Raising Florencia: Dominican Puppies 101

So, I will admit from the get-go that I know nothing about puppies, or dogs for that matter. Growing up, I had pets like fish and mice and lizards. Knowing all this, it is probably no surprise that Florencia has been a tough cookie the past few days. Officially, Florencia moved into my casita on Sunday. I made a nice box-bed for her in the corner, bathed her twice with special shampoo to remove her fleas (that her mom conveniently carries) and bought her expensive “Purina Puppy Chow”. Whelp, she doesn’t sleep in the bed, still has fleas, and wont eat the dog food. She won’t eat at all. I woke up to her poop 1 foot from my bed… which Rafalito stepped in. To top it off, my very small shack reeks of dog.

Interestingly, just as I am writing this, my host mother unearthed a rotting turkey foot from under my bed (where the bad smell is coming from!). It is most likely that Florencia’s mom, while visiting today, brought this treat. I have now learned from experience to never look under the bed (see: dead rat blog post).

But, things can definitely get better. My host family, conveniently, had a spare wood dog house sitting outside my shack, so we are officially moving Florencia to the shack OUTSIDE my house. I also plan on getting her a baby bottle with which to feed her milk. So, I’ll update soon with her progress (hoping there is some..!).