My dogS!

Here in Lesotho, dogs and cats are not pets. Dogs serve to guard the animals (sheeps, goats, cows) and houses while cats serve to keep the rats away. They are pretty good at there jobs, despite the fact their owners never feed them. I guess when rocks are being thrown at you twenty four hours a day, seven days a week you learn to be good at your job. I wish I could teach Basotho to respect their animals, but there ways are so engrained in their heads. Plus, if they treated their dogs and cats more like pets they would be killed by other animals. It's an unfortunate double edge sword. The dogs in this country fight all the time, whether it be with the neighbors dogs or each other (in the case of my four). Needless to say, on top of being scrappy the dogs and cats in this country are pretty mangled.

I am fortunate(?) to have four dogs. Spads, the mother is a baby making machine. She had nine pups in her last litter (in September), and I am pretty sure she is pregnant AGAIN. She has become my best friend and my biggest enemy. The volunteer before me was "in charge" of her so she is about as American as any dog here can be and still survive. You see, it was great having her (around the house), good for lonely walks, and cuddling, regardless of her fleas. That is where the best friend came in. Then... she started following me EVERYWHERE. For example, she is sitting right here at my feet (inside an important building) as I sit here uploading these post. She follows me into the stores and comes to school with me. The students, my co-workers, and principals think it is hysterical. There is nothing I can do. She will not stay at home! I absolutely refuse to throw rocks at her (or any dog in this country for that matter) so I have embraced it. I am the girl with the tag along dog. Despite the fact that people are laughing at me... I join in. I was embarrassed for all of five minutes, then my sense of humor kicked in. I have learned to love it. They already think I am strange because I am white and I never iron my clothes, so what does it matter I pet my dog and bring her to town?

She is my enemy because you really can't teach an old dog new tricks. If Spads wants to follow me everywhere, I can't allow to walk in the street or come into my house. As if things were not bad enough this week, imagine her getting hit by a car or infesting my house with fleas? Watching one dog get hit by a car in my life was enough. And if I failed to mention before, I already have massive spiders and gazillion flies inhabiting my house.

I am not supplementing Spad's food because my host mother is actually decent about feeding her (and she seems to be good at finding it on her own, keep reading), but she also needs to stop getting pregnant because her puppies are starving to death and are terribly behaved. Remember, all the rain and the fact that I have to "look nice" everday. The puppies love to jump all over me with their muddy paws. And finally, their hungry, I understand. The Basotho burn their trash, I understand. Fact: tin cans do not burn, puppies like to gnaw on these cans. This creates a very bloody situation. My final rule: it's not okay to lick me with blood covered mouths. The more they contribute to the laundry pile, the less love they get. If only they read my mind enough to understand there are consequences for their actions.

To make me love them a whole lot less... they ate my two cats. Yes, you read correctly. I woke up four fully fed dogs, lots of fur, and two cat heads this morning. I am not a cat person at all, but like I said the cats are really good at their job. And as the saying goes when the cats away, the rats play. I have been a witness to the truth of this statement once already in this country. Its beyond true. I had rats (the size of cats) in my community based training and it was not pleasant. I prefer them to stay away. Cats are a lot harder to find in Lesotho, and since I am an America, to me cats and dogs are pets, not something you simply replace. I had only been with those cats all of nine days before they were eaten, but a part of me was crushed when I heard what happened. Hope the icing on my cake tasted nice.

Oh T.I.A.