It’s almost exactly a year ago. After a short illness I’m back out in the world spending the day out and about in Jaipur.

On this day I realized something: Dogs have a first language they understand as well. (Yeah, I know, that one should have been obvious.). At a garden in front of the Amber Fort we met a stray black lab mix who was incredibly friendly, excited, and really wanted attention. He kept trying to jump up on me and wouldn’t stop no matter how many times I said “No” to him and pushed him back down.

And then a light went on, one firmly-spoken “Nahin” (No) and he was calm again.

We talked to one of the folks playing cards in the park – he comes to feed the dog whom they named Johnny. He showed us he knew his name when he said “Johnny, Aao!” (“Johnny, come!”) and he came to him.

There are a lot of strays in India – an incredible number, in fact. And many of them are in need. If you’d like to help them, get in touch with my friends at Dogs of the Ganges Society who are working to help them.