Upon moving into my new home, I wanted to meet the neighbours. And so did Seven. He and I quickly made good friends with one of the ten dogs that Elmer has. At first I thought she was snarling at me but no she was smiling, curling her top lip and wagging her tail. She soon became a permanent fixture on the porch and slowly made her way to my heart and the single bed/couch.

She enjoyed the brushes I was giving her every day she graced us with her presence. She also knows exactly when feed time is and stands at the gate staring, pleading with me to come in for food. How could I resist.They have a good diet but obviously the kibble was a real treat for her.

One day while inside, I did not realize that Seven had escaped through the gate from my lack of not shutting it correctly. Suddenly I heard a fury of dogs barking. I ran outside and my poor Seven was cornered by Elmer’s ten dogs. Luckily because of his thick coat he came out with only a scratch on his ear and one on his leg. Seven is a lover and not a fighter. He was traumatized and so was I. You have to remember that he was uprooted from his home where he had the full reign of 200 acres. He was lord of the manor. When we went venturing in the forests close to home, he was never one of those dogs that had to sniff every bum, he never had the need to romp and play with strange dogs. He had his favourites who used to come and visit. And now to be confronted by ten very territorial dogs was new to him as it was with me. And it was terrifying. What have I done? I cleaned his wounds and gave him big hugs and kisses. The gate is now always firmly closed and sadly we do not venture outside our little garden very often. There are still, almost three months later three of the ten dogs that will never accept Seven. One of them also makes a point of snarling at me every time I pass him.

Once on our outing to the corner store a man coming towards us with a really big strong pit bull harnessed to the gill was trying with all his might to get at Seven. This guy could hardly hold him back. Now Seven does not want to go down that street. He will not follow me. So I have to leash him or take him in the car to the football field close to the store. This is not what I had in mind. One day we parked at the entrance to the park and I checked to see if any dogs were there. I did not see any. We started to play frisbee and out of the blue a male boxer came charging. They both did the dance and it did not look good. The owner came running and basically gave me shit. Well excuse me, if you know your dog will be aggressive keep him on a damn leash when you know this park is used by owners and their dogs and don’t blame them. We went back to the car and waited for her to leave and let me tell you she took her sweet time. You see Seven is focused, focused on me. He does NOT want to play with other dogs, he wants to play frisbee. That’s his game.

Back at the house, there are four dogs that will now come into our little patch. Seven is happy with that. They too have no need to romp and play, they just all hang out together.

I have manged to brush all the knots and clumps from one of them and she is loving it.

Still working slowly on the other. Don’t get me wrong, they are well fed and healthy but they never get brushed. But we are missing one element that I was hoping to do, taking Seven on long walks in the many forest trails in Tepoztlan. Will this happen? I hope so, we have to find a way. For me and for Seven.

Since arriving here, Seven has found his voice. He was a very quiet dog back in Holt only barking when he went for his night-time pee letting the wildlife know he was there. That was it. Now it is a totally different story. He will bark at any vehicle that approaches and anyone he does not recognize. He seems to be following the lead of the neighbouring ten dogs. I also find that many dogs who are penned in their yards do exactly the same thing. Is this the Mexican way? Is this a good thing?  This is definitely one thing that I did not really think about when I was beginning my new life. Dealing with multiple free roaming dogs. They are not feral, they all have a home, well most do here in Tepoztlan but their life is different. There are many people here that treat dogs the way I do, the way I am used to as part of the family but there are also many people who treat their dogs with indifference. It is a difficult thing to get used to but we will. Seven and I will.