Best Jamaican Relationship I’ve Ever Had

I’ve been wanting to tell the story of this dog for a year now! After almost a full year of me telling the owners that I’m going to steal it, they have finally agreed to let me take him. Now I just have to figure out how. I actually think I have the “how” figured out, now it’s come down to the “when”.

At the home where this dog lives they call him Spang and when I asked why, they told me it means Badman LOL! The people who live there are longtime friends of mine and have a spare bedroom with its own entrance to the veranda so it’s perfect for me and Badman to have our little friendship. The dog isn’t allowed anywhere near the veranda but when I’m alone at the house there are no rules! He knows when I’m the only one home and he quietly comes up the stairs and pokes his head into my room, being careful not to cross the doorway. He’s actually VERY well behaved. Watch the cute little video and read the rest of the story below.

I met the dog a year ago and it only took him about a day to become attached to me for some strange reason. He started running out into the road to greet me when my car pulled up to the house. Ever since that day he consistently greets me at my driver side door, waits patiently for me to come out so he can walk me to the house. When I exit the car he dances around in circles in the middle of the road, darts around wildly and yelps. He then runs up all the stairs ahead of me and frolics on veranda until I get my room door open. After my first time meeting him I always come home with a treat for him – usually a cheese bun from the gas station at the bottom of the road. Last April it was an unlimited supply of dog cookies from the 46 lb treat bags I brought down for a dog shelter.

There are so many “worlds cutest things” this dog does to brighten my days whenever I see him. As you saw in the video, any time I’m sitting on the veranda he runs up the stairs and slams his body into my legs and sticks there like glue. He gets all twisted up in my legs just looking for me to pet him or scratch his ears. One time when I was getting in my car to leave he actually laid on the ground right in front of the car so I couldn’t move. I felt like crying!! And other times I’ve seen him crawl underneath my car and take a nap. These are the things that break my heart knowing I’m never at the house for more than 3 or 4 days at a time, and that I’m gone for periods of months in between sometimes. I always think about him when I’m not there and wonder if he’s safe, well fed and watered because I know the owners don’t really like him.

One day in May I was on a road trip with one of my Canadian friends and her son and we were passing through St Ann so we did the ceremonial turn-off to Steertown and stopped at the gas station to buy a cheese bun for Badman. My friend and her son are total dog lovers too and you can see in the following pictures how much the dog loved them! It just breaks my heart that he has so much love to give and no one to give it to on a regular basis! And even when there was 9 months between visits this dog STILL remembered who I am and acted like no time had passed. I know this probably sounds stupid to a lot of Jamaicans but I don’t care.

So here’s my plan for getting him home. The dog shelter in Jamaica that I frequently promote facilitates foreign adoptions for stray dogs in Jamaica. I’m planning to approach the shelter to see if she will facilitate this whole thing if I cover all the costs of his care while he’s at the shelter and of course, pay the adoption fees. The only thing I’m not super sure of is timing. Right now I have a dog at home in Canada and she’s very old so I don’t want to introduce her to a young Jamaican dude. I don’t want her to feel “replaced” in her old age. I also rent my home in Canada and I’m sure 2 dogs wouldn’t work out here. Soooooo….this is my dilemma. But where there’s a will there’s a way and I’m convinced this guy is meant to be with me LOL!

I feel a little more desperate to get him now because when I left a month ago it seemed as though he had developed an eye infection and it made me sad because I know he wouldn’t get treatment for it. I hope it was just a regular dog thing and that it’s gotten better. Now that I’ve grown so attached to him I really do think about his health and safety all the time.

So anyway, that’s my ridiculous Jamaican dog story! Now you’ve all met the mongrel I’m in love with! If I really can adopt him and bring him home I will OF COURSE document the entire thing! What an awesome story it will be to have my own living piece of Jamaica right here at home!