There are lots of “communal” dogs in Thailand.  Many people chip in to take care of them and give them some love. 

ESPECIALLY ME!

That there dog’s name is Nina and she understands a bit of English and a bit of Thai.  She’s been Lord’s Bar’s dog for 8 years, and has seen quite a few changes in management in that time.  She’s usually sleeping under the sink in the bathroom, but I saved her some pork crackling from dinner so she found the energy to mosey over to our table for some.

This next dog liked to wander around Fishermen’s Village and was particularly fond of Simon.

Wonder why…

Next up we have a picture of a very cute, very small, very soft, very sleepy little mutt. (Not dead.)

The following black puppy at my feet may look nice, but it was one hell of a biter and wouldn’t stop humping my leg.  He hung around the shooting range, unfazed by gunfire.  Oh yeah- Simon and I went shooting one day. I had never fired a gun before.  The guy handed me a 9mm Glock (I get to say “Glock”, right?) and just said “Don’t put your thumb there.  Shoot.”  

That was the extent of my gun safety training.  I was nervous before I pulled the trigger, but after that it was adrenaline-rific!  

A friendly mixed breed (mmmiiiiiixxxxxxeeeeeeddddd bbbbbrrrreeeeeeddddd) kept Simon company outside Family Mart while we waited for our pancakes from The Pancake Man.

Below is an I-think-it’s-illegal-to-have-in-Dubai dog who was real friendly and gave Simon some kisses.  We also think he (the dog, not Simon) may have… ahem… you know… on our friend’s shoe.  

Hint: I wouldn’t be ahem-ing if I meant it went to the bathroom…

Here we have your basic OMG I WANT TO SQUEEEEEZE IT! puppy…

and your regular ol’ OMG LOOK AT HOW CUTE THAT FAT PUG IS! pug.

Hey dude, watch the paw.

Oh, and I can’t leave out the so-small-and-fluffy-that-we-screeched-to-a-halt-on-our-motorbikes-to-pick-it-up little puppy…

The Most Notable Dog of the Trip award goes to this guy:

He frequented a beach bar that we visited often during our time on the island.  He was playful and (although Simon will disagree) cute.  Then one night he and a couple other mutts followed us back to our little beach bungalow.

The other dogs quickly lost interest in us once we went inside, and off they went.

Not the award-winner dog.

Not only did he stick around that evening, he was still there when we woke up the next morning!  He slept on our doormat!

Another day we were in town and drove our motorbikes to the dog’s beach bar, rather than walking to it from our bungalow.  After an hour or so we left, again on our motorbikes, and were gone for SEVERAL HOURS.  When we returned home, that little white dog was sitting outside our door, waiting for us!

Simon said it “freaked him out”.  I thought it was adorable.  Or, maybe he was the reincarnation of someone Simon or I knew.  Either way, AWWWWWWWW!

I have a very loose theory as to why that little dog loved us.  We never fed it, so I thought maybe it was smitten with us because we always rubbed and scratched it on the head.  In Thailand it’s considered rude to touch people on the head and from what I observed, the Thai people avoid touching dogs’ heads too.  Maybe the little guy just wanted a decent head massage.  (I said LOOSE theory!)

I loved cooing at dogs everyday on vacation, but nothing beat getting to see Beesly again after two weeks.  I sure do love that dog the most.

(That’s Beesly on a camping trip with our friend who kindly agreed to dogsit for us while we were away.  She was probably as confused as she looks.)