Friday, September 14, 2007

A question of dogs

Geez. Coming back from Cancun yesterday, I gave up sitting in the air conditioned cabin downstairs and braved the hot sun and wind of the upper deck. Why? So that I could take a movie of what crossing the bay is like. So three attempts at uploading on Blogger later and I give up. I might try to post it later. We'll see. But on to the subject of today's post.

Dogs. Or, more specifically, a dog. Every single person that we have told here about our big break in last June and now the unknown visitor again Wednesday night, has had the same answer. Get a dog. House dog, yard dog, doesn't matter. Just something that will bark and alert us to somebody messing around. Or a big dog that will make people stop and think before climbing a gate or jumping a wall. I like dogs. B and I had dogs the first 23 years of our 27 years together. But I don't want just a watch dog. If I get a dog, I want a pet.

There are many street dogs and puppies here that we could adopt. Problem with that is two-fold. I would want a puppy that I can train. Second problem is that almost every dog on the island right now has some amount of pit bull blood in them. Pit bulls are very popular here. It's a scary breed to begin with and then add in how little care and training they receive and I see problems in the future. These dogs are allowed to breed whenever they come into heat and then the puppies are just left to fend for themselves once the cuteness wears off. In some cases, actually beaten if they try to stay around. Nice. But then, wouldn't a grown dog that is already "street wise" be the better option? We do live right in front of a busy road.

And what do we do with it when we travel? And what about the cats? Simon would really have his nose out of shape and I'm sure Kitten would just take off, never to be seen again. Questions, questions.

I know a lot of you ex-pats here have dogs. What do you do when you travel? Any advice would be appreciated.

4 comments:

Brenda Maas said...

Instead of a dog I would go for some type of a burgler alarm. Don't get me wrong I love dogs and until now have had dogs for pets. We don't now because I just think it would be too much hassle here. Pit bulls scare me and I wouldn't want to have one anywhere near where children might be walking by. As you say what do you do with them when you travel, it is not fair to them to be in a kennel/dog hotel for weeks at a time. Besides if you are gone and your dog is in a kennel being cared for what good is it doing for burgler control? Although a dogs bathroom habits might get rid of the grass in front of the cabana that you hate mowing so much. LOL
I think with Indepenance Day coming up and the thieves knowing that lots of people will be at the festivities you need to take some other type of precaution and quickly.
Good luck with whatever you do.
I don't think I would want to live where I had to be constantly worried about something like this.

Anonymous said...

Bad luck with the breakins. Our isla home is in a neighborhood that had been predominately mexican. We are the protectors of one particular street dog that does not allow anyone near our house at nite. When we leave the island other take care of . in re your comments about the fm3. It is a reoccuring frustration. One year it took 7 trips to cancun.

good luck

John W said...

Our home is guarded by a vicious 19-pound Boston Terrier, Rosita. I guess she's not much of a burglar deterrent, but we love her anyway.

When we travel, we have a house and dog sitter, thus killing two birds with one stone. Rosie gets love and care, and the house is occupied, discouraging the overly curious.

Anonymous said...

I live in Playa del Carmen and have 2 street dogs I've rescued. They are wonderful, lovable mixed-breeds. My friends Andy and Jen have started a wonderful pet shelter here in Playa and have about 22 dogs to choose from, most mixed street dogs but not all. Right now he has a lovely golden retriever. Andy and Jen take care of the meds/neutering/spaying and training in order to make them good pets when he finds homes for them. Check it out at www.playadelcarmenpets.com or the thread on the website I work for, www.playa.info

Good luck...btw no one would DARE break into my house with my wonderful dogs. When I go on vacation, I have a friend stay in the house while I"m gone.