The American Canine is traveling again.

This time, we headed east for a two week escapade that took us through Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam, and South Korea.

As always, I was on the lookout for information about how our canine companions live in countries other than our own. As soon as we got to Taiwan, there were dogs waiting for us. While there were none on duty when our late flight arrived, apparently detection dogs are a common fixture at the international terminal. I spotted several signs warning people that there were working dogs on site.

Our stop in Taiwan was brief and I didn’t see any other dogs outside of the airport signs and one sign for a pet store on the subway.

A day later though, we were headed to Thailand. We definitely saw a lot of dogs there. Unfortunately, very few were “owned” dogs. Most were street dogs, casually living their lives on the edges of society. Most people seemed to take little notice of the strays. Here and there, mostly in the tourist areas, we saw signs saying (in English) DO NOT FEED THE DOGS. We traveled from Bangkok north through several cities and a rustic village (which I felt was kind of a tourist trap) and the dogs were everywhere, including at least a couple in the artwork. I did note that there were far fewer in the old art than you see in European art. As you look at the pictures, there are several shots that look like the same dog. It is not. Each of these are different dogs, with the exception of two pictures of the dogs at the guard shack.

Not to leave our feline friends out, we made a stop at the Blue Temple (Wat Rong Suea Ten) in Chang Rei and they had a number of temple cats. You could donate to help pay for their food and veterinary treatment. Finally, we ended our Thailand tour with a stop at a rescue for animals of a different kind.

That was the first half of our incredible trip. Coming up, I will show you some of the dogs we met as we continued our Asian adventure.