Man's Best Friend - Sort of...

Though not popular because, in the Islamic tradition, dogs are said to be unclean, we share our compound with some four-legged friends.  Mostly friendly (Leo will "shake" your hand) and always energetic, the dogs with whom we live are actually here to serve as guard dogs.  They are kind to Western residents, but wary of strangers and Afghans.  They also bark incessantly when anyone walks around at night - an annoying, yet comforting occurrence.

I'm told the dogs are purebred Afghan hounds, but they look nothing like the Afghan hounds pictured in the Wikipedia article.

Our Afghan staff still cannot understand why we like to have the dogs around.  Whenever one of them gets out from their pen and hangs around the garden with us, the Afghans will constantly try to chase the dog away.  Unfortunately, since the Afghan staff also beat the dogs, they are all very timid when the staff comes around.

 Chunky - the crowd favorite - has been separated from the other dogs because she's a natural born scrapper.  For the most part, she now behaves like a friendly dog back home.  Chunky attends our morning staff meetings in the garden...probably because people often bring her food from breakfast.

(L-R) Leo, China, Nikki.  In addition to being China and Chunky's parents, Leo and Nikki are brother and sister.  China (not her real name, but no one can remember or pronounce the Chinese name she was given) is the product of inbreeding...and acts accordingly.

Leo surveying his kingdom.

And for your viewing pleasure, Jetlogger's video production debut!  After much thought and consideration about artistic qualities I wish to convey, I have decided to title my cinematic masterpiece (shot on location): "Dogs Playing in the Grass."