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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixteen: Story-telling street photography > Indulging the dog, Ricaurte, Ecuador, 2011
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08-SEP-2011

Indulging the dog, Ricaurte, Ecuador, 2011

In the village of Ricaurte, they don’t walk the dog – they simply indulge it. I found it amusing that this mother/daughter duo simply walked out of the house and stood there like statues as the dog sniffed about the stoop and then left his puddle upon it. This photo is a street tableau, an insight into Ecuadorian village life. The mother, dressed in the vivid primary colors of Ecuador’s Andean highlands, and wearing the traditional fedora hat, studies a note in her hands as her daughter gazes resolutely at us. Neither pays attention to the dog, and the dog certainly paid no heed to them.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
1/125s f/3.3 at 19.2mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time08-Sep-2011 13:17:21
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-LX5
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length19.2 mm
Exposure Time1/125 sec
Aperturef/3.3
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis10-Dec-2011 00:13
You are very observant, Iris. I have the feeling that for most Ecuadorians, particularly those in rural areas, a dog is a dog, rather than a member of the family. They rarely worry about "walking the dog" here. The dog "walks" itself.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)09-Dec-2011 01:49
We dog owners know that when nature calls, it calls! Throughout Latin America, I don't think dogs are pampered or coddled or even brought indoors (let alone on our sofas or in our beds) like they are in the U.S. Our relationships with our dogs are very different. For me, the body language of the mother and daughter illustrates that.
Phil Douglis05-Nov-2011 19:57
Thanks for your observations on how dogs do their business at home and abroad, Carol. I am not sure if there is as much difference between such things here in the states or elsewhere. I know that when I walk my dog in the morning, she always waters the earth, sidewalk, or curb at will, just like this one has done. The one big difference, however, is that in Ricaurte there seems to be no leash laws. Dogs are everywhere, and seem to belong to everyone. I am not sure if the puddling dog here belongs to these people or not. I am guessing the latter.
Carol E Sandgren05-Nov-2011 19:13
Dogs will be dogs I guess, especially demonstrated here in your image. Letting a dog do his business anywhere at all would definitely be frowned upon here in the states for the most part, so this demonstrates a less strict way of life in Ricaurte, more primitive in nature I'd imagine. I love the burst of color in the native dress as compared to the duller tones of the wayward dog.
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