A Tale of Tails

One of the things that was talked about during the recent Blogger Blowout was the dog washing that goes on in Playa del Carmen. Heather was telling us about this great couple, Andy and Jen, who run a dog shelter called Peanut Dog Shelter. (I forgot to write it down. Heather, correct me if that is wrong!) Every Saturday afternoon they open up their home, where the dogs are housed for now, to any volunteer who wants to stop by to help. I thought it sounded like fun, a good cause and a great way to interact with dogs and puppies (forget the people!) without actually having the responsibility of ownership. And a fun weekend away from the island. Which I desperately needed! So Saturday morning I packed a bag, grabbed the car ferry to the mainland and headed down to meet Heather in Playa. I'll tell you about where I stayed tomorrow.



I found my lodgings just fine, thanks to Heather's excellent directions and gave her a call. Within two minutes she was at my car. We threw my stuff in the room and headed out for the dog shelter. Here's Heather posing in front of the gates.

Right next door is this vacant lot that has been made available for the shelter. They are actively seeking donations in order to build proper kennels and exercise facilities for the cute doggies while they are waiting for new homes. As you can see, it is going to take a lot of work and a lot of money to make sure these animals have a proper place to stay.

Look at the dog food they go through! Heather and I added the yellow bag to the pile. And believe me Folks, dog food is NOT a cheap item down here.



When we arrived, the dogs were already loose in the well-enclosed yard. They were everywhere it seemed! All sizes, colors and types. They all had one thing in common though....they were sweet as sweet can be!

They have a room around in back of the house just for puppies. They are not allowed to mingle with the big dogs yet. This room is closed off by a piece of plywood on end. Too tall for them to get over, but they sure try! Notice the cutest puppy ever from last Friday's post over on the right.

Her name is Lily. She is the just the sweetest little morsel, all lovey and quiet. Notice she did not even lower herself to compete for attention. She just sat demurely to one side, waiting to picked up and cuddled. Which of course I did!



Lots of people turn out to help. These are not all residents either. A lot of them are tourists who heard about this great place via message boards and friends.

Here's little Lily getting her weekly beauty parlor treatment!

I have no pictures of me holding her (naturally!) but I think Heather might have a few. I hope she didn't catch me being all ga-ga, goo-goo. But believe me, that puppy got lots of love that afternoon!

More dogs, more washing.

It was soooooo very hard not to whisk little Lily off to my car, but I remembered my instructions when I left, "Do not bring home a puppy!" But they never told me not to bring home a dog! This one almost made it.

Her name is Betsy and I loved the terrier type coat she has going. I really don't need to say anything about these dogs' personalities. Every last one of them was a love bug.

I forget this one's name but he had the funniest tail of all. It was all twisted on the end, sort of prehensile looking. I never saw him grab anybody with it though. And man, I had to chase him around forever to get this shot. These dogs are just so happy to have people around.

Hardly any dog put up a fuss about getting a bath. I suppose some of them have been through it enough times that it is old hat. Look how resigned this one is to getting clean.

Here's Heather getting all soft and lovey with one of the washees.

Much to my amazement, this little one almost made it to my car also! I'm not generally overly fond of tiny dogs like this, but this one was amazing. She had no idea she was a small dog. She spent a lot of her time trying to put the bigger dogs in their place. I liked her spunk. Yet, when it came time to deal with a human, she just melted into this little licky butterball. Sweet.

After all the baths were done, it was time for treats! Throughout the day, and especially at treat time, I was very impressed that all of these dogs have evidently been worked with to not jump up on people. I never saw one of them jump on anybody, unless invited!

After we finished handing out treats, it was time to say goodbye. Lily was safely asleep back in the puppy pen, Betsy had found somebody's lap to sleep in and the Chihuahua was nowhere to be seen. Time to make a hasty retreat!

It was so hard to walk out of there and leave these sweet souls behind. They all deserve their own home where they can be a dog, be loved and give you back more love than you ever thought possible. For now, the time is not right for me. But when I am ready for a dog or even a puppy, I know for sure where I am going!

If you have a couple of minutes, please visit their site or even consider making a contribution. Like always, even $5 helps. Especially if enough of you do it! Thanks from me and all the dogs at Peanut Dog Shelter.