Greetings,

Today, let’s discuss the important matter of adopting near dead street dogs in places such as oh, say, Nicaragua. I am selective and not just some Mother Theresa running around handing out chicken bones and freshly fried fish heads, no. Suffice to say a little dog the size of a cat came into my life a while ago, he got hacked in the head aka chopped in the head with a machete and looked near dead with blood oozing from his skull. Since we’ve both found ourselves laying on the street with blood oozing from our skulls and lived to tell the tale, I have a soft spot for him.

He lived and he’s joined the jovial SHABL Empire 4 LIFE.

Long story short, this guy had a huge laceration on his head and without antibiotics or anything, he’s bounced back. I’ve started feeding him and introducing him to some other tough street dogs I know to make them aware he’s with me now. I’ve arranged with a local friend living here to ensure he’s fed while I’m gone but remember; Chops isn’t some domesticated donkey, he’s a survivor who eats rotten eggs that fry on the mean streets and licks fish guts off hot concrete.

We’ve named him “Chops” as well, he’s been chopped. Other names include Mr. Chop, Choppaaah, Chopathaniel Choppra, Ozo or Skinny Ozo. After a rough life, he’s found his new home and when I build a place here, he’ll be one of the residents who tend to the flowers and fends off prowlers taking on the role of late night growler. Normally I don’t do this type of thing but buddy needed a bone and I’m quasi living here so, why not?

I’ve found feeding a dog will make them like you, old news though. I’ve also found that if you remove their ticks, they will love you. I started doing this during my stint in Africa where you can see ticks the size of dimes hanging from the dogs. Something I like about a street dog is you can feed and chill with them but don’t need to baby them. These dogs know how to survive / eat chicken bones and the outcome is they get a master and you get a loyal minion.

I’ve got visions of us floating through fields of flowers while dining on lobster tails and quenching our thirst with tall martinis.

Tips hat,

P.S: On chop pic, that hole in fur was a monster tick, gruesome.

P.P.S: Grainy photos are better than no photos at 2-5kb/s uploads.