May
18
2012

76/365

bya Gabrielle at 8:00 AM

Meili is happy with her new home.  It took her awhile to get used to it.  I swear that it looks like she is smiling.

Post Footer
May
03
2012

61/365

bya Gabrielle at 8:00 AM

Explosive dog?  I guess this is a bomb sniffing dog.  Pretty funny translation.

Post Footer
Apr
23
2012

51/365

bya Gabrielle at 8:00 AM

Meili and her glamor shot.

Categories: China,Dog,Shanghai
Post Footer
Mar
29
2012

26/365

bya Gabrielle at 8:00 AM

Meili: A Happy Dog

Post Footer
Mar
16
2012

13/365

bya Gabrielle at 8:00 AM

Something doesn’t seem right in this picture . . .

Categories: China,Dog,Yangshuo
Post Footer
Dec
12
2008

Phil Will Never Let Me . . .

bya Gabrielle at 12:35 PM

But this is my dream!!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwM6f0liHpo[/youtube]

I may just have to go live with this lady.  I’m sure she needs an extra paw . . . I mean hand.  Yes, my sad attempt at being funny failed.

Post Footer
May
16
2008

Hello Puppy

bya Gabrielle at 4:44 PM

I’m a thief. I so stole this off of Flickr. I don’t know why, but I really, really like this photo. The colors are great and there is something about that door in the background that is intriguing. And I just love how one of the ears on the dog is up, and the other is down. Even the chairs are nicely arranged. I wish I could take such an awesome photograph.

Categories: Animals,Dog,Pet
Post Footer
Feb
07
2008

Once Upon a Time in China Part 4: The Story of a Dog

bya Gabrielle at 7:00 AM

If you know me just a little bit, you should know how I feel about man’s best friend and why. I never really wrote about it on this blog, and I sorta wish that I had. It would have made this blog a bit more interesting, I think. For those of you who have no idea how I feel about dogs and why – here is a one sentence explanation why.

I worked at Bermex for 8 months as a meter reader, and every day a dog tried to eat/kill me.

Meter Reader

When I tell people I willingly ate dog in China, people tend to think I am crazy, sick, or both, but it never stops them from asking how dogs tastes. When dog was placed on my dinner plate in China, all I could think was, “Revenge! It is mine!!”

I’m not exaggerating. And if for some reason you think I am, stop what you are doing, find out who handles gas and/or electric meter reading in your area, apply, get hired, and if you last one month – I’ll applaud you. What? Did you think I was going to give you a prize or something.

Anyway, I digress. This post is supposed to be about China and a dog. This story is short, but sweet.

One night, in Shenyang, Phil and I were walking back to our apartment from a restaurant where we had just had dinner. It was still very cold at this time. A lot of the snow and ice from the worst winter storm in 50 years was still piled in places. It made walking a bit hazardous. On several occasions, I nearly busted my white American ass.

While we were walking, we noticed a little dog was following not to far behind us. This is not a to uncommon occurrence in China. Dogs walk around like they are people all the time – even looking both ways before they cross the street. Sounds strange, but I’ve seen them do it. It wasn’t any special kind of breed. It looked like a mutt to me.

The little dog followed us several blocks down the street until we got to the entrance to our apartment. Of all the places we lived in China, this place had the fanciest entrance – a revolving door. Such luxury, huh? Hehe. When we got to this door, I looked back at the little dog, and told him goodbye. I often talk to animals, even though they can’t understand me. Phil thinks I am nuts. He stopped behind us and watched as we stepped in and pushed the door.

I kid you not, as soon as the next available space got back to him, he stepped in and followed us into the lobby. I looked down at him and said, “Your not supposed to be in here. Get back outside.”

Revolving Door

Our fancy revolving door looked a little like this, except that it wasn’t all swirly like that.

The dog looked at me, barked once or twice, and sat down. I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I felt partially responsible that he was sitting in the lobby. I did speak to him, after all. The “security guard” didn’t seem to mind that a dog was chilling in his lobby. Thinking about it now, he may have been taking a nap.

I tried coaxing the dog outside, but he wasn’t budging. If the market right next to the apartment hadn’t been closed, I would have tempted him with something tasty. Nothing I did worked. The dog just continued to look up at me. If possible, I would say he had a confused look on his face.

A few minutes later, a man pushed his way through the revolving door. The man looked over at us and said something in Chinese, probably, “Come along little doggy.” The immediately perked and started following through the lobby. The guy opened the door to the security office and the dog followed in right after him.

I guess the dog knew where he was going after all. He was just waiting for his owner to show up.

Phil and I laughed all the way up to our unlucky 14th floor. You really had to be there to see it.

Post Footer