Laundry Day on Pochote

Have I mentioned that this is where I do my laundry?

And that this is the view?

the Puppy Post

So it has been puppy central here on Pochote (our callejon) lately.

Many of you out there may know that one of the elements of this adventure was the possibility of us coming home with a dog.

When we first got here we ran into this sweet lady (see below) a lot. We called her Mama Dog because she obviously had just had puppies, even though she looked barely past her own puppydom. She has a good gig down at the jardin, where she goes along the row of restaurants and stands or sits staring at the patrons with her deep, beseeching gaze and her belly dangling with teats. She really is a particularly beautiful dog and super sweet. (Unfortunately tonight, when I finally had my camera she would not be still enough to get a good picture.)

I had mixed feelings when I found out that she actually had a home right across the callejon from us, but then a few weeks later we saw her cruising through town - the engine, with a long string of boy dogs chugging along behind her. It was right around then that our land lady let us know that she would let us get a puppy, which is normally not her policy. I checked the internets about doggie gestation periods and stuff and decided that if I could have one of her puppies, I would go home very very happy.

Right before our last trip she was clearly VERY pregnant and when we got back she had trimmed down considerably - so we knocked on her people’s door and asked to see the puppies.

There were only two and they are total chunks. (The litter she had just before we got here in September was TWELVE puppies.)

Once we saw the puppies I contacted someone from Amigos de los Animales (Once in the site, look at the newsletter it has the best information.) to help me talk to the family. I didn’t know exactly how to go about talking to them and even though I get by quite well in Spanish, I miss things a lot and I wanted to have someone who could really know the ins and outs to help me out.

We have decided that we are leaning towards the black one, because she will be more like Mama Dog - whose name is actually Rasputina. Oh my god!! can you stand how cute she is??

But!! They are not sure that they want to get rid of them. I have offered to pay for Rasputina’s sterilization in exchange. And he was planning to think on that idea and let me know. But then he found out that Veronica, (the woman from Friends of Animals, who was helping me out, and holding the white little cutie pie,) has wiener dog puppies so now he wants to trade for one of them - unspayed. So now it is very complicated. So I need all of you to look at this picture and send togetherness thoughts our way to us and the puppy. (Mikko wants to name her Pudgie - I am trying to get him to think of some other options so he can decide on the best one.)

These are some other little puppies that the boys in the callejon were trying to get us to take last week. I’m not sure where they are now - no one will give me a straight answer.

So - if Mama Dog’s puppy doesn’t work out - there will certainly be many options. I so want one of hers though.

If anyone is interested in adopting a street dog or puppy, Amigos de los Animales is an excellent way to do that. And if you are south of Portland on the west coast we could drive it home to you in July.