In the Mexican villages, it is rare to purchase animals for your own home. Most often, a woman or man lives at home until marriage. As a wedding present, the woman is presented with a cat, dog, and chicken, and a few eggs. The woman puts the eggs under the chicken to hatch, trains the dog to guard the house, and keeps the cat indoors as a good rodent trap.
For those who aren’t in matrimonial bliss, acquiring an animal is as simple as asking around for the name of someone who owns an animal who is pregnant. Lacy wanted a dog, and one day while visiting a woman in Toltecas (about 2 miles from our village), Lacy heard the sound of puppies crying. The woman excitedly presented five 8-day-old pups of a Dachshund mix. Others had claimed all except one of the pups at birth, but no one wanted the last little female. Here, male dogs (“machos”) are greatly desired over female dogs (“embras”) for two reasons: 1) Machos aren’t as moody as Embras; and 2) every month, the scent of an Embra in heat brings every dog in a five-mile radius to the house. In pity, Lacy accepted this little ignored pup. The woman assured her that the pup would be weaned in 2 months.
However, in only two weeks, the mother dog stopped producing milk for her pups, and the pups became sick, near death. The woman started feeding them watered-down tortillas, but this was little sustenance. While visiting the woman one day, Joshua received the lifeless puppy and was informed that he needed to care for it now if he wanted it to live.
We brought the puppy home and she licked up the cow’s milk we gave her as if she hadn’t eaten in days! That night, we gave her a bath (she had been sleeping outside in a box with her mom), and realized that she was crawling with fleas and ticks. For the first two nights, she could barely sleep for itching and hunger, so at the first chance we had, we went to the nearest city and bought food, puppy milk, and flea powder for her.
She has been with us now for one month, and as she grows, it seems that she may have a Labrador mix in her, as well. She is a very playful puppy, and when she plays with us, she can get very violent. Once her anger is sparked, she becomes a little barking and growling machine. Lovingly, we’ve named her “Chispa” (which means “spark” or “firecracker”) or “Chispita”.
Adding “-ita” or “-ito” to the end of a noun means it’s something little. Perro is “dog”, but Perrito is “little dog”. Galleta is “cookie,” but Galletita is “little cookie”.
Chispa isn’t eating dog-food much anymore. She lives off our food scraps and water from the spicket. She follows at our heels wherever we go in the village, and loves car rides. It’s definitely been good for Lacy to have a companion around the house while Joshua is working each day.
For those who aren’t in matrimonial bliss, acquiring an animal is as simple as asking around for the name of someone who owns an animal who is pregnant. Lacy wanted a dog, and one day while visiting a woman in Toltecas (about 2 miles from our village), Lacy heard the sound of puppies crying. The woman excitedly presented five 8-day-old pups of a Dachshund mix. Others had claimed all except one of the pups at birth, but no one wanted the last little female. Here, male dogs (“machos”) are greatly desired over female dogs (“embras”) for two reasons: 1) Machos aren’t as moody as Embras; and 2) every month, the scent of an Embra in heat brings every dog in a five-mile radius to the house. In pity, Lacy accepted this little ignored pup. The woman assured her that the pup would be weaned in 2 months.
However, in only two weeks, the mother dog stopped producing milk for her pups, and the pups became sick, near death. The woman started feeding them watered-down tortillas, but this was little sustenance. While visiting the woman one day, Joshua received the lifeless puppy and was informed that he needed to care for it now if he wanted it to live.
We brought the puppy home and she licked up the cow’s milk we gave her as if she hadn’t eaten in days! That night, we gave her a bath (she had been sleeping outside in a box with her mom), and realized that she was crawling with fleas and ticks. For the first two nights, she could barely sleep for itching and hunger, so at the first chance we had, we went to the nearest city and bought food, puppy milk, and flea powder for her.
She has been with us now for one month, and as she grows, it seems that she may have a Labrador mix in her, as well. She is a very playful puppy, and when she plays with us, she can get very violent. Once her anger is sparked, she becomes a little barking and growling machine. Lovingly, we’ve named her “Chispa” (which means “spark” or “firecracker”) or “Chispita”.
Adding “-ita” or “-ito” to the end of a noun means it’s something little. Perro is “dog”, but Perrito is “little dog”. Galleta is “cookie,” but Galletita is “little cookie”.
Chispa isn’t eating dog-food much anymore. She lives off our food scraps and water from the spicket. She follows at our heels wherever we go in the village, and loves car rides. It’s definitely been good for Lacy to have a companion around the house while Joshua is working each day.
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