Jan 09, 2018
Chance encounter
We had seen a certain dog on the beach since just before Christmas. It was apparent that she was weak and hungry. The two times that we saw her she was so far away from the RV parks that there was nothing we could do for her as we had no food nor water. Once she came out of the coconut plantation in the middle of nowhere and she tried to follow us but was so weak that she had to stop every 15 steps of so and lay down to rest. Hours later I saw her begging for food from the tourists at the restaurant next to us, a very long walk for her. I felt so very bad for her. Then we never saw her for almost 10 days. Hard to say the exact dates as I was not noting the amount of time passing.
It was obvious that she was either pregnant or had recently given birth. I was too upset the first few times I saw her to really check her out. Perhaps she had been pregnant then. I was overwhelmed with how weak she was but what could I do. I am not sure but now suspect that perhaps in the time we had not seen her that she had given birth.
So just a few days ago, Sunday the 7th, we happened to meet up with friends and walked the beach together. On the way back we saw the dog. They had seen her a few times also. So we were almost back to where we lived when we saw her and she was ahead of us and looking for a handout at the restaurant but they had no clients yet. We talked about getting her something to eat as she walked off towards RV2 where it looked like she entered the park in search of food. We had no dog food but Grant suggested even just feeding her tortillas would be good as it would give her calories. So Colin headed home to get those and some water. Our friends carried on back to their place and said they would pick up some dog food for another day. Meanwhile I followed Colin home and we came back to the beach to find her. Turns out that she was approaching RV1. We beckoned to her and she willingly followed us.
There are many many beach dogs and many are homeless. Many RVers do not like them coming around and chase them off, sometimes very aggressively. They don’t want dogs coming in and marking their furniture or doing their business in their sites. I understand all that but this one is special. She is a starving mother. But I am not allowed to help her here or keep food out for her.
So last Sunday she quietly followed me to a table in front of the restaurant away from the RV park and near the beach. No one else was around. We had water and tortillas. I fed her small pieces of tortillas all the while wishing I had something more nourishing.
She ate like a princess, so very polite and dainty.
She patiently waited as I prepared the next piece. Her eyes never left my hands. She had 3 small bites then drank a lot of water, then back to eating. She was starving but so very polite.
A beautiful dog. Clean, no smell, no bugs or ticks and the whitest teeth. Grant thought that she wasn’t more than a year old. Likely the male beach dogs got her at her first heat. She isn’t more than a pup herself.
About 6 or 7 bites in, I petted her head and she immediately stopped chewing and closed her eyes and almost sighed. She was craving love and attention. I continued to give her pets and rubs. It was almost like she had an owner or perhaps she still does. Perhaps they do not have the money to feed her. She seemed to be used to people who cared about her. Did she belong to someone long ago? Was she lost? My mind never stopped with the possibilities.
She stood at first to eat but as I kept feeding her and petting her she sat and relaxed. Remember this dog is emaciated and starving but would stop eating just to get some love. Despite being so very hungry she remained polite and waited for me to offer her a bite. She never ever tried to grab the food.
I flipped up my hat so I could see her better. At this point her tail never stopped wagging.
She decided that she had had enough to eat. It took 5.5 tortillas and all the water we had. She then lay down and totally relaxed. Then after two or three minutes she simply got up and trotted away.
Later that evening…
My thoughts were on the dog the rest of the day. I hoped that she had had enough food to feed her and her babies.
Indeed a different day on the Isla.
There is more to the story of this lovely sweet girl. And no we are not going to adopt her. She is a free spirit of the beach and this is where she belongs as she likely was born on this beach as were her pups. We will do the best we can for her over the next while. Stay tuned…….
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A really touching “tail”, Contessa, I must say I felt tears while reading. Thank you for sharing this and I am staying tuned for the rest of the story.
I had tears writing this post.
I’m just tearing away, is sad to me that there are so many heartless people abandoning those animals. I usually carry one of two can of cat food & dog food in my car, just in case I find myself a hungry animal in my way.
Thank U Contessa for feeding the dog, God bless U !
My regards, Lucy.
How could I not feed her. You are a special lady Lucy. Hugs.
Sandy said what we were thinking “A really touching tail”. It warms our hearts reading the care you are giving this ‘Princess’.
Thanks Don. “Princess” may become her name.
I am staying tuned, too. Maybe as her health improves, she might bring you a few of her puppies for you to see.
I had someone else confirm today where she goes off the beach but it would be impossible to find her in that area.
Bless your ??
Heart.
Gracias.
How nice is that!! Just a little sustenance and love is all that she needed.
Her need for love is what gets to my heart each time we see her.
So sad, nice to give her some nourishment.. Could see about getting her spade in Maz. after she has finished with puppies.
Yes I will pay personally is If have to get her spayed. Hopefully some RVers will chip in. I am working on finding a way to get the pips adopted.
Hopefully others will help with dog food also, when we were in Puerto Escondido, MX, we discovered that the beach dogs were left food and water in front of local beach shops, the dogs could live on the beach but they were not starving
Sadly here on the Isla beach dogs are poisoned or killed in a horrible manner a few times per year. People here do not help them. I plan to get her spayed before we leave amd get her puppies adopted.
It sounds like it was meant to be, but you need all the help from the other campers, you can definetly appreciate a dog’s suffering, you and your husband are angels!
What a beautiful story, and a beautiful dog!
She is a wonderful girl. I only hope that I can help make her story even better.
She’s a keeper 😉
Yes she is but not for us.