Question

High Scardus Trail Stage 10 Strezimir - Radomirë

Hi Jernej, hiked these stages last year and we had no problems. Dogs are protecting the sheep herds & in almost every case, the herder was nearby. If you do not see the herder, shout for him. In cases of emergency, trekking sticks are helpful for defense; but as I mentioned, we had no problems during our 8 day hike.

Hi Guenter. Thank you very much for a very helpful answer.

We are just back from the trail. I'm afraid of dogs, but we could handle this. The dogs do their job very well. They are approaching you and seem super aggressive! We had up to six dogs circling around us. You have to stand still and look down to the ground. Do not move. Just call loud for the shepherd. As soon as you are stopped and locked in by the dogs, they get calmer. The DO NOT attack - they just isolate you from the sheep. We had to wait up to ten minutes until the shepherd came by. Then the dogs let you pass. Normally the shepherd is close to the dogs. You just call "Hello, hello" and the shepherd keeps the dogs away from you. As soon as you get "the system", it is less frightening. We did the entire trail and had several encounters, but never got in trouble. The dogs are professionals and know their job . And their job is not to attack you. Keep that in mind, it helps even if it seems frightening ;-)