Walking the dog in America was a pretty mundane activity-not far from what you think it would be.  Put the dog on the leash, walk down a street, up another, stop to sniff things, stop to pick up dog poo, and see other people walking dogs.  Sometimes you might even see a squirrel or cat to bark at.  Pretty routine stuff.

As I have been in charge of walking the dog this week while Brian is in Ulaanbaatar I have found myself comparing American dog walking, see above, to Mongolian dog walking.  Walking the dog here means putting the leash on the dog, walking 20 seconds until you have reached the edge of town, and then letting the dog off the leash to go absolutely crazy.  We tend to play two different games while walking.  The first one is called “Don’t eat that” and is usually played by Santi eating something (often produced by man if you know what I mean) and me yelling “don’t eat that” while I throw rocks at her.  Variations on the game include “don’t touch that sack, I have no idea what is in it”, “stay away from the outhouse” and “camels can kill with one kick so get over here.” The other game we play, which involves Santi practicing her smelling and licking abilities, is called “Whose skull was that?”  So far we have identified a horse, camel, dog, and sheep skull.  The sheep head was extra glorious and came with an “option to roll in.”  Walking the dog in Mongolia means lots more times yelling “put down that vertebrae” but also means never having to pick up a poo.

And when you get home in Mongolia your dog gets to chew on a camel bone the size of a small child.  American dogs should be so lucky!

On the trail of a camel? A goat? Some exciting dung?

Chasing baby camels is so much fun!

A rare moment of repose.