An American (Dog) in Rivas

She didn't seem to sure about it at first, the whole leaving mom thing, coming to a place with strange (not dirt or concrete) floors, the undignified bathing, getting shots and taking medicine. The eating part was good from the start, except for the hard food, but she got really good at picking around that for the real meat, rice and beans.

Clockwise from upper left: that's milk, not foam from rabies on her chin; most of my photos end up like this, a really close close-up of an excited and curious Amelia; Amelia with worry wrinkles on her forehead; Amelia sleeping peacefully with her head under the bed.

But, once the fleas and worms were taken care of, the other dogs in the neighborhood stopped picking on her and she got used to sleeping under my desk at work, things got pretty good. She got a new name, Amelia, gained a few pounds, grew a few inches and learned how to sit on command, not too bad for having arrived just two weeks ago!

A trip to the beach!

Even though I try not to, I definitely treat her like an American dog, like a pet. I play with her and hold her in my lap (she's small enough for a little while longer). Originally I was thinking I would train her to sound a little bell to indicate she needed to go to the bathroom outside, but I can just imagine her fretting the day I leave and she's left without a bell and she won't know how to go to the bathroom! Ok, that's a little extreme, but while I'd like to teach her not to bite or bark, I'm not even sure I'll do that because I'm worried that will make her unprepared for normal Nicaraguan life when I leave.


In the meantime, she's happy, healthy and has no idea how good she's got it!