Muchos Perros

You only need to be in Buenos Aires for about 30 seconds to realize that the whole city loves dogs. This is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite thing about the city. I love seeing all of the dogs, in the streets, on the sidewalks, in the park, everywhere you go there are a zillion pups. The down side to this, of course, is the incredible amount of dog excrement left behind on the streets, on the sidewalks, in the park, basically everywhere. It is no small miracle if you spend a week here and don't have to clean off your shoes. At first I was convinced that lazy, inconsiderate dog owners were the source of this issue in the city. I have come to realize that although this is probably part of the issue, the bigger problem stems from one of the city's identifying characteristics, the dog-walkers.

These people walk dogs for a living, and a not-too-shabby living either. They get paid by the dog, by the hour and they definitely maximize their potential. I like dogs and all, but I cannot imagine keeping control of up to 20 dogs even with the intricate leash and pulley system that these people have perfected. The interesting thing to me is that the dogs all seem to get along. I mean, they're walking in really close quarters with all types of breeds, sizes, ages (I'm assuming) and I have yet to see a fight. Some of the walkers seem to have all large or all small pups, but for the most part they have a pretty mixed bag. Not to mention that virtually NONE of the dogs are neutered. I'm assuming very few are spayed as well (not quite as noticeable) so I'm not sure how that all plays out. Back to the problem at hand, when walking this many dogs, there is definitely going to be a dropping or two that goes unnoticed. I'm not even sure how this guy would stop to pick it up - and there are hundreds of walkers just like him. They probably don't even bring bags on their walks.

Regardless, I still love the dogs and the walkers. I have used my super spy skills to capture a few pictures. This has been a 3 month task for me because 1) I feel pretty awkward taking pictures of people on the street and 2) BsAs isn't an extremely dangerous city, but I don't like to take my camera out alone and the dog walkers are all done for the day by the time Jon gets home to go photo hunting with me. Here are a few that I've gotten over the months:

The female dog-walker, a poor example since she looks a little out of control.

The basset hound man.

Your neighborhood friendly dog walker. He even waved for the camera.

Note: My Mom visits today! Hooray! Get ready for lots of touristy trips and tours in the upcoming days!