Good House Pets

I was hiking along a trail in the hills east of Korca, when I noticed that several people I passed were carrying wicker cages. At first I thought they were traps of some sort, but a closer look revealed they were taking their pet parakeets out for a walk. Maybe this is a common practice in other countries, but I have never seen it before. I wonder if the birds appreciate the fresh air and change of scenery. Birds are very popular pets in Albania. As the weather warms up people hang their cages out on balconies or outside apartment windows. Birdsong brightens up a springtime walk along the cobblestone alleys in old Korca or on the boulevards or sidewalks in newer parts of town.

Dogs and cats are everywhere in Albania. In villages, every yard seems to have a dog chained to a dog house to scare away intruders, human or other. In Korca, dogs wander the streets and hillsides. Cats slink under fences and along rooftops. They raid trash bins and contribute to the general profusion of litter, but, on the positive side, I haven’t seen many rats or mice. They are pretty street-smart. Cars race by since Albanian drivers love to floor it and race along any distance that might open up in the traffic. I have seen dogs step out onto a street and carefully look both ways before crossing. I should not have been surprised; otherwise the streets would be littered with carcasses.

People here seem to like dogs and cats, but house pets are a newer phenomenon. I have not seen dog treats in the markets. One of my neighbors has a Pomeranian that appears pampered. They even asked my help in giving it a vaccination they had obtained from Greece. I am not sure what it was, as I can’t read Greek. I reconstituted it, injected it under the skin on its back, and hoped for the best. Few dogs or cats receive vaccinations and almost none are neutered. I haven’t seen any dog catchers around, but they must make periodic sweeps or there would be more dogs roaming around than there are.

The neighbor often takes his little dog running on the road up to the cross. Almost every day, I see it running pluckily along trying to keep up on its stubby legs, the bells on its collar jingling, its tongue hanging out. It must be in fantastic shape for a Pom. Frequently the wife or daughter sits in the alley next to our building with the dog in their lap.

Ilky, the neighborhood alpha dog who slept by my door during winter, now sleeps on the stoop of the apartment across the alley. I think he must belong to the family that lives there. He is a good dog. He greets almost everyone enthusiastically. He keeps order in the yard and doesn’t bark too much at night. We gave him the bone from the pot roast we ate for Easter dinner. He turns up his nose when I offer him bits of kibble that I bought as a treat for him, but he attacked that bone with gusto.

Isufi has a puppy named Lupe, a small to medium dog that looks like she is a good part Husky. He likes dogs. I have seen him give Lupe a scratch behind the ear and play with her at times. She sleeps in his yard and, as far as I know, is not allowed in the house. During the day she is allowed out of the gate to roam the streets of Korca. She does not have a collar. Isufi does not buy dog food. Like most dogs in Albania, Lupe is fed table scraps. She doesn’t look malnourished. I haven’t asked him what he will do when she inevitably has a litter. I am afraid he will misunderstand me and try to give me one of them. That happened to a volunteer in a previous group who mentioned to an Albanian friend that she liked dogs.

A volunteer in my group has two dogs. They are typical Albanian mutts. She rents a house and has a yard and has even built a kennel. She has had them neutered and they have been wormed and had all their shots. They have collars and are leash trained and she walks them around her town. Her counterpart isn’t married and is willing to do dog sitting when she has to travel. I miss having a dog, but I couldn’t manage any of that with my apartment. Also, there are lots of hoops to jump through to bring a dog back to America. I think it is easier for a volunteer to bring home an Albanian spouse.

The wandering dogs of Korca seem pretty well behaved and mostly interested in each other. Walking in the countryside, one has to be wary of the sheep dogs. I have been told that if you get between them and their sheep you may be attacked, so I am careful to walk around them. Sometimes I pick up a rock to chuck at them and scare them off if they seem aggressive.

There are other pets. There are a few horses in the neighborhood, but, however much the owner dotes on them, they are mainly work animals. Horse drawn carts are common in Korca. A Roma man stands in front of the market in Korca with his pet bear. You can take a photo with the bear for about five dollars. He walks the bear, which looks like it weighs about 250 lbs., on a leash over to a nearby park where the bear and the man lie under a tree for a break. I assume the man found the bear as a cub and has had him since. The bear looks in much better shape than the man. The younger boy of my host family keeps rabbits. They are pets, but also a commercial enterprise for meat and pelts. He reminds me of the 4-H kids back home, but he is too big to cry when he has to sell one.

Once, as I was returning from a hike in the hills above Thane, I met my host mother on the road. She had the two family cows on a rope and was walking them, letting them browse the grass and weeds along the side. I watched them for awhile and then I mentioned to her that back home I often saw people taking their dogs for a walk, but had never before seen someone walking their cow. She asked me which I thought was better for walking, dogs or cows. I told her that I had never gotten milk from my dog.