(Post 74 of 233. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)
I had no idea when I adopted Bonita two and a half years ago that we had come into each other’s life at the exact perfect moment. I needed a presence to keep me company and rooted in Mérida for a few years; she needed a home and creature comforts in her old age. It’s crazy how I had just started to get the travel bug again and was trying to sort out dogsitters when the pandemic hit. As things stand, I suspect I’ll be staying close to home for the rest of her life, which is what my anxious girl needs. We’ve grown so close since lockdown started, finding each other in a way that we had difficulty doing so in our first two years together. My being home all day every single day really gave her the routine and security she needs. She’ll always be an anxious dog wary of strangers but she knows for sure now that I’m her human and that she has a home, of which she is fiercely protective (it took a long time for her to find her voice, but now she’s not shy about using it!).
I don’t know how she knows it, but I’m no sooner up and about in my room upstairs in the mornings that I hear her barking up at my bedroom window. She’s had a night alone and is eager to see me. Our reunion is the best part of the day, when she is most playful and affectionate. If it rained overnight and she got wet and/or muddy, she gets a bath or at least a toweling down, the latter of which she adores.
Ours is a quiet, simple routine. She’s an old girl now (going on 15!) and while she often passes as much younger to those who have just met her, she has the energy of an old dog. By late morning, she’s happy to slumber at my feet or by my side on the couch, depending on what I’m working on. She likes one meal a day, and preferably at the same time as me. She’s developed a taste for cheese, homemade chicken broth, pork gristle, and cooked carrots, but will literally spit out fruit. Her favourite treats are jerky sticks that she can happily spend an hour chewing to pieces. Due to her immune system being weak and there being a lot of feral dogs in the neighbourhood, we don’t often venture out, but when we do, she knows we’re going to her Uncle Jan’s house, something we started doing again a few months ago. She loves going there and feels safe.
Here are some pictures from her lockdown so far, uploaded as WordPress decided they would be, so not in chronological order.
This was today. It was a cold wet day and it was funny to see her timidly head outside to pee and then race back to the warm cosy couch by me!
Cheeky grin!
She doesn’t snuggle a lot, so close contact like this makes my heart go boom.
We had some roof work done over the summer. Her sad expression at her view being blocked is pretty funny. She loves supervising workers!
She will sometimes extend her rear paw like that as an invitation to massage it.
Post bath. She loves snuggling up in a towel!
Snoring and farting. LOL!
Very rare snuggles!
The look of love!
Guard dog mode activated! This was HILARIOUS. My neighbour was working on his roof. She’d periodically run outside to our shared wall and bark up at him to stay on his side of it!
Happy to be visiting!
She’s shyer with Jan at home, but friendly at his house.
She even lets him pet her when she’s visiting.
She was snuffling and “running” in her sleep. I feel privileged that she trusts me enough to fall asleep so profoundly in my presence.
This is her leash for around the house, so I probably had workers. She was happy for a distraction.
When she stares at me like this, she slow blinks a message of “I love you” just like a cat does.
Enjoying her favourite treat! Her teeth had been bothering her for a bit, but it got sorted out.
I was shocked when sharing a picture of her with my professional association resulted in this post by another related professional association that follows their Twitter!
B and Dodger. Because she lived with so many cats and dogs, Bonita isn’t particularly bothered by animal strangers.
Sound asleep!
She’s just so cute. 🙂
These are different, chewier, treats. This one took her DAYS to finish.
She’s so goofy sometimes. Doesn’t she look like a walrus here?
I managed to get a picture of a rare time that she slipped her paw under my hand. She even curls it around to hold it.
Ah, another ritual. When dinner’s done and the kitchen is cleaned and I’ve shut down the office for the night and I’ve finally sat on the couch to watch a little TV, she has to give me a bath. I swear she’s a cat in disguise!
More rare snuggles
How can you not feel seen by such a stare?
Thank goodness she’s not a slobbery dog!
She LOVES ear scritches.
Awww.
I think he found the right spot!
This was during the heavy rain from Hurricane Zeta. Doesn’t look too bothered, does she?
I had a hard time imagining myself with a dog-friendly lifestyle and I can’t imagine it happening again. This was the right dog at the right time and I am so blessed to have her.
Lovely photos of Bonita! Thank you for adopting a senior dog. Just wondering why she is not inside with you at night? That makes me sad!
You are the second person to ask me that and I wonder if people just read the blog to make negative comments. It’s always negative, oh, that makes me sad, oh, she should be sleeping with you. There is zero thought that, oh, she was adopted as a senior who never had a home before. Maybe she’s not comfortable indoors. Good on Rae for not forcing her to adapt to sleeping inside, causing her more trauma, and instead making her comfortable outdoors!
