Hounds for days

    Mendoza, and Argentina in general, is full of stray dogs. There are hundreds of dogs in Mendoza that wander the parks and streets and it breaks my heart every time I see one. A lot of them you'd have no idea how to tell what kind of dog they are because they are all mutts. There are also a lot of German shepherds, and poodle type dogs, and a lot of them are scabbed and bleeding and malnourished, but a lot of them are also really friendly. I don't pet them because I don't trust every stray dog not to bite me, but Jeanette pets every single one, and often shares her lunch with them too. Surprisingly though they quite often turn her down on her food, even if it is carrots (compared to my dog at home; he eats everything). These dogs will quite often follow us for miles. If you are friendly to one, it and all its doggy friends follow you through town wherever you go. At Aconcagua a few weeks ago, this poor skinny dog followed us for 4 kilometers from the national park to the bus stop. He probably makes that trek every day with new tourists. Skylar had two dogs follow her for 10 miles over two days during a camping trip, even staying the night at the camp ground. They are like a personal bodyguard through the city. I feel guilty having them accompany me and not give them food. The worst is when you walk past four dogs lying under a bench as the only source of shade when it's 90 degrees out. The amount of strays was even worse in Chile, in my opinion.
     You would think that being stray would give these dogs some common sense for how to survive, but I've actually experienced quite a few very stupid dogs, especially in regards to avoiding getting hit by traffic. The one at Aconcagua kept walking into the two lane highway as he followed us along the road, and would just stand in the road as cars approached, giving me and Amanda and Megan a heart attack every time it almost got hit. We kept trying to call it out of the street, but it just kept going back in the street. In Chile, there was a dog we saw that kept purposefully running into the street every time a car would come to try to chase it, and it would jump up on the car too, so they would have to swerve to avoid it every time. It was a danger to itself and to traffic! I actually saw a dog get hit by a car while we were in San Rafael; it survived, but damaged. I don't know how they don't learn!
    I've seen a lot of dogs here on rooftops or second floor balconies, because a lot of houses don't have lawns. I think a lot of people here have trained their dogs to be very protective guard dogs as an extra source of protection. I always have a panic attack when the dogs start barking at me from above, though, on the balcony where I didn't even see them. 
I'm pretty sure this guy would attack if we weren't separated by a barred window and the main floor.
There is also a house near me that leaves their door open,  with two angry dogs guarding the door. Then there is a sign that says beware of dog. So I have to remember not to walk past there.


   All this talk about dogs makes me miss mine at home!

Can't wait to see this guy!