Introducing ... Sarawat!

As most of you reading this know, we had a dog in Bangladesh named Bhagoban (Lucky). He wasn't the easiest of dogs to live with, but we really liked having him with us. Since he was used to being outside and hanging out with a crowd of Bangladeshis all day, we knew that he wouldn't be very happy in a high-rise apartment building here, so we decided to try to find a new home for him in Dhaka rather than bring him with us to Bangkok. True to his name, he was very lucky indeed to end up in a great new home. Jennifer was able to visit him a number of times on her trips back to Dhaka, and each time he was well-fed, clean, and very happy. He's surrounded by people who really seem to like him, and he has a big job to do -- namely, guarding everyone and everything at his place! -- so we're sure we made the right choice.

However, Bhago's departure left a gap in our home. We've debated filling that gap for most of the past year, and in the last few months we finally decided to take the plunge again. We thought we'd adopt Sam Liam (see "Dogs in Bangkok," below), but Carol, who runs the SCAD adoption center, asked us to take a look at Ngao (Shadow).

Her official bio read: "Ngao started life in a family home in an expensive Moo Baan (housing estate), where nearby SCAD is running a routine ABC project with one of SCAD's community dog aunties. According to the village security guards, three dogs were dumped early in the new year by two foreign families living in the Moo Baan who were leaving Thailand at the same time. They didn't dump them inside the Moo Baan, where they may have stood a chance, but outside on the edge of a major highway where the dog aunty found them cowering together in a drain, terrified and very hungry. She is already caring for dozens of dogs and her resources are stretched to the limit and the Moo Baan is not dog friendly to strays! The Moo Baan is expanding, so there is no safe place where the security guards could build a shelter and take care of these dogs. She knew they would be either attacked by the dogs outside or hit by a car and she was desperate for SCAD's help. They were admitted to the SCAD Centre on 22 January. Ngao has quickly become a big favorite with SCAD's volunteers and visitors. Around two years old, she's very friendly, smart and responsive without being demanding. She's fully housebroken and walks perfectly on a leash. Ngao tends to be dominant with other dogs, but is well socialized and understands how to find her place in a pack. An excellent all-around family pet!"

Carol said that she always expects to see Ngao wearing a policewoman's hat, because she patrols the shelter yard constantly and sorts out the fights the other dogs have over toys, food, etc. "OK, break it up, you two -- you go over there, you go over that way, you get the toy, you get nothing...." It's absolutely true -- during the hours we spent at the shelter, we saw all of this and more. What's funny about it is that, physically, she's not exactly intimidating:

What she lacks in stature, she makes up in self-confidence. She's bossy without being aggressive. You might say that she has ... a certain quiet authority.

It didn't take us long to decide that we wanted to adopt her. We picked her up on Tuesday, 8 April, and over the next week -- our vacation for Songkran (the Thai New Year) -- we're staying at home and getting to know her better.


The weekend before we picked her up, the people at SCAD took her for a routine blood test and final veterinary checkup. The volunteer who took her to the vet sent an SMS text message to Carol that read, "I think I have to kidnap Ngao. I luv her! sitting up like lady muck on the front seat taking everything in -- what a great dog!" So, yeah ... we’re pretty excited to have her.

We have, however, decided to change her name. The Thai volunteers at SCAD's health center pick the names for the dogs when they come in, usually based on their appearance. Ling looks like a monkey. Nampung is honey-colored. Sam Liam has a triangle on her nose.

Ngao was named because she quietly follows people around -- like their shadow. While it's a nice name for that reason, we didn't think it quite fit her. She doesn't just follow people. She conducts surveillance. And, of course, she's white -- how many white shadows have you seen?

Still, we liked the idea of a Thai name for a Thai dog. (Not that we know she's Thai. To be honest, she looks like some sort of ghetto terrier-corgi mix from the back alleys of Glasgow, but we won't tell her that.) After much debate, we decided to name her Sarawat. What the heck does that mean, you ask? Well, "sarawat" is Thai for "chief police inspector." We figured that matched her personality pretty well, and while Thailand isn't known for having many female chief police inspectors, there's always a first time for everything. (And it's easy to pronounce: "Sara" (like the girl's name) plus "Watt" (like the measure of electricity), with the stress on "Watt").

We're very excited to have Sarawat as part of our household, and you can be sure you'll be reading more about her here in the months to come!