Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
You don't say? And then what? No sir. They really picked you up, in their mouths, no less, shook you, then ran around the field? How utterly insensitive. They should have tossed you in the air as well. Let me show you.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
It looks like they are guarding something doesn't it? Anyone who has a greyhound, knows that is just as far from the truth as it gets.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
I don't believe "toning down the sass" is in my contract. Shall I check? When I model, I model; even if the clothing is ill-fitting and diminishes the natural sweep of my tail.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
THE OTHER BLOG
Just a bit of an aside. As you all know, I took a little time off blogging the past few weeks as I tried to come to terms with what happened in my home town of Tucson. I finally posted to the other blog if you would like to read about it. I didn't want to put it over here as it is a bit more serious than fun greyhound photos and would have been a bit jarring in this context. Thanks.
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
Santa and the greyhound elf. There was a revolt at the North Pole after Christmas. The greys have taken over all operations, including delivery of toys next year. As per the official press release: they can get the route done faster than the reindeer, cutting down on overtime. In addition, to cut production costs, the variety of toys will now be limited to plushies, tennis balls, and squeakies. Prepare your children now.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
We are happy to be back. The girls are starting to become primadonnas and were demanding their face time on the blog. :)
Friday, January 21, 2011
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
Holy cow! I'm rather surprised we've been gone this long!
Regular posts starting back up now. Thanks for your well wishes and your patience.
Regular posts starting back up now. Thanks for your well wishes and your patience.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
A LITTLE PAUSE
The fun and fluff that usually accompanies this blog is missing at the moment. In light of the unacceptable events in my home town of Tucson over the weekend, I just can't seem to bring myself to post fluff right now. We'll be back in a few days. Thanks for understanding.
PS there will be some posts over at my other blog discussing what is going soon. I just still haven't found the words.
PS there will be some posts over at my other blog discussing what is going soon. I just still haven't found the words.
Monday, January 10, 2011
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
Surprised by the unexpected impact force of the heat-seeking squeaky, Kebi had a bit of a time getting it under control and one unsightly bruise the next morning.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
INTERVIEW WITH COFFEE WITH A CANINE
So listen up, here’s the scoop (I put that intro in just so I could tie in the photo below, a cheap ploy but used nonetheless. Sigh, what I won’t do to add a photo to a post.) A few months ago I was contacted by Marshal Zeringue of Coffee with a Canine and asked if I wouldn’t mind doing an interview for his blog.
A little suspicious as to why someone would want to interview me, since I just shoot photos of dogs and put them on the interwebs, I thought I better do a tad of research before answering. I went over to his blog to check things out. It seemed pretty legit; I mean there was actually a blog at the end of the provided link. We were off to a good start. Then I started reading the interviews which featured people like author Gini Koch, photographer Katie Campbell, author Beverly Varnado, professional dog musher Karen Ramstead (Who has 65 dogs! Whoa and damn.) and Jenn Waters of Corbins’ Blog, and I thought “Alright who’s punking me?”
But as it turns out, for some inexplicable reason, the request was serious, (which I wasn't 100 percent sure of until I actually saw it posted today.) and I had a great time answering the questions; a number of which haven't been addressed on this blog.
The interview has been posted on Marshal’s site. So please head on over and check it out. Even if you are not interested in reading my interview, there are a number of fascinating interviews available. I’ve been back regularly since the first time I explored Coffee with a Canine and have completely enjoyed learning about all the different people he has featured. So go on over; I hope you enjoy it!
A little suspicious as to why someone would want to interview me, since I just shoot photos of dogs and put them on the interwebs, I thought I better do a tad of research before answering. I went over to his blog to check things out. It seemed pretty legit; I mean there was actually a blog at the end of the provided link. We were off to a good start. Then I started reading the interviews which featured people like author Gini Koch, photographer Katie Campbell, author Beverly Varnado, professional dog musher Karen Ramstead (Who has 65 dogs! Whoa and damn.) and Jenn Waters of Corbins’ Blog, and I thought “Alright who’s punking me?”
But as it turns out, for some inexplicable reason, the request was serious, (which I wasn't 100 percent sure of until I actually saw it posted today.) and I had a great time answering the questions; a number of which haven't been addressed on this blog.
