Not as dirty as you think

I actually don't know this older female, but I think her name is Maggie. She appears to be around 5 years old and to have recently had a litter of pups. Anyone who has endured a sweltering Bangkok afternoon can attest to the importance of taking advantage of thirst-quenching opportunities, so when a dog comes across a couple of unsupervised bags of ice on a city sidewalk, she'd be foolish not to dive right in - and Maggie is doing just that! (However, it should be noted that more than a few unlucky hounds have been caught in the act, which usually results in a swift kick to the dog's posterior from an angry vendor).

Of course, for humans, this photo raises some disturbing hygiene-related questions -- particularly if you enjoy a nice Thai iced tea or coffee purchased from one of the thousands of streetside beverage vendors around the city. There have been rumors over the years that some vendors are so lackadaisical about storing their ice that they end up selling drinks with high levels of canine saliva. But the fearmongers who spread rumors and perpetuate sterotypes about dogs being dirty are ignoring scientific evidence that shows dog saliva actually kills E. coli and other harmful bacteria!

I'm not saying that people should go out and share their drinks and ice cream cones with the nearest Bangkok street dog they see, just that appearances can be deceiving sometimes.

Introducing Stella

Be still my beating heart… ladies and gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Stella, a 3 year old brown female who lives near the Siam Square area of Bangkok. I’ve had a serious crush on Stella for a long time. Looking at her, I’m sure you can see why. Just look at the way she gazes at the camera with those gorgeous chestnut eyes and that pouting, sultry expression on her face; the way her left ear is sticking up in a very suggestive, “come hither” sort of way; and the way the sunlight reflects magnificently from her radiant (and, for a Bangkok street dog, surprisingly clean) fur. A more captivating picture of feminine canine beauty may exist somewhere in the cosmos, but to me, Stella is my own personal vision of perfection.

Unfortunately, things between Stella and I have never quite worked out. Not that we haven’t tried – we’ve gone on dozens of dates, and spent lots of time together, talking about our likes, dislikes, our fears, and our hopes for the future. We’ve even taken several romantic weekend trips to the Bangkok city dump in the southeastern part of the city, which offers a multitude of canine recreational activities – although most of them have to do with rummaging through freshly dumped garbage searching for edible scraps. By the way, there truly is no better tonic for a relationship than spending an evening snuffling through a pile of pungent city refuse together (note: this only works for dogs, not humans).

Yes, we’ve had a lot of great times together, Stella and I, but irreconcilable differences with regard to the way we look at life and the future have always kept from getting married. Here’s the problem: I want to settle down and have a family, but Stella… she has always had this crazy dream about being a television stunt dog. So she’s always resisted my marriage proposals. When I try to explain to her how hard it is to get a stunt dog gig (particularly if one is a street dog without any acting experience), she always begins to growl and whine. A full fledged snarling attack usually isn’t far behind. Some dreams die hard, I guess.

Introducing Lil' Sparky

I'd like you to meet Lil' Sparky, a white male pup with brown and black spots who, at six months old, is one of the younger members of the Bangkok street dog community. This adorable little bundle of love is quite a shy fella, and he usually adopts the submissive posture you see in this picture whenever someone tries to photograph him. It's as if he's saying "Oh my, what a great big scary world out there, and I'm so small and everyone and everything else is so big, and there's all these scary sounds and interesting smells, and... hey, is that a camera, oh no I'm scared!"

Like many Bangkok street dogs, Lil' Sparky entered this world in a baptism of fire brought on by staggering misfortune. Born under a highway overpass, Lil’ Sparky was the smallest and weakest pup in his litter (I don’t like the word ‘runt’). Not long after he was born, Sparky and the rest of his litter were forced to fend for themselves after their mother was captured by dog catchers during a citywide stray dog crackdown prior to an important international conference, and sent away to a far-off province. Then, to make matters worse, Sparky’s brothers and sisters abandoned him about 2 months later, claiming that he was too slow and weak.

Sparky wandered the streets of Bangkok for weeks afterwards, foraging for food and looking for friends. Although life had, to that point in time, dealt him nothing but a series of soul-crushing disappointments, Lil’ Sparky never gave up hope, certain that around the next corner would be the friends and sense of belonging to a group that he’d always craved. Sure enough, when he came trotting through a small market where me and some friends were hanging out one evening, we immediately sensed his positive energy and kind spirit, and welcomed him into our community.

That's not to say that Lil' Sparky isn't picking up some bad habits along the way. As he matures, Sparky is increasingly expressing a desire to use rude language, chase female dogs, and howl for no apparent reason late at night. He calls it "running with the big dogs." We call it 'annoying', and are in the process of teaching the cheeky little fella some much needed canine manners!