OUR ECUADORIAN SALCHICHA

While we were in the states this last month attending our daughters wedding, our friend Manon, received a call.

"Manon, we rescued a black dachschund, and was wondering if you would like to give him a home"? Manon already has two mini long haired doxies, so she thought her house was full up, but knew I was pining for one.. Hold that dog, she said. My friends will be back from the states and I am sure they will want to consider him.

The culture in this country is very different from ours where dogs are concerned. There are many dogs wandering the streets, some are mangy and skinny, others look well fed. We found out that alot of dog owners let their dogs loose during the day.

All the houses here have gated yards with fences, and it is very normal to find that as you walk by some of these houses, a dog will charge and attack the fence like he is going eat you if could get through. At first this scared us and concerned us, but now it seems "normal".

There are a few organizations here that try to make a difference in the street dogs life. One, ARCA takes dogs in and trys to find homes for them. Happy Dogs, trys to vaccinate and neuter as many as they financially are able.

The custom here is to not neuter any pets. So going against this tradition is sometimes a very long road.

One friend said her vet just tied her females tubes.. She ended up going to another vet to get the hysterectomy that she asked for in the beginning.

So now to our little guy Frankie. We came home from the US on a Thursday and on Friday afternoon we went to visit him. I had told Randy whether we wanted him or not he was not coming home with us... today was just a look see.

From the minute I walked in I was a gonner. I have always had a dachschund, and to see this cute, black and tan guy wagging his tail was quite heart melting.

On Halloween day, Ken had been walking his dogs along the Yanuncay river, when his dogs ran up to a bag sitting on the grass. As he called his dogs back he noticed the bag wiggling.. Ken returned home and got Judy and they opened the sack. Frankie popped his head out, hopped out of the sack, walked over and peed on a tree and then came back to them. Judy says poor Frankie was a rack of bones, and so starved that he had no hair on his ears. They looked like black elephant skin.

Ken and Judy took him in and named him Franken Weenie (being halloween and all it seemed appropriate.) They fed him wonderful food, and had some immediate issues taken care of.. His teeth and had him neutered. Looking at him here, 3 months later, you would never know he had once almost been at the brink of death.

Bringing a dog into our home was a very big decision because Randy has allergies to both dogs and cats. He, being the sweet guy he is, wanted me to have a dog and was going to "deal" with any allergic issues. Amazingly enough those have been very minor. The greatest one was that Frankie cannot sleep with us.. way too much for Randys system.

Here is Frankie settling in..

Today, Valentines day, we took Frankie to the Vet around the corner. We wanted to get his teeth looked at and get his vaccinations up to date. As the Vet looked at Frankie, he inspected his ear (the one that has a hunk out of it) and asked me where he was found. I told him and then the Doctor sat down and began to write on his computer. He asked me to read.

Amazingly enough, he knew this dog. This little guy was his brother in laws dog. The brother in law moved and could not keep him any more so had given him away. Frankies first name was Brat. He is 8-10 yrs old and the chunk out of his ear was from a rat (?)

Dr. Juan was so happy that he had been rescued and was being well cared for. He said he would tell him family, as they all loved "Brat" and always wondered how he was. He  then took a bunch of pictures to send to his brother in law and family.

Frankie got all his shots and a new harness type collar. As he knows how to slip out of the other ones. Here is  Randy and Frankie having a little nap, recouping from the tramatic day at the vets.