+ GUARD DOG...in training +
Friday, June 8, 2012 at 9:38AM
When we returned home in April it was with a new family member in tow! Living in Port au Prince feels relatively “safe” for us a majority of the time, but in the back of our minds we know that “things happen” here sometimes. It’s a fact that we stand out, which gives us a higher profile here in general. Many of the Haitians have “guard dogs” and almost ALL of the Americans that we know have them too. In general most Haitians are afraid of dogs, so having one is a pretty good deterrent.
The challenge we had was to find a dog that would be intimidating to others, but make a good family pet. After much research & advice we chose a female Bloodhound puppy. They are known to be protective of their family, good with children, and will boss intruders around without inflicting injury. We gave her the French name, "Cosette" which means “Victorious” (we certainly hope so - if it comes down to it!)… "Cosi" for short.
No, she doesn’t have the markings of a “killer” breed, nor the makings of one…but she will be nearly 100# full grown, is already all legs and flying tongue (sends people running all by itself!) & she has developed a pretty impressive warning bark.
Cosette appears to be perfectly happy with her new home here so far. She tolerates the heat better than the rest of us most days. She LOVES traveling to the guest house with us and is learning the "gift" of hospitality there, as she JOYFULLY greets our teams! Her only complaint is that we do tend to “leave her” from time to time for the day, which means there is no one to practice her “attacks” on or to curl up at the feet of – her two favorite ways to spend the day. So she is left with no other options but having to chew things up. She is pretty good at that too!
Cosi and Mignon have developed the relationship of “happy adversaries”. At this point, it is all a game to them! Though the canine has begun to lay down the law when it comes to the cat eating her food! Together they have conquered the palmetto bug (think giant cockroach) population & scared off any other vermin. Cosi’s courage has been growing alongside her height when it comes to defending the premises from the neighbor’s evil green-eyed cat. We hope she will live up to her name soon with that invader!
Every day here seems to be a new adventure and education for a growing pup…
...and she seems to be doing that quite quickly too!
In two months she has more than quadrupled her size...
...so, besides chewing on water bottles, chasing cats out of the yard, having her belly rubbed and fetching her tennis ball - when it comes right down to business - her top priority is: GUARD the food!!
Reader Comments (1)
She looks beautiful! And I'm sooo glad to hear she is doing well! She looks just like her dog mommy!
I would have posted a comment sooner as I'm constantly checking your blog, however with baby jocelyn almost here this past month has been crazy for me!