The photo-neutron cross sections of 162,163 Dy have been measured for the first time in an energy region from the neutron threshold (S n ) up to ≈ 13 MeV. The (γ,n) reaction was induced with quasi-monochromatic laser Compton-scattered γ rays, produced at the NewSUBARU laboratory. The corresponding γ-ray strength functions (γSF) have been calculated from the photo-neutron cross sections. The data are compared to reanalyzed γSFs of 160−164 Dy, which are measured below S n . The excellent agreement with the photo-neutron data at S n confirms the principle of detailed balance. Thus, a complete γSF is established covering in total the energy region of 1 MeV ≤ E γ ≤ 13 MeV. These mid-shell well-deformed dysprosium isotopes all show scissors resonances with very similar structures. We find that our data predict the same integrated scissors strength as (γ, γ ) data when integrated over the same energy range, which shows that the scissors mode very likely is consistent with the generalized Brink hypothesis. Finally, using the γSFs as input in the reaction code TALYS, we have deduced radiative neutron-capture cross sections and compared them to direct measurements. We find a very good agreement within the uncertainties, which gives further support to the experimentally determined γSFs.