Peru 2005: The Dogs of Peru
BONUS FEATURE: The Dogs of Peru
According to Paranoid Planet, the dogs in Peru are mistreated, malnourished and downright vicious. To make matters worse, Paranoid Planet claims they are all infested with rabies and you have to throw rocks at them to make them go away.
What I found was something a little more real and a little less paranoid. Sure, the dogs are malnourished, but they don’t appear to be mistreated and they definitely were not vicious. You see, vicious dogs don’t get handouts, and these dogs were hungry an searching for handouts. Dogs are not stupid, and they must have learned long ago to “play nice and cute” and reap the rewards. Backpackers carry food and energy bars, and dogs love energy bars.
I found myself taking pictures of these dogs….for they had as much character as the worn walls around the towns. I took enough pictures to piece together this little bonus section. Enjoy.
I’ll do it in bullet form for ya’:
Our first friend was on trail (after Miskay, pre lunch) and as cute as ever. Too bad that half the energy bars were gobbled up by chickens before he could get to them.
This second pal was lounging at a doorstep in Aguas Calientes and I couldn’t resist. It was at this point that I decided to make a collection out of this. Beware, this one is vicious as a big black (teddy) bear.
And this guy just speaks of regality. I think he is a desendant of the Inca blood line or something. Also taken in Aguas Calientes.
I had to be really daring to sneak up close to this jaw snapping mongrol. Cute, ain’t he? (Aguas Calientes)
After a long day of rabies-eying and being vicious, this nasty fellow (cutie) felt it necessary to take a load off in the middle of the street in Aguas Calientes. He actually cared enough to lift his head and begrudgingly acknowledge me and my camera wielding existence.
When you are bored, have no money to shop with and are stuck waiting for the train, the only thing left to do is to snarfle with your best friend. Warning…cute.
If your owners are too busy, take yourself for a walk! Well, we did see a lot of dogs prancing about in Cusco.
This cute dog in Cusco was fairly sad and pitiful, but was keeping its chin up.
And finally, the funniest thing about Peru is that the dogs actually look both ways before crossing a street. I kid you not…I saw it several times. This makes them better than most 4 or 5 year olds in the states….No joke, Peruvian dogs are amazing street crossers and Peruvian streets are mighty dangerous to cross!
