Whilst recoverering from the night out in Cusco, I found myself yet again feeding stray dogs on the street. A young ginger dog that looked a bit like Jack caught my attention, because his ribs were sticking out so much. I bought a muffin from the street vendor nearby and held it out to the dog. He responded by diving down on his front legs in classic puppy I-want-to-play pose, and then lifting his paw high in front of his face as if to say, "come on then!". Then he snatched the muffin and woolfed it down, paper and all. So I bought another two muffins and played and fed him for a bit, until he got bored. Further down the road, I bought a couple of stuffed potatoes (mashed potato wrapped around chopped vegetables and then fried in oil until crispy on the outside) from another street vendor, partly for me and partly incase I came across any more starving dogs on my way. Sure enough, a dog with a coat like a husky and light blue eyes started following me and took one of the potatoes (I scoffed the other one though, they´re delicious!). A couple of times I noticed a small black and white dog hanging around in the background, not close enough to be a contender for the food but noticeable because she was so small and didn´t look like she belonged on the street.
That night, after a small group of us had had dinner, we were walking to Paddy´s to meet the others. We got to the Plaza de Armas, and I saw the black and white dog again. She stood out because she was so small and clean; stray dogs are always dirty and bedraggled. Her tail was as far between her legs as it would go and she looked frightened to death. All around here were people and cars and chaos. I bent down to stroke her and she just froze. Without even thinking what I was doing, I picked her up and held her against my chest. She tucked her nose into my jacket, wrapped her paws around my neck, and just like that, we found each other.
I carried on walking to Paddys thinking, what the hell am I going to do now? I knew from the minute I picked her up that I wouldn´t leave until I´d been able to either find her original home, as she looked like she was lost or dumped rather than a stray, or find her a new home. I had a bus booked to Arequipa at 8:30am the next day but that was now looking unlikely. The doorman at Paddys looked at me a bit oddly but said I could take her into the bar with me. Everyone else in the bar looked at me a bit oddly but then got back to their drinks and forgot about me. She cuddled up on my lap with her head under my arm so she couldn´t hear or see anything, and went to sleep. I figured she was about 6 months old, if that, as she still had a cute spotty belly like a puppy, and was almost certainly a springer spaniel. Sometimes she would lift her head and look up at me with her quiet brown eyes and long eyelashes, she reminded me so much of Jess when she did that. I knew she was confused and had no idea what was going on, so I made sure I was always there for her when she looked up at me, to tell her it was all going to be ok.
After half an hour in the pub, I decided my only option was to go to the hostel I stayed at when I was in Cusco before. The owner, Lesley, had a great place up in the mountains and seemed to love dogs, and she was the only person I knew in Cusco. We got in a taxi and the puppy huddled against me, having now given up hope of understanding what was happening. We got to the hostel but Lesley wasn´t there. Miguel said I should come back in the morning as he thought she might be able to help. I decided to try to smuggle the puppy into my hotel, but knew that if they wouldn´t let me in, I´d have to find somewhere to spend the night with her as I couldn´t just leave her now.
The porter at the hotel said No way, but I pleaded and promised she´d be out in the morning, and miraculously he said yes! So she slept on my bed, snuggled against me all night, sometimes making little whimpering noises and licking my hand. I was completely in love with this little puppy, and wished there was a way I could take her with me to NZ.
In the morning she was a bit more playful, jumping around the hotel room and play-biting my hand. I went down for breakfast and sneaked up an egg sandwich which she ate as though she was starving. Then she did a wee on the floor, bless her, which I cleaned up quickly and decided it was time to get out of there. I picked her up again, wrapped her in my fleece and put the hood up over her head. Kylee´s group was in reception getting ready to leave, so I called for her to make a diversion and walked through the lobby and outside. We jumped in another taxi and headed back to San Blas, to see if Lesley was there. On the walk from the taxi to the hostel, I experimented with putting her on the floor to walk but she panicked and started following somebody else so I carried her again like a little baby, with her breathing down my neck as she rested her head on my shoulder.
At the hostel, things started to fall into place. Lesley´s son Simon was there, he immediately welcomed me in, told me to make myself at home with cups of tea and the tv, and that he´d take us both up to Lesley´s place in the mountains in the afternoon to see what we could work out. I was sooo grateful, we went to sit in the lounge and were both soon asleep again; the puppy lying on me so close that I was breathing on her face which seemed to help her sleep. Later Rolando took us in a taxi to a pet shop where I bought a halter and lead and some dog food for her. We went for a walk in the Plaza to see if anyone came rushing up to accuse me of stealing their dog. But nobody claimed her, and she seemed to have no idea where she was, she went up to everybody we passed to sniff them but just got more and more confused, so we went back to the hostel.
Later that afternoon, Simon took us up to the mountains to Lesley´s house. The road was really bumpy and the dog started salivating and licking her lips like she was going to be sick. She looked up at me again and I told her it was going to be alright, and she just sat there like that for the whole journey, her face pointing up to mine so I was breathing on her. When we got to the house, I carried her into the garden as Lesley already has a big dog that used to live wild in the mountains but adopted her a few years ago. There was also a very young puppy that somebody brought to the house just the day before, a little tyrant with one blue eye and one brown eye and very sharp teeth. Both dogs were straight onto my puppy and she just froze, her tail between her legs and looking as scared and miserable as I´ve ever seen a dog look. Not a good start. I put her down and walked around the garden, and she was my shadow, wouldn´t let me get an inch away from her. But after a bit, the other dogs got bored of pestering her, and she got a bit braver and explored little sections of the garden on her own. Still if I got up and moved, she followed me, but she was starting to be a bit more independant. The second one of other dogs came up though, she ran to me and put her front legs on my knees and pleaded with me to pick her up. It was heartbreaking to see her looking so desperate, but I had to try to make her stand on her own two feet.
Finally after maybe an hour or so, she had wandered into the kitchen on her own and eaten some food. She came out with her tail wagging, the first time I´d seen her do that properly. I went to hide out of the way in the garden, and she carried on just wandering around on her own. I felt like a proud mum, but also so sad as I knew I had to leave her. Simon said he was ready to go back into town, and so I just went without saying goodbye to her. Lesley had picked her up and I´m sure she was just fine, but I cried most of the way home cos that little puppy had really stolen my heart!
