I have known people with this same superstition and it's always reminded me of my grandma's habit of closing books around the house to keep the devils from getting at them or something. In Selçuk, Turkey there were two young (14-15 year old) men who helped a group of us. They also had these two wild dog companions who followed us all the way to the bus station ( 5 miles or so!) https://goo.gl/photos/NToa9TVyyGWLiTDD8 In Istanbul, Turkey during Ramadan there were wild dogs hanging out in the streets during the evening feast, nobody really seemed to mind (this was outside the blue mosque) https://goo.gl/photos/abiCsEZ1Pqipiibo7 and even gave them some good treats (mmmmmm Lokma!) I am sorry about your dogs :( I hate superstitions like this, they don't serve any person but really seem to drive fear and pain to extremes.