Friday, September 28, 2012

Training the Gringos


With the slight lift of her lip the tan and white dog sneered at the bowl of dog food placed before her: “Is this the best you can do? Dog Food?” She flicked her tail and trotted out of the gate, turning to stare commandingly back at the white male dog. Are you coming?” He sighed, looking in dismay at a dish of half-eaten food, hoping to finish it after he had placated Her Highness.

Missy and Odd, or whatever name you know them by have been living on strip of the beach across from the Bachilleres school for most of their lives. Missy(a name we gave her due to her condescending attitude) was originally part of a five-dog pack. 


They mooched at the vacation houses that were being built in the area between what is now the Mango Café, and the Bachilleres College.  Delfino remembers spaying her before he started to use ear tattoos – so that would make her currently around ten years old.  Two or three of the other dogs in the pack were eventually adopted by Americans.  That left Missy, and her new friend who we call Odd, on the beach scavenging for their survival.

Odd is very distinctive looking.  He has one blue eye, and one brown eye.  A friend of mine suggested we name him Od-eye-see.  Due to laziness on my part the name has now been shortened to just plain Odd.  We have been told that Odd was originally owned by a man who has a pack of fighting dogs, and Odd wouldn’t fight so he was chased away from the house.  We think he is around seven years old, but that’s just a guess.



Out of necessity Missy has perfected her mooching act.  She sidles up to a new prospect, with her adorable Border-Collie-type ears perked up and the tip of her tail softly thumping: “Aren’t I the cutest thing you have ever seen in your life?”  The reaction is predictable.  Out comes the food: scraps of meat, pieces of cheese, anything a dog might eat.  If she is hungry or if the offerings are up to her standards she will eat.  Otherwise the next act in her repertoire includes ears tucked in, shoulders slumped and a very sad look in her eyes.  However, if Missy and Odd are treated to a tasty bit of leftovers - she will perform her Happy Dance, akin to a Dog Salsa. In the winter months they are pampered, for a week or two, and sometimes for a month or six weeks, by various sets of returning visitors.  The dogs have learned to recognize their favourites, quickly re-establishing the friendship until the vacation time is over once again.

As servants to two demanding cats, we had no intention of feeding beach dogs, especially after watching how many sets of vacationers fussed over them.  And then came the summer of 2009, with the Swine Flu scare, and few if any tourists on the island.  The two dogs were starving.  We couldn’t stand it and started to feed them, offering them food and fresh water twice a day. 





 

I eventually asked Patricio to build a shelter for the dogs in our carport.  That caused a lot of giggles amongst the crew.  “A dog house.  Seriously?”  We now have a nice cozy place, complete with a padded bed from Costco, for Odd and Missy to curl up on during the inclement weather.






Food.  Water.  A safe place to sleep.  Vaccinations.  Monthly flea and tick treatments.  Medications for various illnesses and injuries when required.  You would think that these two dogs would be steadfast and loyal.  No! 
They have been loved and left many times during their lives.  They have learned to adapt.  When they see an old friend they disappear in a puff of dog hair, running flat-out down the beach - greeting their long lost pals.
 
And us, well we are just their fallback plan.  Fortunately, our neighbours Ronda and Bruce have now taken on a shared responsibility for the two lovable scam artists.




We are now well-trained gringos – feeding two beach dogs as well as our two cats, a dozen or so free roaming iguanas and about two hundred hermit crabs. 



 

 

7 comments:

Rose said...

Love it!! What a touching story about the dogs. So, what do you feed the hermit crabs??

Lynda & Lawrie said...

Ah ha! Trade secret. Actually Hermit Crabs are not fussy in the least. Left over cat or dog food, bits of fruit, anything will do. I have a slight obsession with them - including providing new shells so that as they grow they can trade up to a bigger shell! Way back in my blog is an article on the Hermit Crabs.
Thank you for sharing the blog link on your FaceBook page. Cheers Lynda

Life's a Beach! said...

LOL! Too bad I can't post pics in the comments! We have photos from every Luna Turquesa stay. We actually haven't fed them in a few years, but they still come running!

Lynda & Lawrie said...

I know! They love you and Craig. If you send me pics I'll add them to the blog ... or is there a way I can allow you to post pics in my comments section? Cheers L

went coastal said...

I like the way Missy pretends she doesn't speak Spanish when I tell her to get down off a beach lounge.
Missy: "Oh, I'm a retired Gringa doggie now...and Those People said I could" (looking at guestroom outa the side of her eyes).
Or the way she tucks her tail to elicit sympathy from Those People
Missy: "Can you believe she used that tone with Me?"
And it cracked me up this summer when she was sleeping under her favorite lounger..... At 2am a mama turtle digging a nest started pelting her with rocks and sand, and she simply got up and plopped back down to sleep a couple meters over, outa range, without a sound, except a slight sigh as she shut her eyes.

Lynda & Lawrie said...

Good Morning Neighbour. At least two of us understand how she operates! Sly little devil.

Anonymous said...

I just posted some pics of Missy and Odd from our visit in August when we were at Luna Turquesa on facebook. I am glad they had shelter during Ernesto. I was concerned for them. We didn't see Amy and Luis black dog (Bowser?) though.....if you facebook look me up. Deirdre Ratusnik Dannecker Missy loved to come and scratch her back in the low growies next to the pool daily!!!! She is quite the flirt!

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