13 August 2024

Ongoing heatwave (38°C) for almost 2 months now. Adjusting to the weather, Natascha and I frequently go out for a walk through the village before dinner. 

Passing the reservoir's outlet that flows into the river "Byala Reka", we walk to shadowy parts to chill, drink a beer and talk about our day and plans.

 

14 August

Same route as yesterday, but we stopped at the "magazin" (small supermarket) to get a cold one. Natascha went in to pay while I waited outside. It's a bit windy, but it feels like a warm hair dryer. Today's high was 38°C again.

A large plastic bag picks up speed and starts rolling on the street about a meter away from me. I look around and realize I'm standing next to a carton box full of garbage. 
So I step towards the plastic bag and lean over to grab it. At that point a middle sized dog steps out from under a table, sniffs my hand, opens her mouth and gently puts my hand in it.

Slightly startled, I pick up the plastic, use my other hand to quickly pet the doggie as a distraction, and walk back to dispose of the bag.

Natascha comes out of the supermarket and asks me what I'm doing... we have a serious agreement about how to act around stray dogs... So I immediately respond with my best guess: "I think I just fucked up". I explain what just happened while the dog is just looking at us. We start walking, and the dog starts following.

We crossed the main square towards the reservoir outlet, but the dog seems interested in a guy walking on the other side of the street. Looking over my shoulder, hoping the guy would be the owner, I notice the guy does a back kick, exactly like an irritated horse would do. His kick missed the dog and I let go a minor whistle... Natascha looks at me with her WTF?!-face I know all so well. I responded "Let's just take her for a walk and talk about it a bit". The dog is now wagging her tail and following again.

Arriving at a shady spot next to the flowing water, the dog took a plunge and we started confirming to each other we can't take a dog right now. The dog is clean, good teeth, not really thin and she seems to respond to Bulgarian commands. So we're guessing she has an owner.

We finished our beer, walked back passed the restaurant and the dog walked into the garden of the restaurant like she owned the place.

Natascha looked at me, and made a gesture to just walk and shut up for a minute. When we turned the corner, we were relieved and went home to make dinner. 

 

15 August

Natascha went to the "magazin" early morning to get breakfast and asked the owner if he knew whose dog it is. He guessed the restaurant. Natascha then told me during breakfast.

Late afternoon, Natascha took the car shopping and messaged me she was done and on her way back. I took a glimpse outside and see the neighbor's door is open and his chickens are on the street. I also hear his dog 'Boiko' barking like crazy, which sadly is the norm at any time. So I turn up the volume on RHCP and check on the cats.

Walking out, watching the street, I notice my neighbor, who is a barbaric animal abuser, feeding his dog and giving commands to sit and lie down. In 6 years, I've never seen him do that, and I was impressed his dog listened quite well.

I moved on, cleaned a couple of litterboxes and was just about to take out the trash, when Natascha came home.

The neighbor was not on the street, but the dog still was. So I came out to help Natascha unload the car and keep the neighbor's dog at a distance of our groceries.

Right there I noticed, it's not the neighbor's dog, this one is slightly smaller and female. It's the same dog we took for a walk yesterday...

My brain can sometimes puzzle really fast... so the barbaric neighbor is preparing her for torture. She'll get chained, short enough to not let her lie down in her own feces. Boiko might just be replaced and left in the forest or a different village. We suspect that's what our neighbor did with his previous dog 'Boris'. He said "it died", but we saw the same dog walking around in Gorni Domlyan, a village 5km over.

I brought in a bag of groceries and explained what was going on. I grabbed a bottle of water and my phone and asked Natascha to stay at home, while I'll bring the dog back to the restaurant.

Arriving at the restaurant, the lady there told me it's not their dog, it's anyone and everyone's dog. A stray that sometimes walks in when it's hungry or thirsty. I explained we have more than 30 cats and can't really keep a dog. She shrugged and told me to just leave her, she'd be okay... Knowing this wouldn't be the case, I whistled and left towards the reservoir outlet to think a bit. 

The dog chased a frog, while I came up with a plan. It's still early, if I walk back home, to fetch Natascha, we can bring the dog to our piece of property on the other side of the village. A large garden with a collapsed small house, a large fence on the street side and bushes with the reservoir dam behind it. We could keep her there for the night, and if she stays, I'll build her a dog house the next day... maybe ambitious, but it might work.

I called Natascha, explained the plan. She was in for a walk, so I returned while Natascha prepared. I left the dog at the "magazin", by quickly leaving when she was distracted. When Natascha and I returned half an hour later, she was still waiting and seemed a bit annoyed with being left behind. We made up by buying a big can of dogfood.

We couldn't find a dog leash, so she just followed, now running up front and waiting for us to come close again, wagging her tail and smiling. We walked northwards towards the reservoir dam, where our other property is located. 

Arriving in the street, there were some neighbor folk outside. 2 old guys, whose houses are adjacent to our property, and 2 ladies our age or a bit older. The dog was now walking 5 meters in front of us and we were greeting our neighbors. One of them calls me 'Johan Cruijff', so he started shouting "Hey Kroif!". 

But when they saw the dog, he started shouting "Linda!" and the other old guy opened his gate door and retrieved a long electrical cord. The older football fan then grabbed the dog by her neck and back to pin her down.

The dog started yelping and squealing. Natascha's motherly instincts immediately kicked in and she forgot all Bulgarian language knowledge in a flash. Just "NO!!!! NOOOOO!!!!! NONONONONOOOONOOOOO!!!!!".

The neighbor released the dog and the dog ran inside the gate door to hide in the shade. I asked everyone to just stop, gave a nod to the neighbor that I'm stepping on his property to retrieve the dog. I picked up the dog and tried with the most basic English to explain that my heart would break before I could chain up a dog. The neighbor said "sorry, sorry" and I placed the dog next to the fence of our property. The dog pissed and then followed Natascha in through the gate. I waved at our neighbors, followed and closed the gate from inside.

With daylight ending, we walked home and quickly made some space in our storage building next to our house. Kennedy's temporary quarantaine cage is still standing and with a slight adjustment and a blanket, it now serves as temporary indoor-doghouse.

 

I wanted to name the dog 'Lady'. But Natascha likes the name Heidi, since "Aîdi" is Bulgarian slang for "Let's go". So we agreed on 'Lady Heidi'.

Written by Thijs - last update: 21-08-2024