dogs

This is Rocky.  Last April, Chad, Trevor and Garren actually went down to the market and bought him.  We thought it might be fun to have a dog.  Soon after, we realized that we are not dog people and most certainly NOT puppy people.

  

Rocky was full of energy and never figured out that we wanted him to do his business outside.

We gave him to a family that Garren and Geremias knew and breathed a huge sigh of relief.  We loved NOT having a dog again.

About 10 months later, Trevor called and said that he had a little puppy that needed a home for a week.  She was going to be a sacrifice (a common cultural practice) for someone who had broken her hip.  The belief is that the black dog will absorb the pain/illness and then be sacrificed to cure the injured/sick.  The hurt women asked Trevor to save the dog because her mother had given it to her and she did not want to sacrifice it.  Seriously- what choice did he have?!  He brought her home.  She was tiny, skinny and sick. She was calm and super submissive.  After a week, we decided that she could stayed.  There was no other place for her to go.  We did some things differently and gave "being a dog family" an honest try.

However, it has been confirmed again that we.are.not a dog family.

We are leaving in July, so even when we kept her in February, we knew we would have to find a home for her before we left.  She grew a lot.  She peed the instant anyone looked at her, and like any puppy, she needed a lot of attention and time, which no one here had to give.  

Yesterday, Chad asked the lady he was buying chicken from if she wanted a dog.  She got really excited and said yes!  So, we brought Jesi down for her to see.  She asked if we could drop her off in the afternoon and that she was going to take Jesi to her house in the country where she could run around and play outside.  That sounded good to us.  Being a country dog seems much better than being a city dog-especially in Peru!  Before Chad and Ella took her down, we tried to get some pictures.

           

 

This is the only way we could get her to hold still.

Ella wrote a note and went with Chad to drop Jesi off.  It ended up being a bit traumatic, because Jesi pulled at the leash and cried and barked when they left.  However, Ella is okay with knowing that Jesi is living in the country, and understands that we could not take her with us when we leave in July.

The note says, "I love Jesi, but it is your turn to have her.  Bye."  I told her Jesi would probably be chasing sheep and butterflies in the country- so that is what she drew!

                              

Even though we are not a dog family, it is a bit un-nerving to give a dog away and it was hard to see Ella and Thomas sad, even though it seemed like Jesi bothered them more than anything!

The lady said her farm is in a nearby community called Capachica.  

This is a picture taken in Capachica.  I like to imagine this is where Jesi is-

AND we will try very hard to never have a dog again . . .