Bulgaria: Memory of a dog

On my June trip to Bulgaria for birds, I came across this dog on the last two days in the central Balkans. We had gone to a high meadow of an out-of-season ski resort.  Our first walk up here was in the evening of June 16th.  I heard a dog barking from the bundled red trap.  All by itself, up where there was no one else.

I was unprepared for many of the dog and horse scenes I would see in Bulgaria.  Dogs tied up on short ropes in back yards.  Skinny dogs belonging to no one wandering the streets.  Horses pulling gypsy carts, red-tassel of the harness falling between their eyes and with leaden stares and limps from a life of nothing but work.

As it turned out the red tarp was a cover for cart horse harnesses.  Was it this little dog's job to guard this property?

The dog had a good bark but other than this did not seem too aggressive.  When it was in the path, it began to wag its tail.  I left the mountain meadow to run back to the hotel to purchase some cooked sausages from the kitchen.  I carried the hot foil package back to the dog.

The scent of hot sausages must have been evident to the dog when I was still out of its sight because when I got within view it was waiting for me on the path.  I had also brought a bottle of fresh water with a paper cup.  The dog gulped the sausage so quickly that I had no time to take a photo.  In fact, I had to pull the foil from the dog or it would have eaten the foil too.  Hard as I tried to encourage a drink, it had no interest in the fresh water.  I removed all evidence of the dog have been fed because I didn't want whoever owned the dog to see that it had been fed.  Perhaps food would be withheld.   

I reluctantly left the dog.  I admit to having ideas of how I could rescue it from that mountainside.  Of course these were foolish thoughts and I left the dog knowing that, for me, sooner rather than later was better.  It would soon be time to check out of the hotel.  As I was walking back to the hotel, dog out of sight, I heard the sound of men's voices, bells ringing, and horse hooves clopping on the road.  I took the photos as this group turned the corner into a dirt driveway or road.  The body of the horse at the rear of the line was misshapen - this appeared to be because of the heavy harness that wrapped around its neck.  

Suddenly, the little dog came running down the hill, did not stop to even notice me, ran across the road to greet the men and horses.  It has heard and recognized the sounds from perhaps a quarter of a mile away.  

The dog was ignored by the men on horses.  There was an untethered colt or filly and it lingered briefly in the driveway.  The dog remained behind it, did not proceed further along the dirt path where the men and the rest of the horses had disappeared.  

It stood there, expectant, gently waving its tail.  I don't know if this last image helped me have less concern for the dog or, for that matter, the horses.