Dog-in-the-woods update

I asked a question yesterday, and I meant it as a question: why do people do this?

I think we’re getting closer to an answer.

We heard the dog barking again today on our walk. We had food and water. As we got close to the brushy area of the dog, I veered off, hoping — ridiculously — the the six dogs of our entourage might follow. Of course they didn’t, so I went to see what Syd had found.

The dog had been moved. Chained to a different tree, 15-20 meters away.

The big bowl was there, again overturned. Syd rinsed it out and filled it with water, and left a “disposable” (I know…) plastic container with food. The dog barked the whole time. Our dogs were not really a problem. But look at this picture:

dog-update

Note that I can’t get close enough to get an image of the dog (close in to center, white paws at 1 o’clock), nor Syd, nor Jordan (black dog). In other words, the dog — in addition to being moved — is more hidden.

Of course, the dog totally betrays his position by barking, but he also barks defensively the whole time Syd provides food and water.

So, what to make of this? Mariana the Vet informs that this looks like a temporary arrangement. Family visiting for Easter (sorry, the secular Semana de Turimso — Tourism Week), building a fence, construction, whatever: needing a dog out of the immediate space for a limited amount of time. Not wonderful, but not bad. Not cared for as you or I might like, but not left to die.

Of course, time will tell. But, as I said yesterday, I am not in a rush to judgment. Hopefully, it’s all a non-event: some people parked their dog in the woods — horrible as you might think that — because they needed the dog to not be in their space for a bit.

Ya veremos. With time we will see.

And we will be watching.

Irónico

delivery

You don’t need much knowledge of the Spanish language* to recognize that “delivery” is not part of it.

And you can easily understand the value of a word like parking in place of estacionamiento. But in this case, the English word — with four syllables — is actually, and unusually, shorter than its Spanish equivalent: entrega.

Go figure.

*Castilian, or castellano. There are eight other languages spoken in Spain.

Not what it looks like

Honest, they were playing! But boy do they look scary.

In the end, it was a draw.

Count the dogs

dogs-tree

The Spinky-Faced Oriental Sandhound and I have walked a few times now with Syd and his five dogs on his private 197-acre reserve. Well, OK, it’s not actually his private reserve, but hey. Nobody else seems to particularly own it.

At this rest stop, one — Jordie, the alpha male — had temporarily abandoned his haram, searching, no doubt, for rabbits.

Leaving five dogs, pictured. Turns out the Spinky-face has found a kindred soul (Kiya, foreground).

New Year’s Eve

A little late getting this posted. As usual, cacophony at midnight. The cat hid behind the couch; the puppy curled up under an end table.

Update: basureros

Not sure what inspired them to get to work again, but they have.

beach-trash-1
Beach nice and clean again, even a liner in the “trash can.”
beach-trash-2
The street not as much, but still a major improvement. If there were any full-time residents living near this one, someone like me might take a shovel and finish the cleanup.

Mango blossom

Mango blossom in Uruguay

No, Uruguay is not tropical and mangoes don’t really grow here. Unless they do. We’ll see.

Unauthorized excavation

We returned from an afternoon in Punta del Este to find a new pile of sand (which, here, starts at a depth of 5 cm). I added the concrete top later to halt further work until proper permits were obtained.

The hole was surprisingly large, and the proud culprit was quick to demonstrate it. I thought he would start digging more. Instead, he disappeared underground before re-emerging.