It was inevitable...

Tai has enjoyed a lot of freedom since we moved to our present home in northeastern Thailand. We now have no yard or garden for him to play in as we did when we lived in Chiang Mai. Our apartment here is above our restaurant in a commercial building. So, as long as our front door is open, Tai can pretty much come and go as he pleases.

In the mornings, he makes a bee-line for the nearest pillar or post to pee. But then he likes to wander around to see who has visited the area in the night. We've noticed lately that his wanderings have taken him much farther afield... much too far for my liking. I'm always concerned that he will be either attacked by other local dogs or stolen.

This week, my fears were realized. While out on one of his wanderings, he must have encountered one of the many dogs that claim this area as their territory. Tai always wants to meet and make friends with any dog he sees, and so he's entirely unprepared for those who are mean and defensive. Obviously, the encounter didn't go as he had expected. He was bitten on his hind leg. Nothing serious, but enough to scare the sh** out of him. He was cowering and shaking when I got home from school later in the day. Perhaps he thought he was going to get into trouble. We're watching the wound to see that it doesn't develop into something serious, and we're keeping an eye on him to make sure he stays close.

The question now is, Has he learned anything from the experience? I tend to doubt it. He's just too independent--much too independent for his own good sometimes.

Winter in Thailand

Yup, even tropical Thailand has a winter season. (No snow, though, thank goodness.) At this time of year, the daytime temp reaches about 28C (80F)--as compared with the usual high of upper 30s (mid-90F) during the rest of the year--and nighttime temp is around 18C (64F). When you're used to lows of 28C, a temp of 18C can feel pretty darned cold. It calls for long sleeves, long trousers, maybe even socks in bed. I know, to friends and family back in N.America, it all sounds wimpish to make such claims.

Tai doesn't like the cold weather either. On a cool morning, he quite enjoys wearing his 'pajamas'. The front of our restaurant doesn't get direct sunshine except in the early morning. He loves to sit (or lie) out front, watching the world go by, waiting to greet the first customer. But he is clearly uncomfortable lying on the concrete patio. Hence the need for his pajamas. If it's too cold for his sensitive constitution, he always has a soft blanket inside the restaurant where he can curl up and snooze away the day.

At night, Tai makes a bee-line for the foot of the bed, under the blankets. He usually likes to sleep against someone, so I might wake up in the night to find him flat against my back or my stomach.

Do all dog owners do this? If I have to get up in the night (don't need to tell you why, do I?), I do it carefully and quietly so as not to disturb Tai. Why? Why should I care if he's disturbed or not? It's not like he can't afford to lose a few minutes of sleep occasionally. Weird.

Tai's Part-Time Job

Yes, it's true. Tai has a part-time job. Well, not a job so much as a self-declared run of the video rental shop next door. It's an open-air shop (no actual front door that closes), so Tai--being the ever-outgoing soul that he is--goes to visit the owner and to greet their customers. Tai assures us there is no conflict of interest--he can greet their customers without it interfering with his duties greeting our customers.

I thought Tai might be a royal nuisance next door, so I was always herding him out if I saw him go in there. If I couldn't find Tai in our restaurant, I knew for sure he'd be next door. The owner assures us, though, he's happy to have Tai visit.

Now if we could just get him to stop peeing on the display racks. (I'm not kidding!!!!!!)

The People He Likes...and Doesn't

Tai is such a cool, calm, collected guy. If he were human, he'd be described as a people person. So I guess that means he's a dog's dog.

He loves to greet everyone as they come into the restaurant and checks on them occasionally as they enjoy their coffee or a meal. Well, everyone isn't exactly correct. For whatever reason, Tai will take an immediate dislike to someone, usually a man, as soon as that person walks through the door. It is the only time Tai will growl. We can't figure out what it is about the person that he doesn't like, but it is very obvious that Tai doesn't like him.

When we took Tai on the train a couple of years ago, he was sitting with us as pets are allowed to do in third class. People were moving up and down the aisle... the ticket collectors, food vendors, passengers. Tai's reaction to everyone was merely curiosity. That is, until one particular man came up the aisle. That was the first time ever that we had heard Tai growl. Ever. The man did nothing to provoke the reaction. Perhaps just Tai's sixth sense. Since then, it is only rarely that he will growl at someone.

Tai is great with kids. Well, actually, it just means he's enormously tolerant of their poking and patting and prodding and pulling. Once he's had enough, he sneeks away to some hiding spot to snooze till those pint-sized humans go away. For some kids, he'll bring out his ball. He wants to play. But with others, it's a hasty retreat.

Tai Approves

We recently bought some new outdoor patio furniture for our restaurant. Simple, basic bamboo tables and chairs. Very practical, given our tropical climate, and very inexpensive. The 'inexpensive' part really works for me!

