The Romanian Guard Dog Who Stole Our Hearts
And the Romanian dog problem that rarely woofed
Ice
Rebecca and I first met Ice in late February 2020.
We had just arrived in Timișoara, Romania for a four month stay. I had been awarded a Fulbright to teach American Politics at the University of West. My partner Rebecca had learned Romanian that would help us as we traveled around this beautiful country.
On that first day, our landlord Horia gave us three keys: one to the building’s outside door, one to a courtyard, and one to our apartment. You can see below off Rebecca’s right shoulder the courtyard door down a corridor from the outside door.
Ice guarded the courtyard door, the portcullis to the castle, a property that included a house, restaurant, garden, patio, and our apartment. You can see Ice’s garden below. He prowled for Horia. In 2020, he also protected Titza, Horia’s mom, and house. Sadly, Titza would die of a heart attack in 2021.
During the first week, I had a hard time getting the courtyard lock to work. It would take a minute to get the lock to turn. For 60 seconds, as I jiggled the key, Ice hurdled his body against the door and barked. After I week of this, I pleaded my case to Horia who replaced the lock. The hurdling stopped but not the barking.
Ice, Rebecca and I then settled into a routine. Once he heard the key touch the lock he would start barking and not stop until we exited his yard to go up to our apartment. And then COVID hit and we had to go home.
I reapplied and was awarded another Fulbright for fall 2021. Upon hearing that good news, my second thought was that I hoped Ice had moved on. That’s the PG version. But, thankfully, he hadn’t. So we got another chance to know him.
When Rebecca and I arrived back in Timișoara last fall, Ice was still patrolling the property at №40 Gheorghe Doja. He greeted us with the bark we remembered so unfondly.
But Rebecca had time to work her magic. She loved petting, hugging, and cradling the little terror. This picture was taken after Rebecca had rescued Ice from a shed roof that borders the property. Even tough little guys like to be cuddled. I know I did.
Ice and me? Well, we are guys, older guys, and so we circled around, sniffing away, and settled into caring from a distance.
The Romanian Dog problem that rarely woofed
When I started thinking about applying for a Fulbright in Romania, I read about its dog problem: packs of dogs running wild and attacking humans. You can read an updated version here.
It’s an old story that dies hard.
We lived in Timișoara, in western Romania, a city of 300,000 people. It is also a 2023 European City of Culture.
Timișoara is known as the green city, with 29 parks and green spaces, including Carmen Sylva Park across from our flat. This park includes two playgrounds, one for kids and one for dogs. You can see one kid below.
We walked through this park daily and never met an unleashed pooch. Each day we walked 3–5 miles around our Romanian home city and we can’t recall a wandering dog.
When we visited Romania’s capital city Bucharest last October, we walked several hours through the city and into several parks and did not encounter a dog without an owner attached.
The same was true when we visited Cluj, Sibiu, Sighișoara, Brașov, Suceava, and Reșița. We hired travel guides who drove us to these destinations. In rural areas we occasionally saw groups of dogs foraging. They looked scrawny but harmless.
A Romanian friend, Alex Bojneagu, says there are around 500,000 stray dogs in Romania, mostly in rural areas and on the edges of cities. That’s why we didn’t see any around Timișoara or Bucharest.
Alex says stray dogs are now called community dogs. Over the past decade, city governments have set up dog shelters and dog-neutering campaigns. These measures have helped, according to Alex, but more needs to be done.
When we visited Alex and his family in Reșița, we met several abandoned dogs that Alex and his family have adopted. Below, Alex’s sister Cosmina is holding Maya.
Maya reminded me of my friend Ice.
