Meet my visitor for the week: Tonuki (sp?). Dogsitting is an international favor, para que sepas.
Most Dominicans think she’s a he. Because “female dogs don’t serve for anything” (sounds like a bad rap song right? well, it’s actually a translation, but still appropriate). They also think this about dogs that aren’t de rasa, or purebred. They call mutts viralata - which can also be used to degrade someone. You mostly see the latter running around.
Females dogs down here are unpopular because they mean more pups which means more money for food. And it’s not like they think of them as pets, most Dominicans just keep pets around for practical purposes of security or farm help. Reproductive surgery is expensive, so it’s not really considered as a reason to keep the female dog around. They don’t want them to be a hole in their pockets. More often than not, female viralatas are abandoned.
A lot of volunteers down here end up with pets, whom they eventually take back to the states (much to the envy of every Dominican hunting down a visa).
I, however, opted out of the experience.
You know, I love pups. They’re so cute and cuddly; and they love you blindly. Plus, they have a five second short-term memory. You can get mad at them for chewing up your cholera fliers, give them little noggin-tap, and two seconds later the thing is licking your neck like you’re the best thing since kibble. If rebounding was a sport, dogs have the average human beat 10 to 1.
Love’m. Really I do.
But it’s like my friend Jean says, “Puppies were made cute because otherwise you would totally hate them.”
They are basically like a 2-year-olds who not only can’t speak your language, but also have the added bonus of no real learning curve. Think about how long it takes to potty train a kid versus a dog. Plus there’s the whole, end of the curve looming over you.
Is shreading everything in the bathroom trash the lesson it just will never be able to comprehend? or killing the neighbors chickens? or will attacking my feet when I am trying to put my pants on always be our morning activity together? is that it?
It’s like this fear that you will have this forever puppy. Like, your luck doled you the ONLY dog never to mature.
Plus, I have heard horror stories of volunteer’s losing pets during service: to an angry neighbor, to parasites, etc. I really don’t know if I could get over that here.
So, it’s on the list for things to do after Peace Corps.
