Benji, eleven months old and virtually full-grown at 22 kg* (48.4 pounds) met a new playmate today, Birch, a 53 kg (116.6 pounds) St. Bernard. Birch is all of six months old.
It was only a matter of time….
* He eventually reached 32 kg.
Tag: dogs
Count the dogs
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).
OBTW, did I mention —
— that we have a puppy?
Nah wureez, it’s from a closed account, which is why I threw the card in the trash can whole.
The “dog” project morphs
Fourteen volunteers showed up yesterday to continue the “dog” cleanup project. Uruguayan, Canadian, American, South African, and Cuban. Sweating profusely, we filled two volquetes to overflowing, including
- five refrigerators
- three televisions
- one stove
We did “meet” the dogs. Apparently the all-but-immobile husband, closed in the house with the dogs on a hot day, decided he’d had enough. He had already insisted that no one touch a pile of old tires (even though there is no vehicle even close to functioning — the volquete driver will remove the four rusty hulks at no cost, presumably for their scrap value). Husband opened the door. Dogs poured out, barking, making a couple of people understandably nervous. The vet Mariana and I fanned out and helped drive them back inside. They were no problem; obviously loved.
It appeared there were about 25 dogs, not 44. And it seems that ASH (Animales sin Hogar, Animals without Homes), the private animal rescue agency, announced some time ago that they had received 50 or so dogs from an individual. So our speculation is that somehow someone rescued them from Telma, who OBTW is now Marlena (?).
We disassembled the roof that had blown off, and consolidated sheet metal, so the lot is somewhat organized and the dogs have more usable ground. Next phase would be construction, but the person in charge of that is sidelined with a sinus infection.
Meanwhile, the lot-clearing and construction project mission-creeps into a open-ended social work project for low-functioning hoarders. For which others are better suited than I.
Volunteering
Our Canadian neighbors, who put on a wonderful Christmas day get-together, also use the occasion to collect dog food for an impoverished woman in Montevideo who has 44 dogs. Sound like a lot? Last year it was 77.
Delivering the donated food — 260 kilos of it — they were appalled by what they saw. So they organized. Friday morning we arrived, I and another guy with our weed-eaters with brush blades, others with clippers, all with work gloves and most with Wellies. In a few hours, we had changed the overgrown property dramatically.
Tomorrow, we go to fill a dumpster (volquete; I did boring posts about them here and here) with various trashed appliances, and to continue clearing a path for one of four abandoned vehicles to be dragged away. I will use a “found” concrete column to straighten the leaning fence in front.
Next: repair the roof that blew off because the beams had been eaten by termites, make the house a little livable, install a fence to segregate dogs. At present, when we arrive, she has to put them inside. And what does inside look like?
Glad you asked.
Some money is needed for materials. Though no organized appeal has been made, one person (also referenced in one of the boring volquete posts) has made a very generous donation.
Telma expressed her gratitude for our effort: I feel that I’m cared for; that I’m not alone.
Finding volunteer opportunities in Uruguay can be a challenge (everything, it seems, is covered by a low-paid government job), so I’m grateful to our neighbors for organizing this.
Our estimate for repairs is US$ 3,500.
¡Adelante!
Dog mathematics
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.
The message seemed to be, See, human? This is how you get out of the heat.
And when you hunker down, no one can see you. Understand now, human?
No comment.
Well, other than to let you guess whose iPad that is, and who normally sits there….
Dog walking on beach as contact sport
Suffice to say, I was thrilled every time he got distracted by his big sister for a moment or two and stopped trying to climb up my legs.
Ah, puppies….
New addition to the family
If you’ve ever tried to take a picture of a puppy, you’ll understand this photo viscerally.
No image manipulation involved. We seem to have settled on his name as “Benji,” which was the name of the beautiful but personality-challenged dog we rescued (with permission) from our troglodyte property-squatting neighbors.
Suggestion inspired by our Uruguayan-American friend Isabel, who recalled that I once said all dogs in Uruguay were named Benny, because when owners call them they say ¡vení! (come!), which seems to be a Rioplatense Spanish conjugation. (If you can clarify, please do!)