Biodiversity Wonderland, But the Dog…

But the dog… the special dog of Peru is the Peruvian Hairless Dog or Peruvian Inca Orchid Dog Breed. I do not have a photo (which is odd given how many photos I take — but when I googled “dog” and “animal” in my photos, I got some interesting results — corn — but no hairless dog. The one in the jeans and striped top is a French one, I think) so I include a link here. There are several types of Peruvian dog but the most noticeable is the hairless one.

I first saw one and in an “adding injury to insult” sort of way, this particular hairless dog not only had a skin disease,  but also has a “job” where s/he interacts with lots of people all day long. Actually, maybe the skin condition helps keep people from petting him/her?

The Peruvian Hairless Dog looks a lot like Anubis, of ancient Egypt.

In my part of Lima, I don’t see that many street dogs, but I see many other pooches! There are several dog parks and even a dog fair (I don’t think they sell dogs… adopt! Just accoutrements.) on the malecon.

Some gelaterias even sell gelato specially made for dogs. As I wrote in November, I am predicting that the new trend in restaurants will be dog menus (no, not menus made of dog).

Lima doesn’t seem quite as pooch crazy as Bogota but perhaps it will become so.

Like in Bogota, the vets will make house calls. Dr. Cols makes calls and he speaks English (and canine — oh, and feline and whatever).

Really, this blog posting was just to show some photos of dogs.

NOTE: I do not receive any monetary remuneration for any of the businesses (like the dog cookie business — get ya fresh wholesome all natural 100 percent ancestral grain puppy treats NOW!) whom I “advertise” (in the verb sense) on my blog.

The term for pet is “mascota” in Spanish and aren’t they just?

 

Bogota, D.C. is Dog City

An older sign.
An older sign about collecting what your dog does.

The “district central” could stand for dog city. Here in Bogota, I see lots of Rottweilers, German Shepherds/Alsatians, Golden Retrievers, and Golden Labradors standing guard, walking with their guards, sniffing packages, sniffing cars, and spending much of their working lives not on a leash (okay, not the Rotties — they are always leashed and muzzled even though they are calm and well-behaved).

Another sign.
Another sign about cleaning up.
Lots of reading... about the law.
Lots of reading… it’s your responsibility… and the law.

While there are some street dogs around, the vast majority of dogs that I see are well-cared for and well groomed. The wealthy have their dogs picked up for doggy daycare every day, and every morning, I see dog walkers with up to ten dogs out for their first walk of the eight-hour doggy day. I’ve seen all shapes and sizes of dogs. (Recently, I got a dog kiss from a passing Retriever as he pulled his child along at the other end of the leash. So, although I wouldn’t approach strange dogs, they don’t seem to feel the same way about us humans.)

Here are some dogs patiently waiting for the next dog in their play group.
Here are some dogs patiently waiting for the next dog in their play group.
No pets allowed here.
No pets allowed here.

As Bogota is also a city of constant signage and cleaning, there are many signs about cleaning up after your dog. I’ve included some here.

It's branded by the city.
It’s branded by the city.