It’s a girl! – Puppy Update

Our temporarily adopted dog is coming along slowly but surely. She might steal our hearts yet. Her safety circle has been reduced to about three feet instead of twenty. She follows Bill around the property and has been all the way out to the end of the middle ridge with him, which is an amazing accomplishment for a dog whose legs are only six inches long. Other puppy-like behavior that she’s developed is that she occasionally carries away my slippers. We figure she’s not going to get much bigger. She is probably a toy Doberman mix.

She wants to be around us, but only on her own terms. She will sleep next to us in her box on the patio, yet she will not come to us of her own accord even with an encouraging, "Here girl!" On occasion, she will let us pet her, but she gets this tortured look on her face and runs away afterwards.

The electrician working on the cabins came up with a great name for the dog. Of course, there’s a story behind it.

Bill decided that the pooch needed a bath, so we prepared her tub - hose water in a wheel barrel with a little dish soap. Bill grabbed the unsuspecting dog while she was in her bed to carry her to the bath. Jorge, the electrician, was watching and laughing as the terrified dog proceeds to squeal like a pig and pee then poop all over Bill and the patio. As Jorge is witnessing the crazy gringos trying to help this dog that clearly doesn’t want to be helped, he yells out, "It’s a squirt!" We’ve been calling the dog Squirt ever since then. We both have to admit it is an apt name.

Isn't she cute? The Rescue Squirt Fund is accepting donations. Better yet, Squirt needs a home.

We’ve wanted to take Squirt to the vet to get her checked out and cleaned up for days now, but we haven’t had a car for a week! This is sometimes the most frustrating place. The barriers to getting things done around here are truly amazing. I’m beginning to think that the trick is to have no expectations of accomplishing anything. Then when you get something done, you’ll feel you’ve accomplished a small miracle.