The new furniture has been a hit with the customers. But more importantly, it's a hit with Tai. He has already chosen one table that he uses to bask in the morning sunshine. A perfect vantage point from which to watch the world go by.

I know what some of you are thinking... A dog on the table. Disgusting. Well, this is Thailand, and they don't worry about little things like cleanliness. Well, actually they do, just not as obsessively as we do in the Western world. But then again, even in the Western world, we dog lovers have learned to love our little BTs kissing our faces, sharing our ice cream cones, and cleaning off the plates after dinner... or even during dinner. Simply part of normal everyday life with a Boston, right?

By the way, we do clean our tables. And we don't let Tai jump up while customers are sitting there. We do exercise some common sense! ;-)

Our Boston Bathing Beauty

Ahh, bath time. Those few glorious moments of utter bliss, soaking in a hot bath. A bit of scented bubble-bath, a candle or two for ambient lighting, the sound of birds singing in the background.

Oops, we're talking about Bostons here, so the preceding description, at least for some, could not be farther from the truth. When it comes to bath time, some Bostons hate it and fight it tooth and nail. A battle royale, so to speak. Others revel in it, playing games with the jets of water from the hand-held shower. And I suppose the rest merely tolerate it, looking pathetically woe-begone, as they stand there in full undignified exposure, no doubt planning revenge in the form of a chewed slipper or a little wet spot on the carpet or a "gift" left behind the sofa.

With Tai, it's really hard to tell how he feels about it all. He certainly doesn't hate it. He stands there, seemingly unfazed by all the soaping and rinsing and towel-drying of his mentionable and unmentionable parts. Right from Day One, he has never fought bath time. Always the trooper.

Oddly, though, Tai likes to lick the soap. I don't mean the bar of soap, I mean the soap suds on our hands or feet. Ewww! Yuck! But, then, this is a dog that likes to lick bird poop... and we all know how disgusting that tastes! (oops, just pretend I didn't mentioned that)

The end of bath time usually triggers a mad dash around the apartment. Sometimes he won't even wait to be dried. Dripping wet--and despite our cries of "Stay! Stay!"--he'll take off on a tear from one end to the other, searching for a toy or a playmate. I guess to him bath time is just play of a different kind.

(Sorry, no pics for this posting. Tai would not release any pics of himself in such an unflattering situation.) ;-)

Boston of Another Kind

When we moved to his part of Thailand, we opened a small restaurant/coffee shop. In addition to our famous coffee (many tell us it's the best coffee in town), we serve a pleasing mix of Thai-style and western-style dishes. October 2007 was our first anniversary. During this first year, business has steadily grown--largely by word of mouth--necessitating the addition of part-time staff. Naturally, we're pleased about that.

So what does all this have to do with Tai and Boston Terriers in general, you might ask? Well, the name of our place is Boston-T Cafe. And Tai's face is our logo. In fact, we have photos of Tai all over the restaurant. A testament to exactly who runs things around here! At first, people thought we were a pet store. But with a bit of promotion everywhere we went, they have gotten to know us better.

We're a pet-friendly restaurant. As long as visiting pooches are pleasant and sociable, we're happy to have them. So is Tai.

In our early months, customers would be on their cell phones, saying they were at Boston-T. You just knew the person at the other end was asking, 'Where's that?', because our customer then tried to explain where we are. Today when customers say 'Hey, we're at Boston. Wanna meet us?', there is rarely a need to give directions. By the way, note the reduction in name to just Boston. Ahh, we've become an icon.

Tai is our ambassador. He loves to greet the customers. He lies on the welcome mat in the doorway, waiting for the next customer to come along, or he peeks through the little opening in the window decoration. Many tell us HE is the reason they like to come back... well, that and the great food, of course!

Our Boston Traveller

Tai loves to travel. Just say the words "pai-tee-aow"--the Thai language equivalent of ROAD TRIP!--and he's the first one to the door. As soon as he's finished peeing on the tires, we're good to go, whether it's to the corner store or across the country.

Tai is definitely the co-pilot type, wanting to sit right up front with the grown-ups, preferably on the passenger's lap. Sometimes he wants to be on the driver's lap, but we do draw the line. After all, he doesn't have his driver's license yet.

As you can imagine, tropical living calls for air-conditioning pretty much all the time, at home and in the car. Tai doesn't like air-conditioning; so when we're in the car, he navigates for a while, then heads to the back seat where he curls up and goes to sleep. (Sometimes we have to turn up the music to cover his snoring!)

As mentioned in the previous post, Tai has even travelled by train. In Thailand, pets can travel with their two-legged companions only in third class. Wood seats and open windows. If the weather is good, it is a great way to see the country. Tai loves to watch the countryside roll by, and he loves to see (and visit) the other people on the train. Bostons are not common here, so he draws a lot of attention and prompts a lot of conversations. Tai wouldn't have it any other way!