The Puppyhurst Doggo News – Puppyhurst Is Our Pack

Dateline: Sunday, May 9, 2021

Today Ceiba Bunny would like to introduce you to a very special doggo to her: Rayo, age 6. Rayo is a mix of Black Lab and Pit Bull, but the most important thing about Rayo is that he is a Sato from the island of Vieques, a county of Puerto Rico. And that means something special to her because that is also where she is from.

“Sato” in Puerto Rican Spanish simply means “found dog”, it is not really a breed. However on Vieques, an island about the size of Friday Harbor in the San Juans, there are few unbreachable fences and lots of room to roam. Doggos there often have a specific look: short fur, long ears, very long or very short legs, and most importantly, a gentle and empathetic outlook on life. Hoomans on the island are chosen by a doggo whether for the length of a vacation, or in the happiest cases, for the rest of their lives. Doggos are the ambassadors, meeting hoomans at the airport or ferry landing, escorting them around the island on long walks, and protecting their porches, rarely chasing the island’s free-roaming chickens, guinea hens, horses, cattle, or goats (or hooman puppies). Doggos have a very special place in the hearts of the Viequense people, native and gringo.

Rayo could be the poster dog for the Satos of Vieques. He was alone, hanging out on the beach without a hooman to care for, when he noticed two people who were in need of him. As they were leaving, Rayo sprang into action, jumped into their car, and found his fur-ever home. And those special people he chose are Ceiba’s hooman grandparents!

Now, Rayo spends half of the year in Vieques and half of the year in Virginia where his hoomans also have a home. He travels with his Dad on the airplane each way! When in the Caribbean he loves to go back to the beach, this time escorting his Papa who looks for treasures while he explores. He also loves to chase the iguanas, a new and invasive species on his island. In Virginia, he goes to the dog park where he can play fetch and take long walkies.

When asked what Rayo thinks of traveling back and forth from Vieques to Virginia for the last 5 years, he woofed, “People call us “Satos” because they think they found us. But they do not understand. *We* find them. We choose. And I chose. I chose two wonderful people to make happy. The journey with them happens to include amazing plane rides. But it is a journey with them. What else is there more important than that?”

Although Ceiba has not met Rayo nose to nose, she is as happy to welcome him to the Puppyhurst pack as she was to welcome him to her family!

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