On the gates, there will be signs - Zły pies (bad, or angry, dog), humorous ones carrying a veiled threat, such as zły pies, gorszy gospodarz (bad dog, worse owner/householder) or an outright challenge; below an illustration of a doberman's head, the words Ja dobiegam do furtki w 3 sekundy - a Ty? (I can reach the gate in three seconds - and you?). I find this sign an insult aimed directly at me. Myślisz, chamie, że mam jakiś kolwiek zamiar wejścią na Twoją żałosną pozesję? Grubo się mylisz.One neighbour further along ul. Trombity expressed his displeasure at owning a dog that (in a civilised and thoughtful manner) refused to bark at passers-by.
When barking at you, its tail wagging, a dog is saying 'Come here and go away' at the same time. I find this deeply annoying. "You barkin' at me? You barkin' at me? Then who the hell else are you barkin' at?" I have my way of dealing with barking dogs behind fences when returning home at night suitably refreshed... Works with moles too.All of this aggression raises stress levels in passers-by, even those 99.999% who have absolutely no intention of breaking and entering into homes. These barking dogs and the signs on the gates are indicative of low levels of social trust.
In London, it's the norm to be able to walk right up to the front door of houses posh or poor. In Warsaw, most houses are (as is ours) behind high fences, with locked gates; front doors require a plethora of keys to open, and sophisticated security devices and instant-response teams from security companies will be round in minutes should the alarm go off.
Poland has lower rates of burglary than the UK* and Warsaw much lower rates than London. Cause, or effect?
* Burglaries: 12.7 per 1,000 in the London Borough of Ealing (2008/9) compared to 4.3 per 1,000 for the whole of the Warsaw Agglomeration in 2009 (Warsaw + nine surrounding poviats or districts). London boroughs range between 7.2 (Richmond upon Thames) to 16.8 (Haringey).
"These barking dogs and the signs on the gates are indicative of low level of social trust" - the signs are required by law. If a burglar enters your garden and is attacked by your dog and there is no sign on your gates (if you have two gates you're required to have two signs) than it's your fault :P
ReplyDeleteAgree completely Michael. I am sandwiched to each side by mad alsatians. Mad because they are left free to prowl their gardens morning, noon and night with little or no social contact from their masters - they see a passer by and all hell breaks loose. As for the gates - electronic gates and Solid security ready to be here in less than 2 minutes if the alarm goes off. In five years the alarm has caused me more stress due to it invariably going off by accident on day one of the holiday! There was a study done of social trust number of years ago which shows Scandanavians have the highest level and surprise, surprise Poles have the lowest level. Outside family and close childhood friends Poles do seem to have a problem with trust - no doubt the history can be blamed for that - the sad thing is that even 20 years after the fall of the old system the new generations are following the same approach as their parents.
ReplyDeleteAnon - if what you write is not a joke then Polish law is an arse! Do we have to protect burglars from being biten by a dog?
ReplyDeleteI see it eye to eye with you and fellow commentators. This signals mistrust. The same happens in NI, when passing by a fence I was repeatedly barked by a dog. I don't know if they are trained but when looking in animals' eyes I saw there insanity. A dog could signal someone is for instance jumping over a fence but it barks every time somebody passes by, an owner will not react if something bad happens.
The "mole method". I hope no photographer will be lurking in shrubs to capture the scene and publish it somewhere or send to Fakt...
Meanwhile, here in the USA, or at least in the bit that I live in (rural, third-worldly NM), we let our dogs run loose. They get to socialize, reproduce, kill all the smaller animals and harass larger ones in packs, sing in chorus with coyotes, and, importantly, chase cars.
ReplyDeleteWe never lock our house, let alone have a fence, gate, or any warning signs. This way, if anyone wants to burglarize our house, they do not have to break anything to get in.
I think the law is there to protect anyone who might have reason to enter your property.
ReplyDeleteWe have dogs that have been given a free reign in the garden from an early age, and as a first time owner, I can tell you that this is a big mistake. Not only does leaving a dog alone in the garden cause it to play the 'Alpha' when it is still too young to do so but it works against any socialising that might have been begun. Dogs need their Alpha with them in all situations when they are young in order to socialise them and train them as to their role. They will not exhibit fear when strangers pass and will bark only to reassure themselves that the Alpha has noted the 'stranger' and taken from them the responsibility of reacting.
I've ruined my dogs in that respect, as no matter how much I tried to reeducate them they still bark at strangers and go 'ape' at the sight of other dogs. Apologising to my neighbour one day for all the barking I was taken aback by the completely disarming approach that there was no need to apologise as this is what dogs are supposed to do. I only wish I'd undersstood canine mentality a bit better when they were young. Never again.
And there is no pleasure in walking ones charges in the neighbourhood as all the neighbours dogs have the same affliction as mine. Barking, noisy, antisocial and without their packs, left to protect their owners as best they can. So sad. I will never take dogs again if I can help it, and certainly will not make the same mistakes I have with my present dogs.
Adam - an excellent and well-informed take on the dog issue.
ReplyDeleteBartek - the law is an ass as in donkey, not the original English pronunciation of what the Americans call 'ass'.
David - I firmly believe that over the 12 years I've been here, social trust in Poland is rising, while in the UK it's falling. I remember someone saying that supermarkets will never take off because Polacy je rozkradną. Not the case!
thanks for this precious remark :), indeed my mistake
ReplyDeletetypo - begin not being
ReplyDelete