I am so done with blogging. It used to be such a great outlet, but for years now, it’s just been something for people to pick apart and find fault with. That might be a good stress outlet for readers but it sure isn’t for the writer. I’m going to get through the rest of these sponsored posts and then I am done-done. Just so done.
Wow, I am so sorry my comment was taken as a criticism. That was not my intention. Please accept my apologies. I enjoy reading about your life in Mexico.
Thank you. I understand that you were coming from a place of being concerned for my dog, but I am tired of always being the one who has to step back and say, oh, this person is coming from a good place even if what they’re saying is critical. Why is it that I’m always the one that has to do that? Why can’t somebody else to take two seconds to analyze something and think, oh, I don’t need to ask this because the answer is that it is in the best interest of the dog?
‘Ain’t no body’s business but your own”.
Why is is now socially acceptable to be so judgemental and critical?”😤
I was brought up to be kind, thoughtful and keep my “opinions” to myself.
NOBODY is interested in your “opinions”!
“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin” at all”
Thumper in “Bambi
Best advice ever about being a kind person.
These people haven’t lived in your shoes and are not entitled to give their “opinions”. Totally ignorant about the situation.
Block them!
Maybe you can tell I don’t think much of “opinions ” given as “judgements’” or “facts”.
Thank you, Shirley. It’s really easy to ignore the one-off trolls. But when it’s people that have been following you for a decade who still think that you are this awful person when you know you’re not, it’s a lot harder. Why am I allowing these people into my life if they think that I’m such a horrible person and they make me feel terrible for no reason? They are clearly getting more out of it than I am!
What a lovely post on Bonita. Loved seeing all these photos in one spot. Miss B has endured so many positive changes since coming into your life. Enjoy every remaining moment that you have with her.
Thank you! I am so blessed to have her. Her last checkup had her in perfect health, so I’m hoping we have lots of time left!
The ones of her smiling will always be my favourites, but I have to admit I love the one in her towel!
Thank you for sharing so many with us.
She has a little blanket in her bed, and when it’s been a particularly chilly night, I sometimes catch her in the morning all bundled up in it! I think it makes her feel safe, in addition to being for warmth.
Great photos of Bonita. Such good company for each of you.
Thank you!
That is one lucky Dog! Thanks for all the pictures. She reminds me of Sheldon because her spot is always on the left side of the sofa.
Hee! I sit on the right side so I can watch the TV. Often she will be in my spot and I will tease her about it and make her move over. 😆
Clearly there is lots of love between both of you. I have been reading your blog since you moved to Merida. I lived there many years ago and the plan is to return long-term next summer instead of just being a winter visitor. Not only have I learned a lot about every day life from you, but I’m inspired to rescue a local dog. Cheers!
To be honest Rae I didn’t see Liz’s as comment mean or condescending in any way. Those of us who have been following you for the past few years have seen you hang up your nomad jacket with all its nicks and patches, it’s badges showing a little wear from all your adventures and escapades and gradually put down roots now that you are happier in your skin. But I’m sure we’ve all seen your facade has been slipping especially recently and as with all of us we shrug off a past life and enter a new phase gradually. Some fragments still hang around snagging on things like errant threads.
For many years I had harboured the thought of buying a hovel to rebuild and perhaps call home but I think I’m too long in the tooth now for that adventure. I moved recently out of my comfort zone to somewhere different not a planned excursion exactly. For the first time in twenty years I have a garage.
I think you have just reached the end of your tether and it’s time to say adieu.
You can finish off your blog with photos of your surroundings, favourite places to eat or have eaten pre lockdown and photos of the beach complete with low flying seagulls. I’ve been to Merida and love it’s rich heritage, enjoyed the beach at Progresso and the flamingos at Celestún so vivid. I envy you sometimes being free to just be!
Thank you, Colm, for yet another example of how I have been saying to my blog readers for the better part of going on at least five or six years now that I have problems with some of the comments that I get and being told that I’m the one who it needs to adjust her behavior. No. Maybe if I had put a foot down much more strongly in the early years when this behaviour started, I might not be here today. But here we are. It’s not just Liz’s comment. I’ve gotten comments on Facebook. And it’s not just this post. And it’s not just Liz and it’s not just you; it’s several people. I am seeing people are reading me just to be negative and to pick apart, and it’s been going on since well before I left. I feel that every post that I have do is an opportunity for folks to ambush me. The trolls are easy to ignore. But when it is comments by people that have been following me for ages and telling me that they want me to blog, but they are leaving these kinds of comments and then telling me that I’m the one with an attitude problem and that I’m not allowed to draw lines about how I want to be treated, I don’t understand the double standard.
I really miss having my blog to look back on as a record of my daily days. There’s so much going on. Maybe the solution is I just need to turn off comments.