It’s a Dogs Life

Well we are not in our new abode yet – lots of issues such as having to rewire the place to bring it line with UK electrical standards never mind Bangladeshi ones.  Install air conditioning, actually put a kitchen in to be honest, general maintenance and solving problems which should not have been there from that start.  I was told this was normal when a property is taken over for diplomats etc.  What was more concerning, that this is a brand new building with the paint still wet and all this work still had to be carried out.  I think it is called the joys of design and construction in Dhaka.

Anyhow I digress.  We have a visitor staying this week -  a chocolate Labrador called Minstrel (a bit of typecasting there me thinks).  So why he is staying you cry?  Well, the a Diplomatic colleague needed to go out of town on business and failed to mention to Mrs Diplomatic colleague that she would be going with him.  This resulted in Mr Dc chatting to Madam to see if we could look after the waif for a couple of days.  Madam, of course has been nagging the TS for months / years for a ‘little doglet’ – I know, I cringe as well and please don’t ask.  Delightedly she said yes and then truly informed me.

Minstrel with Rudolph

Well Minstrel arrived on Sunday with his bed (now becoming a floor ornament as he has learnt a bad habit from a previous sleepover elsewhere – the sofa), his food - changed days when I had a dog as a kid.  All it is a bag of biscuits with a touch of water – no tins of dog food etc.  His toys (which included a rather fetching teddy bear like Rudolph the reindeer which he would take with him to bed each night), bowls and a big stick (more later).  Minstrel would be staying the week – Madam failed to tell me.  To just rub salt into the proverbial, Madam was out most evenings this week, so it is up to the TS to entertain, feed, walk and generally be the convivial host for Minstrel.  Now you see why I am have been resisting a ‘little doglet’ – it would be like that all the time.  All aside, he is a big softie and a gorgeous looking dog and of course the TS would be more than willing to look after him whenever – that’s not the point though and don’t tell Madam.  A pretence is needed.

Now walking a dog in Dhaka is an unusual thing.  The only people who have dogs as pets are expats.  Generally the dogs that do exist here are feral and roam the streets – the first problem.  Secondly the pavements don’t generally exist and you have to dodge traffic, rickshaws and tuk-tuks whilst walking, never mind the people who seem to be on the whole, scared of dogs.  The big stick is needed to fend off the stray dogs and kamikaze cats. 

One doesn’t realise the number of dogs roaming the place until they all start coming out of the wood work irrespective of the ones sitting behind gates.  Apart from having another set of eyes, a guard dog would be helpful just to take pooch out for walkies. 

One of the big conundrums I keep asking when walking – do they have any planning law?  You have maisonettes which would be typical in middle England, to some Mediterranean style architecture followed by some hotch potch of something alongside a sleek glass apartment block.  As well as the various construction sites dotted about with their very own breach of health & safety rules as we know it.  This is all within a 12 block area.  So when Minstrel departs at the end of the week, I can honestly say I have seen more of the area and lots more of the weird constructions called houses in Dhaka.  Minstrel of course is oblivious to all of this focussing on the next sniff and where his dinner is coming from – it is true – it is a dog’s life!