Its a dogs life

Dogs....most us us have pedigree ones who need care and maintenance and we love them,but there are yet others to whom a dog can be just any dog even a stray.Take the street where I live or even the area I live in.There are three dogs on my street who live on the road and they have territorial rights to the road.No other dog is allowed according to road dog rules.The rest of the street dogs respect that as they all have similar rules.Most houses on our street also have dogs that live in their homes.None of these are the pedigree ones.They are all strays that have been adopted,taken home ,rehabilitated and are love and looked after.They in turn learn to live and be friendly with all the neighbours so if we pat them on the back they will wag their tails,they will always greet the neighbours with a friendly bark.
The real queen of the road however is Susi.She is know by many names,appu is one of them and she answers to all.She has this great weakness for construction sites.I suspect that's also to do with the fact that most construction workers cook a good meal after a hard days work and have no problems sharing this with her.Also the cool sands and stones that are available on building sites are a welcome resting place.We first met Susi when our flat was being built.She knew we were going to be living there and was most civil to us,waged her tail,followed us around and we fell in love.
Today she moves from one site to the other but her favourite places are the parking lot of a building two houses away from ours or on a very hot day,the terrace of our flat.On days when some male dog has caught her fancy she would invite him over to the terrace.I have seen a brown dog with that completely smitten look on its face,going down the stairs and I think to myself..."oh yet another one of her victims".
Susi is fed and looked after by all of us and all the other dogs acknowledge her status on that road.She is fed on biscuits,beef,bones and whatever else we can pass her way.She also knows our friends and our visitors and greets them with such love and affection that they always bring a teat along.
Its finally all about the way one treats the animals.If we as a street had kicked and ill treated her like some folks are likely to do,we would have gotten a bad dog and all the problems that came along.
Its sad that one reads of communities that kill dogs just because they have caused some problems and while it is tragic that dogs have killed babies,we must remember that dogs by nature are not man eaters.If we show a little kindness then we wont have these problems.Can we spend a moment to think of their hunger or their need for love and attention and medical care?.The problem of strays is what we have created,lets not blame the dogs alone.