The Hounds of Bs As

Pack Leader

Bs As, as you can guess, stands for Buenos Aires - you see that often here in addition to BAires (pronounced "buy-res", well kind of). Before we moved to BsAs, we thought about what it might be like. Images of stereotypes tred to push their way into our heads, but we tried to keep an open mind. Now that we've arrived, we've become more concerned with observing and noticing . . . things that seem to stand out as common . . . things that help you start to form a real picture of the place, culture, people, and  . . . dogs.  As I do in every country, I can’t help but notice the dogs. Slovenia has its trained dogs, the US has its untrained dogs, Ukraine has its stray dogs, Laos has its wild dogs, and Argentina has its walked dogs.



Which one is yours again?

Dogs are popular pets here. Cats, not so much. We live in the city, mind you, which means apartment living, and we have seen every size, shape, color, and fur length under the sun. The most outstanding feature of dog maintenance is the dog-walker. Joe had told me that the Recoleta neighborhood was famous for their walkers . . . but I could have never imagined how many dogs one walker can manage!

We walk for exercise in the mornings and, without fail, see 4 or 5 dog packs each with its corresponding human holding the leashes. Its amazing how each group seems so content, calm, and aware of the routine . . . I swear they look like they are smiling as they trot through the streets. Only occasionally do we see any aggression among or between them. I really can’t believe how they “all get along.” The unfortunate part of this little tradition is, you guessed it, failure to do “doo” diligence. We’ll save that for another blog entry as Joe has devised a special sidewalk “scan and step” method. Sometimes he'll miss an interesting haircut, outfit, or building we pass by. He's committed to looking at the ground. For that reason, we’ve been lucky so far.