Pepita Declares War on Every Gecko in Hua Hin

Pepita is a tiny black-and-white Chihuahua with enormous ears and an even bigger personality, and she lives in my Hua Hin villa as if she owns the title deeds. She has three beds, one fleece, a basket in the car and a theory that every gecko in the garden is a personal enemy.

The war began on her first evening. A small gecko appeared on the wall near the terrace lamp, and Pepita froze, tail up, one front paw lifted. Then came the bark, a high-pitched trumpet of fury, and the gecko did what geckos do: it walked away, slowly, with great calm. She barked for forty minutes. I have since seen her take on a whole family of them under the lamp, arranged in a row on the wall like a very smug jury.

She does not hurt them. She never has. I think she believes that if she barks long enough, the territory will be hers. My neighbour, a retired Spanish teacher called Don Ricardo, hears her through the wall and says she is the best alarm clock in Hua Hin. I am not sure he is joking.

For a dog of her size, we learned a few important things. She trembles when the air-con is too cold, so she has her own fleece and a place on the sofa away from the vent. We set the room at twenty-six degrees, not lower. In the garden she wears a small harness, because her neck is very delicate, and she does not go out in the midday heat. At the beach on early mornings she sits in my arms, like a small queen on a throne. Our vet in Hua Hin told us to brush her teeth often and to be careful with her kneecaps, because small breeds sometimes have problems there, and said to watch for skipping on a back leg.

She follows me to the bathroom every single time. I have stopped asking why. I have never been alone in there since she arrived.

At night, she sleeps under the sheet by my feet, and sometimes I feel her little heart beating through the blanket, quick and warm. The geckos chirp outside, and I am quite sure she is listening. Tomorrow evening, no doubt, the war will continue. Don Ricardo has already offered to bring earplugs.