Today I want to honor the memory of two of the best dogs in Hanhongor who are sadly no longer with us.

Maxford Munson

When I was a Peace Corps volunteer, my side kick was Nigel, “sack of wrenches,” cat. I never really thought about getting a dog because I knew I would not want to leave it behind when my service was completed, and I also figured that taking a cat and a dog back to America was too much at that time for me to handle. So it was fitting that a dog adopted me instead. Maxford Munson, or Max was left behind in Hanhongor by his owner when they moved  away one day in the spring of 2003. Being a sweet, gentle, and friendly dog his sad state of affairs caught my eyes-especially since he decided to move into my yard. I started feeding him once in awhile, and quickly everyone in town decided on my behalf that I had a dog. He would hang out in front of my house, and when I moved to my ger I had a cute little dog house made for him. He enjoyed keeping Nigel inline and was wonderfully patient when I decided his dreadlocks needed cutting off and his fur combed. Sadly, I lost him much too early in December of 2003 when someone took it upon himself to poison the majority of the dogs in town. Max was a very gentle soul and I like to think that Santiago is proud to carry his name as her middle name.

Long Dog

The other dog that I remember very fondly from my Peace Corps days was Long Dog. I never knew his real name, but I named him Long Dog due to his hilarious body shape.  While his legs were about 5 inches long, his body was a couple feet long giving him a sort of hyper furry dachshund look. The “long dog” breed is actually somewhat common in Mongolia and when we got Santiago I was hoping she would turn out to be a long dog. Maybe next time…