Sophie AKA Wendy.
Raoul, how can you say no to a face like this?
Un neutered dogs are a huge problem in Panama. These dogs are typically Panamanian mutts and are strong survivors. I have been at this house off and on for a year now and have never really seen any strays in this neighborhood which is unusual. It also seems that everybody owns at least one dog and most don't seem to bother neutering them.
This time when we got here there was a mutt hanging around the house, a female who appeared to be nursing pups. I felt sorry for her and was feeding her my leftovers. She hung about on my doorstep and I named her Sophie. Not knowing who owned her I then decided that I was going to have her spayed so that she would not get pregnant again. I booked her into a clinic in Boquete that is run by volunteers and charges only $15. Well it turns out that she belongs to a guy about 3 houses in from the corner across the street from me. She had been very thin and the neighbor took pity on her and was feeding her. He liked her because she is a good watch dog. Not only has he been feeding her, I find he has now taken her into his home so she has even changed residences.
Suddenly the night before the spay clinic they were forced to cancel it due to severe flooding in Boquete. Alas, now Sophie AKA Wendy is in heat again so I made an appointment with the local vet and she is off to the vet tomorrow to be tutored. Her 'new' owner is very happy about this.
In the meantime some little skinny bedraggled waif appears on my doorstep. He hangs about day and night sleeping under my truck and on my step. This one is starving and I so I feed him instead. I call this one Raoul. Raoul adopts me immediately of course but I am not sure if he belongs to anyone. Then on the night of the earthquake, I speak to a family across the street. I ask the boy if he knows whose dog this is. He informs me it WAS his. WAS his if you can believe it! I tell him that you can't do that to a dog, you can't just put him out on the street and not feed him. I ask him how he would like it if someone put him out on to the street and didn't give him any food. I ask him if I leave some food with him if he will feed the dog, he assures me that he will.
In the meantime I discover through inquiring to another neighbor (all in Spanish I might add) that he is one of Sophie's pups. So I give the little gaffer a bath and put some medicine on him to kill fleas and lice. His fur is sparse from scratching all the time. The vet is coming to have a look at him incase he has some other skin problem that needs treating and I will have him wormed.
Now Sophie's 'new' owner is going to feed Raoul for me so that Raoul will stay on my doorstep and guard my house when I am away. I am hoping that if we get a gardener up in Sortova that we can keep Raoul, otherwise I will try to find him a real home.
What I find most interesting is that these dogs need so little compared to our dogs. Raoul never strays more than 2 houses from the house. He follows me everywhere without a leash and I don't have to worry about him getting lost and not coming back. He is here 24/7 guarding the house and raises the alarm bells if anyone strays by. I have only had to quiet him in the night once in 2 weeks. If I go to the store he just waits outside for me. He knows instinctively to stay out of the way of vehicles. I've concluded that our animals are like our kids, pampered.
This time when we got here there was a mutt hanging around the house, a female who appeared to be nursing pups. I felt sorry for her and was feeding her my leftovers. She hung about on my doorstep and I named her Sophie. Not knowing who owned her I then decided that I was going to have her spayed so that she would not get pregnant again. I booked her into a clinic in Boquete that is run by volunteers and charges only $15. Well it turns out that she belongs to a guy about 3 houses in from the corner across the street from me. She had been very thin and the neighbor took pity on her and was feeding her. He liked her because she is a good watch dog. Not only has he been feeding her, I find he has now taken her into his home so she has even changed residences.
Suddenly the night before the spay clinic they were forced to cancel it due to severe flooding in Boquete. Alas, now Sophie AKA Wendy is in heat again so I made an appointment with the local vet and she is off to the vet tomorrow to be tutored. Her 'new' owner is very happy about this.
In the meantime some little skinny bedraggled waif appears on my doorstep. He hangs about day and night sleeping under my truck and on my step. This one is starving and I so I feed him instead. I call this one Raoul. Raoul adopts me immediately of course but I am not sure if he belongs to anyone. Then on the night of the earthquake, I speak to a family across the street. I ask the boy if he knows whose dog this is. He informs me it WAS his. WAS his if you can believe it! I tell him that you can't do that to a dog, you can't just put him out on the street and not feed him. I ask him how he would like it if someone put him out on to the street and didn't give him any food. I ask him if I leave some food with him if he will feed the dog, he assures me that he will.
In the meantime I discover through inquiring to another neighbor (all in Spanish I might add) that he is one of Sophie's pups. So I give the little gaffer a bath and put some medicine on him to kill fleas and lice. His fur is sparse from scratching all the time. The vet is coming to have a look at him incase he has some other skin problem that needs treating and I will have him wormed.
Now Sophie's 'new' owner is going to feed Raoul for me so that Raoul will stay on my doorstep and guard my house when I am away. I am hoping that if we get a gardener up in Sortova that we can keep Raoul, otherwise I will try to find him a real home.
What I find most interesting is that these dogs need so little compared to our dogs. Raoul never strays more than 2 houses from the house. He follows me everywhere without a leash and I don't have to worry about him getting lost and not coming back. He is here 24/7 guarding the house and raises the alarm bells if anyone strays by. I have only had to quiet him in the night once in 2 weeks. If I go to the store he just waits outside for me. He knows instinctively to stay out of the way of vehicles. I've concluded that our animals are like our kids, pampered.
No comments:
Post a Comment