In Memory of Bingo Cowpie Name-o, 2008-2009

You can't help but notice that this term has, outide of our school life, been dominated by the joys, triumphs and tragedies of our dogs. It was only 2 weeks ago that we were amazingly stating, "Do you realize we have 8 dogs!" And now with Diablo, the last of our puppies, gone, we are sadly down to one.

And with that we relate with sadness how a vibrant, bad-ass and precocious young dog met his end. Even now, it seems unbelievable that he will no longer chase cars while I run, no longer bring his smelly head against our laps. I sometimes still think I hear his bark at night but I know it is just one of his dog-relatives. Poor Bingo who was jealous of the pups, fell ill for unknown reasons and stopped eating. Then, 2 days later he simply disappeared....off to meet his end in some quiet cow pasture. We will miss him but know that he lived life to the fullest and had a short but happy life. We're told by our neighbours that he's probably been eaten by some family (yes, they do eat dogs here, when they're bad and misbehave), but hopefully either way he had a gentle end.

The puppies brought us more and more joys as they grew and in the end caused lots of trouble once they got control of their teeth, legs and bark. Most of the village wanted one because (get this) we fed them so they were fat & healthy! In the end one mysteriously went "missing" one afternoon and for days, Chris & I scaled the school fence (we're locked in at night) in search of a yelping puppy--we even found one, but it wasn't ours! The other 5 puppies went to teachers and a volunteer and we believe they will be well cared for. Of course, there's no denying that a few tears weren't shed as I watched OUR puppies be taken away, one by one. But in a country which doesn't "love" dogs like us North Americans, I think we did our best at giving them good homes.

So we are left with Percy--who continues to be a delightful and unusual dog. 2 weeks ago we paid the big bucks and she went under the knife. We enjoyed having puppies but we don't want it to happen again. And now we know that she can live a better and healthier life, in case her future owners are not so generous with the food. Spaying her also astounded people here and she's probably the only spayed dog this village has ever seen. If only they could understand that it is cheaper in the long term. But of course, it's only cheaper if you actually feed your dogs...
So ends our winter term of dogs.