Rescue Dog Escapes and Opens Store

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rescue dog

Another Miracle in San Miguel.

In San Miguel, there are substantial amounts of what are referred to

Lupita Opens Estrellas

as Rescue Dogs.  It is simply a liberal word to disguise the ugly word – Slave.  Against their will, these dogs are taken from the streets and beside highways and paraded about in Shelters for Masters to “Rescue”. Lupita was once one of those Rescue Dogs.  She spent many years of captivity watching her master mismanage her life, but she was watching and learning many lessons about what Masters or Expats like and don’t like.

One day through the help of the Above Ground Bus Group, Lupita managed to escape her master.  She stayed in a halfway house for Runaway Rescue Dogs and took many courses from the DogPath Center.  Finally with backing from an Animal Rights Activist she started her own business in San Miguel.

Lupita hopes that his will lead the way for other Rescue Dogs to escape the Slavery of Petdom and learn to lead full free lives and never never having to sit on another lap again.

Lupita does thank her master for learning English because she knows that will be essential to open a business her in San Miguel.

Here she stands  outside her store on Hospicio, in one of her smart little outfits she has made in the Campo.  She has great stories to tell about her years of captivity in Atascedero.  So please make your way to Lupita’s Way.

You can always expect a snappy response.

Love For Sale Gang

Expat Line Up

What is there about a line up that attracts attention.

Is it the belief that people only line up for something good or to see something really bad?

Are lineups simply a way to avoid decision making and go with what others have already decided is worthwhile?

To me lineups are a signal to avoid something but I am alone. Today was different. I had to find out for what made a group of expats gather.

It didn’t take long to find out

Puppy Love

I should have known.

It was Love for Sale.

The SPA was selling Puppy Love and Cat Disdain.

It was Rescue Day in the Jardin.

Expats are lonely. They have left their own country and moved to another country. They have built lie up lie to make themselves more interesting and yet deep down they want to be loved.

No wonder they line up to touch a small animal. You don’t have to impress a dog and cats could care less for you. For a moment, today lonely expats felt connected and could gush to each other about this or that animal could sense in them.

Poor little dogs and cats. I wonder if they know what is about to befall them. Some needy expat is going to adopt them and focus all their love on them and parade them about as Little Rescued Souls when all the animal wants to do is sniff another dog or sleep in the sun.

Who is really being rescued here?

Hugging in San Miguel

Life is a bit of waiting game. Well only for those who are early.

She stands in the Jardin waiting for Mary.

Mary is always late.

But waiting in such a lovely place is no chore.

Soon Mary arrives.

Hugs are exchanged.

Why do people have to hug all the time?

Every person needs 2 hugs per day to be in a stable well balanced mood, feeling. We need hugs because we are “animals” which live in small groups, so called families and each animal that lives in groups do need eachothers touch, presence. It assures you of being safe and in a community. So it is just instinct…

So now the animals are happy and go off to graze

Pet Unfriendly Gang

These signs tell you something but there is a difference.

One has words because the concept does not stand alone.

Imagine the horror of seeing these signs.

There is a degree of political correctness where the No Icon can’t be used in certain circumstances.

This restaurant in San Miguel has committed the ultimate sin by posting their own version of a Pet Unfriendly sign.

What business are they going to get if you can’t bring Rosita to lunch.

Dearly Departed Pet Gang

People are going to get upset with disclosure of this gang,  because dogs hold a special place in San Miguel.

Dogs are a woman’s best friend valued often, more than a husband.

No matter how you feel about dogs, you have to give credit to those who have used their dogs after their passing so that they remain close to them.

Walking Rosie

Eileen and Rosie had a bond for 13 years. When Rosie passed to the other side, Eileen couldn’t let her go.  She knew she would miss the warmth of  Rosie snuggled beside her and that useless electric heater.

She knew she shouldn’t do it but winter can be cold in San Miguel and life without Rosie would be empty.  So she used Rosie to provide physical comfort when she was no longer there for  emotional comfort.

Rosie sits around her shoulders and that warmth on a cold winter day keeps Eileen’s cold heart warm.
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Walking Sparky

Andrew took a leaf from Nancy Sinatra’s Iconic Song These Boots are Made for Walking and let his late pet Sparky take him walking.

The tears are no doubt flowing for Andrew as Sparky, under foot again, treads the calles of San Miguel making Andrew veer towards every tree on the road.

With each step he can almost hear that little woof again

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Speaking to Dearly Departed

Diane has a new spin on an old theme. She had to wait until her 7th Chihuahua Paucito died to have enough Chihuahuas for her new winter coat.

All her babies now keep her warm and she can be heard mummering special things into her chest to her long-lost friends.

Then there is the Poodle Purse, that Afghan Afghan and Daschund Knee Brace.

Going to the Dogs Gang

There are times when the Magic of San Miguel hits you in the face or in this case the eye.

Into the Jardin today, came this little dressed creature.

It was not on its own. It was being led.

The owner is I think one of the most fascinating women in San Miguel. 

Her outfit was over the top and in such a good way.  She dressed her dog to match.  I could not take my eyes off this scene. 

There is something truly magical about someone who fully embraced magic with no pretence.

I have always been fascinated by Fellini and his movie 8 1/2.   One of may favourite stories of San Miguel is sitting by the Train Station under a blue plastic tarp on a white plastic chair eating Pork Tortas with my friend.  My friend  lives here, and said

Is this amazing?

I looked around, thought of my life in Toronto and at that moment a flat-bed truck from the Circus came around the corner with a tiger and a camel in a cage on the flat-bed.

I said

This is like a Fellini movie.

