Reading this you’re either a pet lover who loves this kind of story or you’re someone who is interested in adopting a dog in Los Cabos and maybe doesn’t know where to start. My fiancé Samantha and I were both and we had waited a while before adding a furry beast to our family. Before we relocated to Cabo San Lucas we were busy working and travelling and somehow having a dog at the time seemed really unfair.

We never liked the idea of leaving a dog alone all day or leaving a dog at a kennel or with friends to go on vacation. There was also the snow and crap weather back home Canada. Who’s really excited to get that dog walk in when it’s 30 below outside? Once settled in Cabo we realized the time was right. Semi-retired and living somewhere where any day can be a vacation day. Perfect! No snow, no wet mucky dog feet, never too cold to walk the dog – although sometimes it can be too hot for the walk up the hill!

Adopting Our Mexican Dog

Now this was my first dog and first pet (I can’t really count the turtle I had when I was 5) and Samantha’s 12th counting cats, dogs, snakes and a bird. But we’re in Mexico, there’s no pet store on the corner and we had my allergies to deal with so we got to thinking we may need to go to the States or Canada to find that perfect perro that won’t have me sneezing and wheezing. Wrong! We said to ourselves “what about a rescue dog?” and is there actually a place for them around Los Cabos? One google search later and I found the Los Cabos Humane Society. I found the adoption page and after two minutes I found the one. A male black Maltipoo with reddish fur tips, about 15 lbs and close to a year old. We found out Maltipoo’s don’t shed, so no problem for my allergies! I was away at the time and emailed Samantha several pet profiles late at night with the black Maltipoo being the first email. In the morning I got back a priceless “Shut the front door!!!!! Way cute.” Away she went to the Humane Society that morning to meet the dog and understand the adoption process. She walked him and that was it. She could have no other dog. There were a number of other nice dogs, don’t get me wrong, but there was something about this one that she knew was special. I knew it too when I met him a day later.

The people at the Los Cabos Humane Society were very nice, thorough and diligent. They have a process they follow that ensures rescued dogs have a required time with them, about 2 months, to get their shots and a clean bill of health before they are allowed to be spoken for. They also need to do a home inspection to ensure you’re going to provide a safe environment for the dog and not be running some cruel dog fighting operation. We met our cute little boy with a week until he could be spoken for. We know processes are what they and technically we weren’t allowed to ask for him but we did. We filled out all the paperwork and said that we wanted this dog!! We came back every day to walk him and ask when the home inspection was happening. Scheduling hiccups and some miscommunication caused some panic stricken moments that somehow this wonderful dog might not be coming home with us. We finally got the word on a Thursday afternoon to come and get him on Friday. We signed off the final paperwork for him, made the 1,000 Peso donation and loaded him up in the truck to come home. Like proud baby parents we had dog beds, dishes, toys and food all lined up and were ready to bring home the new addition to our family.

Like all the dogs at the humane society, no one knows their name. They are given one but it’s hardly a name that would stick in the two months a dog is there. Our Maltipoo had one of those names, it didn’t suit him. We thought long and hard about names for him. Like many ex-pats the idea of giving our Mexican dog a Spanish name seemed appropriate. I wanted to call him Chapo like the infamous El Chapo which means “Shorty”, an age old nickname of mine – given my last name – and an obviously cute name for a small dog. Samantha wasn’t about to have our dog named after any celebrity let alone one known for….… well you know. After Pepe, Luna and countless other Spanish names the one we liked the best was Hefe or Jefe as in “El Jefe” which means “The Boss”. I’ve always been one for irony and somehow a 15 pound dog with a big cute grin on his face all the time being named Boss seemed perfect. We call him Hefe for our gringo friends back home so they don’t try referring to him as “Jeffey”. Hefe is awesome, he doesn’t bite, chew, or dig and he only barks when people come to the door. How someone gave him up we’ll never understand.

Our cute little Hefe came with no history about where he’d been before. The only thing the Humane Society knew was he was sitting at their front door. We’ve had this dog for 6 months now, he doesn’t wander off. Someone dropped him off there. Those reddish tips of Hefe’s fur disappeared with his first haircut. We’re thinking he had never been groomed and spent most, if not all, of his time outside taking in a lot of sun to turn that black fur reddish brown. We think he’s been hit or swatted. He hates brooms and is fearful of the cleaning lady and the pool guy. He is deathly afraid of those fly zappers that look like tennis rackets and we think someone swatted him with one of those. Have you ever accidentally zapped yourself with one of those things – ouch!!

So six months on and we have had the greatest time with Hefe. He’s not the same scared little puppy he was when he first came home. We’re convinced he was less than a year old, more like 9 months. He’s grown some more and along the way put on a healthy 5 pounds. He’s also much friendlier with people now. He’s learned to play and fetch and recently has become an accomplished pool dog. Hefe likes to cool off in the pool and hops onto a floaty bed on his own and floats around like it’s his pool and he’s the boss!

Now for the things we didn’t expect about having a dog in Cabo!

Cabo Is Super Dog Friendly

We were very much surprised how dog friendly Cabo is! Almost any restaurant will let you have your dog in their outdoor patio. Now Hefe is a smaller beast so this may not always be the case but if your dog can chill, hangout and be relatively quiet then you’ll be fine even if they’re a big dog. We take Hefe everywhere. Samantha takes him to work at the Real Estate office on the marina and Hefe is well known in places around there like the Tiki Bar. Hefe frequents many restaurants like The Italian Job and Burrito Surf and has friends all around town. We’ve included a list of Hefe’s dog friendly restaurants on his Facebook page.

Cabo Beaches Are Dog Friendly

We have found a number of very nice beaches that are dog friendly. Only the ones with the “no dogs” sign are the unfriendly ones: Palmilla, Santa Maria, Chileno to name some. The list of dog friendly beaches is longer than you might think and we have included the list on Hefe’s Facebook page.

Cabo Vets Are Friendly And Inexpensive

Wow! We have been so happily surprised by the health care for Hefe. Vets in Cabo are very reasonably priced. So much so that folks should be considering medical tourism for their dogs. We love the team at the Cabo Pet Hospital and they love Hefe.

Cabo Dog Groomers Are Excellent And Inexpensive

We have been also happily surprised by the grooming for Hefe. Groomers in Cabo are very reasonably priced. It’s easy for Hefe to stay stylin’ and profilin’ (as Ric Flair would say). Hefe has had great dog-scaping experiences at Le Wa Wa Dog Grooming and Pelu Dogs Estetica Cantina.

Having a dog in Cabo is awesome and so much fun. Beach days are more fun, eating out is more fun, going just about anywhere with our dog is more fun in Cabo!

Resources

If you’d like to follow Hefe’s adventures, “Like” his page on Facebook
To see Hefe’s Restaurant and Beach recommendations look for it here on Facebook
To buy your dog a collar like Hefe's, visit Eclectic Array in Downtown Cabo or online

Do you have a dog story to tell? Dean would love for you to comment with your own story about having a dog in Mexico - he even promised to read your stories aloud to Hefe!