dogs chained up or caged all day and its really sad. Dogs here are also often eaten and basically are tortured/beaten to death as people think this makes them 'tastier'. People have told me to be careful with my dog because due to his size and coloring he is apparently prime eating material so while I would be reluctant to let him off his leash regardless I refuse to do so at the risk of him becoming someone's dinner.
I feel like in the 6 weeks I've had him we've come a long way. He no longer flinches when i pet him and he seems to feel fairly safe with me. My big problem is in walking him. He managed to pull out of his harness once so I got him a new ruff wear harness and now he is walked in his harness and collar on two leashes because like I said I don't want him to be anyone's dinner. While he's getting better at not pulling I have a huge problem with him lunging. Whenever he sees a squirrel or rabbit he just lunges for it and then I have to literally drag him away. I've been trying to work on getting him to "watch me" and I know I haven't had him that long but its as though I'm completely invisible.
While the lunging for squrrels is a problem the bigger problem are the unleashed dogs. There are leash laws here in Korea but apparently not enforced. I no longer walk him in town due to all the unleashed dogs and walk him on the mountain hiking trails which usually during the week is ok, but inevitably we run into other dogs on weekends.
Since I don't speak Korean I'm unable to communicate with the unleashed dogs owners (if they're around) and because I've never seen him interact with another dog I'm not sure how he'll be. He usually just seems like he wants to meet them but I'm afraid of starting a dog fight. In addition people are scared of my dog due to his size (although he ignores other people) so I worry that any dog fight that breaks out regardless if the other dog is unleashed my dog will be blamed for it and we'll be banned (people have already tried to tell me I'm not allowed on the trails which I know is not true).
I know I probably need professional help in training him, but as I live in a very rural area of South Korea where my vet speaks minimal English I don't think that will be available until I take him back to the US with me in 7 months.
Is it safe to allow other dogs to approach us if they seem friendly? I do carry a stick and am willing to use it but once again being a foreigner here in Korea makes you a bit of a target and I'd rather not hit someone else's dog.