I want to live in a Fellini movie and not in some suburban, all neat and tidy life.  I love Mad Men because it shows the darkness that existed in that nice and tidy life I grew up in the 1950′s and 1960′s. 

This little dressed creature is what make life in San Miguel interesting and when I went on Facebook today, here this woman was suggested as a friend.  More Magic?

Social Parasites

Look at this picture and see where your eye goes.

There are three things being led or being led by here.

1.  The Toy by a String held the Balloon Vender

2.  The Dog by a leash held by an Expat

3.  The Child by a hand of her mother.

Now put them in order of importance.

Only a child would put Toy first so that can be ruled out.  The choice, then,  is between Dog and Child.  In San Miguel the Dog will always come first.

Why?  Well here are two different response about why people love Dogs

People love their dogs because they’re things that accompany us through life changing experiences, love us no matter what, aren’t moody and don’t have those kind of days that humans have when you don’t want to be around anyone, and they’re beloved companions that without, people wouldn’t go through the same experiences and have the same memories that they would if they had a dog.

OR

Archer suggests, “consider the possibility that pets are, in evolutionary terms, manipulating human responses, that they are the equivalent of social parasites.” Social parasites inject themselves into the social systems of other species and thrive there. Dogs are masters at that. They show a range of emotions—love, anxiety, curiosity—and thus trick us into thinking they possess the full range of human feelings.

Hmmmm… either your best friend or a social parasite.

Another reason might simply be stem for the ease of acquisition.  Which is easily to adopt a pet or a child?  In San Miguel pets are offered for adoption right in the Jardin.  No filling in of forms, no visits by social services, no waiting time, no expense.

And the benefits are quite considerable from this article, found in Atençion

Two of my formerly abused rescue dogs sleep in my room and tell their tale as they dream. The large one, rescued from a breeder, frequently cries out in the night and calms only when I talk to her in her sleep. The other rescued handicapped dog wags her tail loudly and often, with dreams of happy experiences.

It is clear that both were abused, but each chose between remaining bitter or becoming better. They are happy with their new circumstances, but neither the extent of the former maltreatment nor the breed caused them to decide to be joyous and extremely grateful to their rescuer. It appears to be a choice. It seems all the more miraculous.

And there is another alternative for people who want the minimal maitenance pet.

SMA Rite of Passage – Step 4 Pets

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Pets

There is a Rite of Passage when you live in San Miguel.

Step One – La Casa

Once the Magic has taken hold, you buy (or if only limited Magic is operating – rent) a house or condo. Of course you have to name La Casa.

Step Two – Decorating

Step Two is exploring Mexican Folk Art and beginning to decorate a la Mexicana. Day upon day is spent in Fabrica Aurora searching for those pieces that create the right ambiance. Those who rent go to Dolores Hidalgo for their ‘ambiance’.

Step Three – Collecting Friends

Step Three is collecting interesting friends. The right combination includes a Mexican Friend, a Black Friend (a premium friend in San Miguel), as many Artist Friends as you can find, a Docent,  a Gay Friend, a Professor, a Rich Friend, a Spiritual Friend, and someone to fill the empty space at the dinner table and be the source of the next day after party talk.

Did you hear what she said about (Art, Mexico, Obama, Film, etc)

Step Four – The Pet

Once the house and social calendar are in place,  you enter the last stage finding THE PET. Well, rescue is a better word than find.  Something fluffy, small and lost usually fills the bill.

But San Miguel is a competitive place. Everyone is looking for that story about their pet that tops someone else’s anecdote about how they found their Furry Friend.

In fact for some that little dog won’t do it.  Two of the ultimate one-up manship pet is seen below.

Showing the Snake to the Troubador

Denise loves to show everyone her pet Snake.

Today she was delighted to see the Troubadour and show him Curly.
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Pepe and the Morrisons

Tony and Maureen were the first to adopt  a Burro.

The only problem is that Pepe is not welcome at a lot of parties even though he is a lap burro.

Woman’s Best Friend

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Pets

Dogs are very important in San Miguel. 

With a ratio of six single women to one man, the next best alternative is a dog. 

Living alone changes people but living alone with a dog changes them even more.  Dogs provide structure to life.  They can take an aimless life and give it purpose. 

Walking the dog fills many hours.

But walking the dog requires intuitive listening.  Dogs can sense if a single man is about or if new products have arrived in a store or if a boring friend is close.

A good dog owner listens.

This dog can sense danger ahead and has alerted his owner to what is around the corner to the left.

He knows that the dreaded Emma Simpson is coming up 28 de Abril from her Yoga Class.  He knows Emma upsets his owner, with her talk of renovating her big house.  He knows his owner is sad because four divorce settlements have afforded her only a very small house that is not in Centro nor with a view anyone would want to see.

He doesn’t want her, tonight, to open another bottle of wine and put on that Barbra Streisand CD, so he alerts her to the danger ahead.

She listens and acts.

 

She knows that Albert is looking out for as no man has ever looked out for her and moves off the calle and follows Albert onto a side street.  She doesn’t know Emma is near but trusts in Albert’s love of her and the bond they have developed in such a short time.

Dogs are a woman’s best friend.

Gang Dogs

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Pets

Dogs are power animals in San Miguel. They provide wisdom and power. The Shaman gang uses power animals to capture Love Slaves.

Dogs serve many uses in San Miguel besides being Power Animals. Look at those puppies in the picture to get an idea.

They can worn as jewelry.

They can be used as Purses.

These dogs are often called “My Best Friend”

Can be dressed like the owner.

Dogs this size are called Canape Dogs.

There appears to be an direct relationship between the wisdom of the owner and the size of the dog.

Below is a chart showing some variations in the size of dogs.

Appetizer dogs are often eaten by larger dogs.