THE POSTSCRIPT, Carrie Classon

I have become the treat lady again.

Depending on where I’m walking, I either carry dog treats or I don’t. I used to carry them all the time, but when we moved to the city, I stopped carrying dog treats because I feared that the downtown dogs (or their owners) might not welcome my treats. Maybe they were on a diet (the dogs, I mean). Maybe they had allergies. Maybe they would be suspicious of a strange woman doling out treats. So I stopped carrying treats. My husband, Peter, thought this was a mistake. He is of the opinion that dogs (and cats) always need treats.

But we spend much of the winter in Mexico, and one day I went to the English-language bookstore and saw they handed out treats in the bookstore. (Dogs are welcome everywhere in San Miguel except a few restaurants, and even those will look the other way if the dog is well-behaved.) These bookstore dogs knew all about the treats and were in there, tails wagging, and I realized I missed carrying treats, so I started again.

Here in San Miguel, there are some very pampered pets. I bought the same brand of treats as the bookstore, but I still had a few refuseniks.

“He’s never had dog food before,” someone told me.

“She’s a pescatarian,” someone else said.

“No, she’s on a diet,” I heard fairly regularly.

Sometimes the owner refused, sometimes the dog. But usually, my treats were appreciated, and it added some fun to my daily walk, spotting dogs and asking, in my bad Spanish, if the dog would like a “dog cookie.” And it allowed me to meet dogs, which is always fun.

I got to know Candy, who is a sweet little dog I first saw around Halloween. She had fierce eyebrows drawn on her face, which made her look very comical. I assumed it was a costume for the occasion.

“No!” Candy’s owner said with emotion. He went on to explain that someone else had drawn these eyebrows on his dog. He did not seem very happy about it. Now I see Candy a lot, and she likes my treats. But she still has the eyebrows. They are starting to grow out, but whoever messed with Candy must have used a heavy-duty Sharpie, because those eyebrows are still her most distinguishing feature.

I met Bonita, who, as her name implies, is a beautiful dog. I forgot my treats one day, and she gave me such a reproachful look that I vowed I would always keep at least one treat in my little satchel for her. The next time I saw her, I gave her two.

Big dogs gently take treats from my hand, and little dogs gobble them down and expect more. It’s wonderful to meet all these dogs and say “hello” to their owners and get my dog fix for the day.

The other evening, I was walking and saw a dog wearing a little sombrero on his head, edged in blue feathers. He looked very festive. (Although he’s not the only dog in town wearing a hat. There’s a little chihuahua who goes around town in an FBI cap, for reasons that are unclear.)

I stopped to talk to the dog in the festive hat, and that’s when I saw his friend.

It was a duck. She was walking beside the dog, and instead of a festive hat, she was wearing pearls. I admired her pearls and complimented her owner. But sadly, it had never occurred to me to bring duck treats.