I've come to call him "Brownie, the Dog Wanderer" because since late last year, I've always seen him wandering around our neighborhood, usually around the intersection of Corrina Avenue and Aramis Street in Pasong Tamo, Tandang Sora district, Quezon City, Philippines. And he's always been sleeping--rain or shine, if not walking around--rain or shine, on the sidewalk in front of the gate of a house there. Thus I suppose that Brownie used to live there. Maybe his human, his dog parent, in that house used to love him, and Brownie loved him or her back. That is, until maybe Brownie's dog parent kicked him out because he or she couldn't stand anymore or didn't want to do something about his wounds and nasty smell. Just a thought.
But if Brownie's not sleeping on that sidewalk, he just walks around the vicinity of the said streets, silently eyeing passersby and looking at vehicles zooming by. Having taken pity on Brownie, I would take some leftover food with me if I knew I will be passing by the area where I usually see him (I live nearby where his territory is). He has come to recognize me (or maybe my "smell" since, I think, he can barely see now) whenever I approach him, waiting for me to give him something to eat. Sometimes, he follows me even several meters away, looking at me with his pitiful eyes, if I pass by him and I don't happen to have food with me to give him. But there've been instances, too, that I bring him food, but I don't find him in his usual place. That's the time he's off wandering somewhere. Perhaps looking for food and water. Or, perhaps following another neighbor who's taken to dropping Brownie some food, too, as he or she passes by this friendly-looking dog. Brownie still had brown fur when I first saw him wandering around (late last year). And I was able to take his photograph in December 2009. Now, he's lost much of his hair, exposing his gray scalp (if that's what's it's called in a dog), and has more wounds. But I still call him "Brownie." And...he responds to that name, too! Or, maybe he just smells the food am carrying for him, that's why he stands up when I call him Brownie. Or, maybe, he just didn't have a name at all and has come to like being called Brownie. I took more photographs of Brownie just the other day. And he gamely posed. I've not seen him since then. I hope he's okay. Sometimes, I can't but wonder about Brownie, the wanderer.
