La Zaguata

“There’s only this little one left.”

“We want a guard dog.”

Others said, “We’d like a dog for our children, she’s too tiny for our big property.”

“Well… this one might not be the one for you,” the farmer offered his regret.

“The runt of the litter, but she’s full of spunk.”

“Here, look, here in the shed.”

He opened the door and a bright-eyed puppy with rusty fur and white-marked face backed from the light, snuggling safe into her blanket.

“I see; thank you for coming.”

“Well, another failed adoption little one. What am I going to do with you? We don’t need another dog either.”

“It’s okay, don’t be sad. Someone will come to take you.”

“The doors open, go outside and enjoy the sunshine.”

‘Life’s dead-cert boring when you’re a young dog living by yourself. That is until I dug an enormous hole in the backyard and then, oh wow, it got interesting fast.

‘I am, what humans call an orphan, I’m alone in the world. An orphan dog is low on the list of importance. I know, because I have no family or friends, it’s not only boring, it hurts my heart.

‘Dogs need only a human’s love and caring to be happy. Without these, we have no place in the world. When you’re small, you know what you need but don’t know how to get it. I wanted a human family to companion. I needed love.

‘I’m sure there’s a way to find a family, I need to figure out how. Dogs are born to be human’s friends and companions. Without dogs in a human’s life, they don’t have a friend who feels what they feel, it’s in my instinct to feel the emotions of humans. The difference a dog can make as a companion can’t be measured in words, it’s a feeling of loving in the heart.

‘I’m too small to play rough around the neighborhood like the boy dogs do. To them, scrounging around yards, killing chickens and fighting is living it up.

‘Exploring and eating are the main things they do. But I’m lucky in some ways too: I have a safe place to sleep and food to eat, so it’s not like I’m being abused or anything.

‘I’m a small, mixed-breed dog born here, in Costa Rica I’m called a Zagüata, the local answer to a mongrel dog. Maybe that’s why no one wants to adopt me: A hybrid female mutt is not a pure-bred dog. I’d be a wonderful friend for a little girl or boy, I know it.

‘People wanting dogs came to the farm and picked my brothers and sisters from mom’s birthing box to take home (my big dream). But no one wanted me, I was “too little, not as cute as the others” they said.

“She must be the runt of the litter.” What a thing to call any dog especially one who already feels unloved and unwanted.

‘Most dog mothers ignore the smallest pup in her litter. It didn’t have time to fully grow, they’re what humans call a ‘preemie,’ born earlier than full term. Humans treasure their little babies, but dogs aren’t the same.

‘This is nature’s natural way; it gives the other puppies a better chance for survival. Plus, me being a girl takes any chance I’d ever be big and mean to strangers. It’s not in me to bite people, simple as that.

‘Life is filled with good and bad, happy and sad; I know. My whole life is coming so I’ve got to be patient. Dealing with sad makes us strong, but I want to change, I want to be happy. It’s not complicated, well maybe a little; a shed is not a home, living in a shed is not life.

‘I started out good. My mother fed and licked me in a fuzzy fur world with my brothers and sisters for the first six weeks of my life. Playing with other dogs my age was fun.

‘A dog’s best sense is not its eyes, its nose and ears. I have a first-class nose. I can smell things other dogs can’t and that should give me the edge for adoption, but who could know this except another dog. My nose is near bloodhound quality for smelling power and that’s something to brag about, as they smell one compared to dogs.

‘I can hundred million times better than humans, who can’t smell at all when smell trouble before it finds me, so I’ll live a long time, but if I have to do it without friends and family, you may as well forget about my life.

‘One of a zaguate’s best features is our sharp warning bark toward anything around our home and property. We are an early warning system for any intruders, including other animals. Burglars can’t gain entry without us barking in a zagüate guarded home.

‘Vision is not our strong trait, that’s why dogs depend on humans to see things at distance. We don’t need to see far away; our love and protection is for close quarters, not a mountain in the distance.

‘It’s strange how humans choose dogs as ‘Seeing Eye’ dogs for blind and disabled people when dogs have second-class vision. Maybe that’s why we’re called service dogs, and don’t call us ‘Seeing Eyes’ but ‘Seeing Eye’ so, I guess one eye extra is better than none.