S.H.L.P.

SHLP stands for Sociedad Humanitaria de La Paz. We just pronounce it “Shlip”. Every Saturday I go with our friends from the sailboat“Del Viento”to the animal shelter out in the desert and help dogs and visit their two pigs.

Pluma and Blanquita are medium-sized white, shaggy sisters that live in the puppy pen. There used to be a dog named Palomita (Popcorn) that Pluma followed around all day, who Blanquita followed around all day. Both of them love to get people dirty. They'll slosh their front paws around in the water bucket, roll in the sand, and then jump up on you. By the end of the day, your legs are covered in scratches and wet sand that's hard to get off.

Chivi is a sleek, black dog. She is medium-sized like Pluma. She's a really fast runner. Yeti is a small, lazy puppy, but she's actually a pretty aggressive fighter. She looks almost like a calico cat. Together, the two love to constantly pick on Patuka, who is basically a smaller version of Chivi. Patuka's favorite thing to do is gnaw on anything that belongs to you – your hand, arm, hair, or hat - just not toys.

Millie is the sweetest little dog on earth. If you call out to a dog, whether it's to Millie or not, she will happily run up to you and hop onto your knees. There's also Bambi (my friend Eleanor's favorite). Bambi isn't as crazy about being picked up as Millie. Millie's cute – small with white, curly hair and floppy ears – but Bambi is beautiful. Every time we went, it seemed like she got prettier. She has the colors of a German Shepard and the shape of a Wiener dog.

The youngest dog at the shelter is a little puppy named Tucker. He's black and white with a long neck, making him look like a cow. They found him by the road, the rest of his brothers and sisters run over by a car. Eleanor, Franny, and I got to name him. (I was thinking of a particular black dog I know named Tucker when we decided on it.) He is a lot calmer than the other dogs. Now, Patuka lives with him in their own enclosure.

One of the things I love about Mexico is their dogs. All of them are nice and usually very mellow (except for the occasional one locked up in a fenced yard that barks viciously at everything that passes by). Nobody minds if you pet their dog, and there are hundreds of sweet strays everywhere. I know there's not much I can do to help them, so I try to give a little attention to every dog we go by.