Barking Dogs in Cancun

If you visit Cancun & don't stay in the hotel zone, you'd better bring some earplugs or get used to the sound of barking dogs. They are everywhere here. Stray dogs wander the streets and parks at night, but the problem is mostly the domesticated dogs and their inconsiderate owners. Apparently there are laws about making noise here, but like most laws in Mexico, they were made to be broken. Calling the police is probably useless (or worse). We haven't tried it yet, but we will, as soon as our Spanish improves.

Most people who have dogs here keep them outside, as guard dogs. And noise after midnight seems to be accepted here. A friend who runs a hotel in the neighborhood worries that the loud music from a nearby surf bar is bothering his guests, but he hasn't formally complained to anyone. We have tried to buy an anti-bark (shock) collar for Diablo & haven't been able to find one here, in a city of almost a million people (& what seems like as many dogs)!

Puppies and Fleas and Worms... Oh My!

I've written before about the low prices here in Cancun. This generally also applies to medical expenses (though you should have travel insurance) and veterinary care.

After we brought our new puppy (Diablo) home (see this post for more on that), a couple of days passed uneventfully, by which I mean "as uneventfully as possible for the owners of a new puppy."

Naming Diablo

I've written elsewhere about our border collie puppy Diablo. But I want to dedicate a post to the subject of choosing Diablo's name.

Discovering... Diablo!

"Dogs were very highly regarded in ancient Mexico, but only as a menu item ..."
-- from Carl Franz & Lorena Havens' The People's Guide to Mexico

After flying a large inflatable kite on the beach near Marina Chac Chi one day, I cleaned the kite off in the water & looked for a clean place to roll up my kite. Luckily, there is a large abandoned hotel next door.