pitbullI was on the phone the other day talking with a nurse In Tucson. After explaining I lived in Mexico she inquired if I worried about safety. I assured her that after living in El Paso, Tucson and Las Vegas I feel safer here than most major cities in the States. Oh, there are some problems with sticky-fingered rascals, but we learn tricks about dealing with them to protect our stuff.
One tool is man’s best friend, the doggie. Mexican law does not allow residents to own firearms, so we find other alternatives. If you choose a dog, decisions must be made about what type best suits your needs.

A favorite is the use of small critters with loud and active yappers. The simple concept is unwanted intruders will be slowed due to an unbelievable blitzkrieg of barking. I gave this serious thought and asked a few friends if it worked. One nice lady, a pal I’ll call Karen has five Chihuahuas and they do their job, however, this plan doesn’t always work. Example, another couple of close friends have a herd of small dogs that bark at everything. They bark at cars, the wind, trash-men, kids, guests, ghosts and even the owners themselves. The problem is at night they can’t hear intruders because they’re upstairs snuggly asleep with their owners. One could run a band celebrating “Cinco de Mayo” thru the downstairs portion of the house and no one would be alerted. Now that’s some interesting security.

I hadn’t had a dog in years so I decided to visit Barb’s Dog Rescue for advice. Barb has about a million dogs to choose from, I have no idea how she keeps her sanity with this huge rufffffdom compound, but she does and probably should be nominated for sainthood, “Saint Barbra of the Pooch.” I explained I was single and wanted a companion dog that could also take care of security.
She has a beautiful red pit-bull I thought might be perfect, unfortunately this is one of Barb’s special friends meaning the pup wasn’t available for adoption. Barb understood my needs and agreed to keep an eye out for another pit.

I checked with an adoption service in Arizona and met a nice young woman who is sadly losing her eyesight. She explained she had a blue brindle American Staffordshire terrier (some consider this a sneaky way of describing one of the very large pit bull breeds). People are terrified of this type of dog and in fact some states have banned ownership of pit-bulls. The woman was remorseful about having to give her up, but after having a litter of pups she developed hostility towards all other animals including their other household pets. She loves people, but cats & dogs are out.

The adoption process (including health certificate & shots) was fairly simple and I met with the family in Why, Arizona to pick her up. She’s an amazing dog, beautiful with a great personality. She jumped in the seat of my pickup and traveled with unbelievable ease the 93 miles to her new home in Mexico. Her name was “Cupcake,” but when the Mexican customs lady laughed at my new 85 pound baby’s name I made an immediate decision. She now happily answers to the name “Cups.”

Partnering up with this special friend is one of the best decisions I’ve made. I take care of her and she takes care of me. It’s true, she doesn’t like other animals and can be tough with folks she thinks are a threat to me. The problem with this supposed scary guard dog is that once she becomes acquainted with an individual that person must be prepared for an onslaught of licking and wet doggy kisses. What can I say, she’s perfect. My friends and I tend to spoil her and she’s become sort of a fraternity dog for old dudes living here in Rocky Point.
When people ask if I’m involved in a relationship I just tell them, “Yeah I live with a real bitch that ran off from her husband and then put all her children up for adoption.”
Dan McWhitis…