Puppy Love...

Stretching the definition of "lap dog"

Funny Dogs in Belize

Taco and Bowdoin

I don't know why we named him Taco... since he's mostly Italian Greyhound! Bowdoin is a typical Belizean mutt that decided to walk down the middle of the Placencia Road and stick his scrawny puppy face in our yard... he has thrived!

Aaaawwwww...

Cote and LolaIMG_4624Originally uploaded by traversfamily 

Not to be outdone in the "cuteness" department, my son Kevin posted this shot of their dog Lola and her friend Cote on Flickr. I don't think he'll mind if I share.

Hey Dad... Where You Going?

Mina is usually my passenger seat companion in the D-Max pick-up truck... and is always disappointed if can't take her along for one reason or another. Well, now she has another "ride" around the beach and Kokomo... and she can get off whenever she wants to check something out!

Mina loves the "Golf Cart Patrols."

A New Addition...

Miss Mina (Meena) is a wonderful addition to our family "pack"... she is a purebred German Shepard, and is just delightful. Almost 4 years old, she has had one litter and is now spayed. Gentle, affectionate and extremely well behaved, she loves riding in the truck, and escorting Dad on his daily "gate rounds." We are so fortunate to have her in our family.

Belize Rescue Dogs!

Our latest addition to the pack, Taco, seems to be getting along quite nicely with Bowdoin! Taco is about 10 months old and he is a black and white male Chiuaua mix.

Bowdoin is a very local rescue... as a tiny scrawny puppy (look here for the story and photo) she wandered down the main Peninsula Road and in to our yard and said "can I stay here?"

Get Outta My Yard!

They may not be quite so brave if they get any closer...

Lazy Belize Day in the Sun...

Lazy Day in the Sun
Originally uploaded by traversbelize

Do you suppose these guys are resting from their tireless efforts to keep away the various monsters that try to invade the Kokomo compound? Or maybe they just need a break from the run out to the Marina and quick dip in the water (well... not Little Bit!). Bowdoin (on the lounger) and Sir Charles seem totally unfazed by the whole thing.

Belize Dirt & Road Dust... and Dogs!

If you keep up with this blog (and you can do that easily here)... then you know we have dogs. Five, actually... Iris, Sir Charles, Little Bit, Bowdoin and Rambo (don't ask... we didn't name him). Well, that also means we deal with sand and dirt from doggie tracks all the time. In addition to the road dust that just floats in with every truck or bus going by. We constantly deal with keeping computer keyboards and screens cleaned up and it has become a real quandry... especially what to do about the inside of laptops and, in particular the back side of the display screen. I knew that there had to be a way, so a quick google search turned up the perfect solution. Take a look at the best screen cleaner we could find... here.

Little Bit's Dilemma...

While trying to doze off last night, Karen and I began to notice Little Bit (our Belizean Chihuahua mix) acting strangely, and scratching a lot. She was just about getting frantic; couldn't keep still and scratch, scratch, scratch. Finally Karen had a better look and saw a puppy with hives... swollen face and all! Pretty strange (and funny) looking. Don't have a clue what she had an allergic reaction to, but 5 or 6 mg of Benadryl and a little bit of Prednisone (steroid) quieted things down very quickly. About 30 minutes after the Benadryl... you could hear the "contentments" and "thank you Mommies" coming from that little dog! The pics are the "morning after" since I didn't screw my head on to get shots during the acute phase at midnight last night! Notice the "jowls" that are definitely not a normal part of her anatomy!

Zack is here... and all fired up!

One of the first things that is necessary after you arrive in Belize, is making sure that the equipment is running properly and that the sand can be moved around to make the infrastructure work properly. Do you suppose Albert may be getting some competition?




If the boss is taking a morning snack break, it's important to make sure any crumbs that are left over get cleaned up immediately by the hired help.




Then, after lunch, it's very important to rejuvenate from the heat and make sure you are ready to carry on for the rest of the day...



So that the afternoon siesta is comfortable...

Mom's Lap is Too Small...

It has become a part of the morning routine for Little Bit to jump on Karen's lap during our coffee time. It's important to have a place to rest your chin!

New Belize Puppy...

So Karen is sitting in the palapa and a guy in a truck stops fairly abruptly in front of our gate and gets out and looks around the vehicle and suddenly is depositing a little puppy on our lawn. Well, Miss Karen scoots out the gate and says "is that your dog?" and the guy says "no, he was wandering in the road and I almost hit him." Well, needless to say, he was soon inside with us and after a few days we learned that he belonged to a lady a few hundred yards up the road from us. So Karen brought him back to the owner, and a few hours later she (the rightful owner) was walking by our gate and here's the puppy tagging along with her... well, the puppy spied our place and immediately made a bee-line for the door and found a small opening to come in to the place where there's nice folks and food! The lady said, "he won't stay with me... you can have him." So, now we have a scrawny Belizean puppy to add to the menagerie. After a few days of healthy food, worm medicine, antibiotic for his skin infection and immunizations, he has blended in with the crew very nicely and is named Bowdoin. The name is from Bowdoin College near where we used to live and where our son, Kevin, is the Web Media Manager. Maybe being named after a great college will elevate his status in the world of Belizean mutts! Here's a picture of her (and Taco) more than a year later!