Paul and I both love animals. When we lived on 10 acres in Washington State we had a variety of animals.

We had chickens, of course. I even sold movable chicken houses that I imported from England for a while.

We had ducks on our pond.

We had rabbits.

We had birds – Pionus Maya and Amazon Tiko.

We had pygmy goats Lexus and Wrangler.

We had a miniature donkey, Sweet Pea.

We had various cats over the years.

But the most important animals to us have always been our dogs. Our first dog together was Lucy. She came from the shelter and has been with us nine years. She is mellow and gets along with anyone and everyone.

After Lucy, we got Angus. He was a scottish terrier, and like all terriers, he had personality to spare. He and Lucy were great pals. Unfortunately, he got lymphoma, and died after a year and a half of chemo.

But before Angus died, Henry joined our pack. He was a gift from my boss (too long a story to tell here), a schnauzer-poodle mix (a schnoodle) and came to us at about 10 weeks old. Lucy and Angus taught him the rules, and we were actually very glad we already had another dog when Angus passed away.

They had a lot of property to run around, critters to chase, deer to watch, and fresh garden peas and beans to eat! With so much property we wondered how they’d do when we moved to Mazatlán and had a city life instead of a country life.

We started working with them ahead of time so that they walked well on a leash. (Since we had so much property we hadn’t really walked them much.) We took them to city parks and tried to teach them to be relaxed with people walking all around them. It took a bit of time.

The drive down was no problem. We had read that driving is a nice way for dogs to move since their nature is that the pack migrates together.

They obviously love their walk every day. It’s important for them to get out and see the world, smell new smells, and have challenges each day.   Now that they live in the city more people drop by to visit or come to the door so there are always new things happening.

We’ve got a good vet and groomer and are happy with the care they receive. We can buy their Frontline Plus a number of places, and I have compared the price to NOB and it is about the same. High quality dog food is not so easy to find here in Mazatlán, though.

The heat in the summer affects them just as it affects us. They are less active, lie on the cool tile, and enjoy ice cubes in their water dish. All in all, they are doing great. I think the only thing they don’t like is that there are fireworks for every occasion here.  But you know what?  They just want to be with Paul and me, and wherever we are, they are happy.