Dog Love

As many of you know, I have been volunteering every week at the soi dog shelter since we arrived in Phuket in April. It has been a really great experience and I continue to enjoy going out each week to walk and hang out with all these lovely dogs.

What you might not have known, is that we have been thinking about adopting one of the little guys for some time now! It is impossible to see them every week without falling in love.

After much deliberation (it is pretty hard to choose from almost 200 dogs) we have decided on this one!

 He is medium-sized and has nice thick fur, perfect for coming home with us in October when Canada starts to get cold! It might be a bit of a change for him, but I think he'll really enjoy the cooler temperatures (most of the dogs here don't look like they enjoy the heat too much)!

 He is a really sweet calm boy. When the other dogs are climbing all over you to get their turn to be petted or walked, he will wait on the sidelines until there's a space and then snuggle in to have you all to himself.

 We can't wait for everyone to meet him!!!

We haven't decided on a name yet. He has a name here at the shelter but the dogs don't really know their names and we don't really like it... I am still processing the fact that we are actually going to be bringing this little guy home with us in just a little while! Sooooo excited!

Soi Dog Love

Soi dogs are street dogs here in Thailand. The smaller streets that branch of the bigger roads are called "sois" hence the name given to the dogs.

Although Thailand is full of dogs, they don't usually look like the kind of dogs you want to pet. Coming from a dog-filled home and being a dog-lover, I have been really feeling the lack of dog-love in my life. I found out about a great organization called the Soi Dog Foundation here in Phuket, and I have been volunteering with them on one of my days off each week; walking, scratching bellies and just spending time with the dogs. Here are some photos of the little critters, so that you guys can share this warm fuzzy feeling!

PS Like most charitable organizations, the Soi Dog Foundation is in need of donations. If you have been looking for a charity that needs your help, consider donating to these sweet dogs.

Tourists in Chiang Mai

From Bang Saen we flew to northern Thailand, the city of Chiang Mai. This is a beautiful city with a charming old-town surrounded by the ruins of the 100s-of-years-old ancient city walls. We splashed out a bit and stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast in the heart of the old town, close enough to all the action but peaceful and comfortable for sleeping (it even had hot showers!). This time we decided to really get into the tourist spirit and try to do as much sight-seeing as possible over our short visit.

In Chiang Mai we got to visit some beautiful temples, our favourite of which was Wat Chedi Luang (right next to our B&B). It had beautiful dragons and elephants and was the temporary home for a whole crew of young novices who were staying at the temple. It is customary for Thai men to don the robes for at least a short period in their lives, and for these kids it appeared that it was some kind of summer-camp.

From the temples in the city, we headed up into the mountains for another temple and a hike through the jungle. On our hike we were followed by an adorable puppy (for the whole 3 hours!) and by the end I think everybody wished we could have taken him home with us.

We also enjoyed lots of yummy nothern Thai food, walks about the city, checking out the botanical gardens and touring around the markets (lots of neat souvenirs for people back home). We even got the chance to go on a lovely river cruise, a perfect way to relax after a long day of sight-seeing.

Cold Snap Hits Thailand

Yes, for all our Canadian friends this must seem like a real oxymoron... but it is true! There is currently a big weather system in the South of Thailand (causing the worst rains in memory apparently) that is hitting our region with some unprecedented cold temperatures. At this time of the year we should be into the hot season, and the temperature should be around 40C fairly often... instead it has been hovering right around 20C!

In their kind Buddhist way, the Thais have sought to alleviate the suffering of some of those less fortunate around us... namely the soi dogs. Somebody (or possibly a group of somebodies) has been putting shirts on the soi dogs.

This little fellow is just one example of the several dogs that we have recently seen sporting shirts... We are pretty sure that it is due to the recent "cold" temperatures. We like his rugby style with the striped shirt and mohawk, so he has now become "Rugby Dog".

It was one of those, "yup, I'm in Thailand" days...

I was sitting in the office, getting ready for KG this morning when one of the staff members came in with a puppy. Apparently it is one of the litter across the street who was nearly hit by a car. She was worried about it so decided to bring it over to the office where she plonked it on my lap saying she was off to get it something to eat.

Only in Thailand does someone put a stray puppy on your lap at work. Here is a picture of me at my desk with said puppy! Cutest inconvenience ever...

Parade of Soi Dogs

It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Live, coming to you straight from Thailand... the parade of soi dogs!

In case you aren't up on your backpacker slang, a soi dog is a street dog here in Thailand. The small streets branching off of larger main roads here are called sois, hence where the soi dogs got their name. These animals can be found sleeping on the freeway, cuddled up under a table in the school courtyard, hanging out behind restaurants and practically anywhere there are people (and therefore food). Some are friendly, some are not but overall they are a great source of amusement for us here in Thailand. We have nicknamed many of the soi dogs that we see regularly, and here they are for your viewing pleasure.

 This is Goiter Dog, so named because he has an unfortunate tumor on his right hind foot. In this picture it looks a bit like an oversized toe.

This is one of the many dogs that we call "Ugly Dog". We distinguish them by their colour and how much hair they have left... so for instance if we were to talk about this dog we might call her "ugly black dog with a little bit of hair on her back".

 One of the dogs in the monks' posse. We don't see this guy too often but took his picture because he looked healthy.

 Fat Dawg. This dog lives near a bunch of restaurants and is clearly the recipient of ALL the scraps...

 Sad Dog. This dog has droopy eyes, giving him a sad appearance.

Sleepy Dog. We ALWAYS see this dog lying down or sleeping, except on very rare occasions.

Puppies at the elementary school! This litter has been running around for the last couple of weeks. I am told that their mother is very fierce but the kids seem quite taken with them and bring them their lunch scraps daily.

 Soi dogs in a rare moment of play... They often choose their moment during the national anthem in the morning.

 Swim Dog. One of the healthier dogs at school, she is named swim dog because we always see her wet, after she has been swimming.

Tongue Dog. We think maybe this little fellow had a stroke, or the dog equivalent... One side of his face looks a little droopy and he can't put his tongue in all the way. He is one of our favourites!

Sneak Dog. This dog got her name because she is always sneaking into the area where the elementary school kids have lunch, trying to clean up scraps of food dropped by careless kindergarteners.

We really miss pet dogs back home, but at least all of these characters are good for a laugh!!!