Oreo, our diplodog (Part 2)

It is really odd. Dogs are not allowed in parks or gardens in Bangladesh. That is ironic, to say the least, since the parks are full of strays. So, walking them them becomes an issue. There are no sidewalks, or art least not free of debris, so you pretty much have to dodge cars and rickshaws on the dusty roads. On top of it, you really have to be mindful of the strays. Whoever is walking a dog has to be "armed" with a big stick to fend the off. A colleague from the Embassy learned that the hard way, after her dog got bit.
Which brings me to the vet care, or lack of thereof.

Veterinary health care here is pretty much non existent. There are no veterinary clinics, except for a military structure, no x-rays, no analysis, so basically nothing! There are two known veterinarians, one of them an Iranian refugee. He loves animals, and does what he can. Luckily we did not have to try him, I only talked to him on the phone so far.Dr. Siamak, +8801711561155He does home visits, has no real surgery place and does perform small operations at your home.

Grooming saloons? Forget it. Will do it at home.

Walks? Will use the roof top.

Exercise? Will run with the Marines.

and crash in bed soon after!

Oreo, our diplodog (Part 1)

Meet Oreo, our sweet, world-traveled dog that’s new to Dhaka and Bangladesh. He responds to English, Romanian and now, to a little bit of Bangla.

Oreo was a young puppy when Cristina caved in and allowed the kids to get him from a small pet shop in Michigan. Childhood was happy there, no big surprises, chasing away squirrels or the neighbor's cat, being spoiled by all the kids on the street...

And then one day, without being consulted, he became a foreign service dog or a diplo-dog. The owners decided they would move to Bangladesh for at least two years.

For most families working in American embassies and consulates, having a pet is just out of the question because of the hassle of travel, but that was not the case with Oreo's family. He was too loved to be left behind and therefore started traveling himself, first Washington, then Seoul, Bangkok, then Dhaka. Travel was not easy. Not eating, drinking or going to the bathroom for more then 14 hours on the Washington-Seoul flight was a great challenge, but he did it. A number of flight attendants almost had heart attacks when they saw him in Cristina's lap and one of them almost spilled her coffee tray in my lap.

In Bangladesh dogs are not happily accepted. After all, it’s a Muslim country, where dogs (as well as pigs) are considered unclean animals. There are, however, a lot dogs around, most of them strays, living on the streets!

Their condition? Let's just say that every single time coming home after seeing the stray first thing we do is hug Oreo. Only if he would realize how lucky he is!

Doreos

You can find any knock off you can think off in Dhaka. But when you think knock off you think cell phones, expensive shoes, fancy clothes. Who would have thought of cookies knock offs?

Well, someone in the Desh has. In the supermarket here you can find Doreos!!! “Doreo”, perhaps it stands for “Dhaka Oreos”? I have tried them, just for kicks, they have nothing in common with the real deal other then the name.

Dog hair everywhere

We have not been able to find a reliable dog groomer in Dhaka. That is not to say it does not exist.

Most of the expat pet owners we know prefer to do the grooming themselves. The results vary widely to say the least. In the couple of months we have been here, I have noticed some the most hilarious dog haircuts. So, armed with a machine we ordered online from Walmart, Cristina and I got to work on grooming Oreo this morning. We are fortunate that his size is small, so we did not have to sedate him like our friend Amber had to do with her dog. It took her three hours, two more people to help and a sedative slipped in the dog's food.

Our result? We are not really proud of it, but then again we do not plan on turning it into a full time career.

Dhaka fit or Training with the Marines

Every Sunday and Wednesday, the Marines of Detachment Dhaka invite everybody in the mission to the Dhaka Fit!,a training program at the US Embassy Annex Field. Since it is an excellent way to support, motivate, and spend time with our favorite Marines and at the same time get in a good work out, the whole family joined, including Oreo.

No, we do not look like this, even though some of our Marines come pretty close

We look a little bit more like this:

And, yes, we did almost get killed by one of our favorite Marines the first time we joined the program. He pushed so hard and tried to motivate me with quotes like: "Pain is just weakness leaving the body!" :)


And here is Oreo, after the training program is over and we are home: