Dogs of Loreto

Here's an indication that we have too much spare time on our hands: Yesterday I asked Robert to drive me around town so I could photograph dogs. As I've said before, Loreto has an abundance of dogs that wander through town. Some are strays, others looked cared for, but all are allowed free reign. I'm told that once or twice a year authorities round up the strays and destroy them in effort to keep the population down.(There is a continous campaign for spaying and neutering that seems to go unnoticed by the residents who I suspect have an affinity with natural reproduction.) Some kind souls will put a collar on a stray dog just to save him that sorry fate, hoping that will help the strays blend in with the more fortunate canines. Although, today I noticed some dogs sporting florescent orange tags which I think may be the new "authentic" proof of ownership.

We must have been a sight, me hanging out the car window with my Nikon camera looking like an idiot on safari. It's harder than you think trying to capture dogs on film (digital, actually.) They move too much and if you get too close, they trot up to greet you ruining the shot. Many of my photos are out of focus. I think I need to approach this with a reconnaissance mindset: hide out in a building with a tripod and telephoto lens and wait for the action.

There's one dog in particular I really want to catch. He is a stout white pit bull who wears a cut-off blue tee shirt and lives in my neighborhood. His owner is an architect called, "Nacho" who is building the oddest looking house, his dream design, I suppose. Many times while walking in the late afternoon I will see Nacho's car coming down the San Ignacio, a long, wide stretch of boulevard. Nacho will be chugging along at a pretty good clip while not far behind his dog sprints down the grass median after him. I understand now this spectacle is evidence of Nacho's great love for his dog. It's his way of exercising him, keeping him fit and happy. Much like a person will repeatedly throw a stick in a lake for thier retriever to fetch, Nacho and his beloved pit bull in the blue tee shirt have their own habit of recreation--racing down the boulevard.

I'm determined to capture this someday, someway.