Dogs

We are once again in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It doesn't seem as crazy as it was during Loi Krathong. We arrived yesterday by 2nd class bus. About $5 dollars per person to ride an air conditioned bus with a flight attendant (I realize it was a bus) who served a box of treats and Pepsi in a cup with ice.

There was a really cute dog in the bus station when we got in. It came and stood by me and I talked in my best Lucy voice. It wagged its tail and looked happy. It then proceeded to curl up in a ball and rest beneath our bench. I bent down to let it sniff my hand and it licked me. Ty tried the same thing and it snapped at him and scared me to death. We pretty much have to have a "don't touch the dogs" rule. You know that's hard for me.

Dogs are treated differently everywhere we go. In the mountains, where there is not as much money, dogs are pretty poor looking themselves. Mangy and dirty. In the city there are actually groomed pets. We've seen quite a few fluffy poodles.

At Malee's Nature Lovers Bungalows, she had four dogs. One little one that she adopted from a German couple who were going to try and take it back to Germany, but found it was way too expensive. Its name was Genie. She had an old crotchety dog that was the alarm system, a strange looking poodle-ish dog, and another that was called Sohn, but we called it Foxy.

The day that Malee took us to the village school, we were on our way on foot, with Genie and Sohn following, when Malee came swerving up to all of us. She almost took Genie out. She was almost under the wheel when she finally stopped.

The only newspaper I've looked at here was from Bangkok. It told a story of the Chinese government's current campaign to eliminate all canine pets. There were Chinese protestors. It's unusual to protest openly in China. Those animal lovers must feel the same way I do about dogs.