The interview has been posted on Marshal’s site. So please head on over and check it out. Even if you are not interested in reading my interview, there are a number of fascinating interviews available. I’ve been back regularly since the first time I explored Coffee with a Canine and have completely enjoyed learning about all the different people he has featured. So go on over; I hope you enjoy it!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
TEH BREEZE SAGA PART 4 - BUILDING TRUST
If you haven't read part 1, part 2 or part 3 of Teh Breeze Saga, you may want to follow the links and read those posts first. This whole post will make a heck of a lot more sense if the previous ones have been perused.
I had been thinking about the best way to work with Breeze and her too-many-to-count issues and determined I needed to take the most pressing problem and start there. One thing at a time. Baby steps, baby steps.
I decided on day 3, after the nap and filling in the drag marks in the gravel drive, the first and foremost thing was getting her to come up to me. We couldn’t do anything if she didn’t trust me enough to get within 15 feet. So I gathered up the dog beds, some pillows, blankets and a book and settled in on the family room floor. I put one dog bed on each side of me, fluffed the pillows, snuggled in with the blankets and assumed the reading position, planning to be there as long as was necessary for her to come up to me. On her own time. With it being her choice.
It was my guess that no one or thing had ever been submissive to her and since I noticed she was more comfortable when I kneeled down I figured laying down might be even less threatening; especially if I was ignoring her and doing something else. I decided to give it a shot and see how that might work out. If it didn’t, at least I got a good day of reading in.
I called Willow over, who was more than happy to lay there being pet and praised. “Good girl Willow. What a pretty dog. Today’s high is going to be 70. The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards. A meteorite has a terminal velocity of between 200 – 400 miles per hour.” Anything to get Breeze interested in what we were doing. I even changed the pitch and tone of my voice to the ‘good girl’ frequency. And I ignored her.
Breeze spent the first hour and 6 chapters pacing outside and peeking in the back door. The next 7 chapters she spent pacing between the door and the couch with frequent trips outside. By now I had the light bulb moment that outside was a safe place (the other one being the crate behind me). After a snack and potty break (for me) we had a little bit of a set back as Breeze again spent a bit more time outside peeking in the door. Damn.
I thought about now would be a great time to take another nap. When I woke up she was in the house by the back of the couch again. Chapters 14, 15 and 16 marked the progression to the front of the couch, by way of the far end, and to the far side of the coffee table.
I noticed each time she would come in to the point where she felt safe (a relative term, that) stay for a few seconds, retreat so she could regroup, then try again, coming in just a little further each time. And when I say a little, I mean little, like little little. Measured by inches.
By hour 4, she had made her way around the front of the table and now circled the front of the couch on the way outside. Though she had yet to cross over the major boundary from tile to the carpet of the family room floor.
Hour 5 and well over half-way through the book she had touched carpet; it was like watching someone test the water of a spa to see how hot it is before sliding in. She then leaned in, neck stretched impossibly long, to sniff my propped-up-on-pillows feet. Willow was absolutely basking in the praise by then and Breeze's retreats outside were becoming shorter and shorter.
During hour 6 she conducted a full new Mom tour, circling me and pausing to sniff at my head. I raised my hand and left it up during one of her retreats to outside so the next time she circled she sniffed my hand. A few more trips and I was able to slowly lift my hand and touch her chin.
During hour 7 she decided it was OK to lay down in the room with us. In a impressively tactical move, she took up the Sphinx pose beyond the top of my head where I couldn’t easily look at her, body far enough away that she could spring up and into action if need be, but head just close enough for me to continue the now accepted delicate chin scritching.
By the last chapter and well into hour 8, she had laid down on the bed near me, head on my thigh with me scratching her ears. Her body was again poised for flight but she was there, letting me touch her. The saving grace, I guess, is that she wanted to be touched and loved; you could tell by her longing looks and body language, she was just too afraid of being hit to get close enough.
We stayed that way for a while, her lying next to me, ready to run and me petting head, ears and chin. After saying a quick ‘thanks’ that it had been a good book and that the submissive-to-Breeze plan worked (because I had no idea what I was going to do if it didn’t) I decided it was time to call it a day. By then I was pretty stiff and had to get up. I did so slowly, rolling away from Breeze and crouching first before standing fully. The caution taken in getting up didn’t work and she sprang up and ran directly out the back door. Though a little less hurried and with a less panic than that morning.
In all, a highly successful day.
***********************
I had been thinking about the best way to work with Breeze and her too-many-to-count issues and determined I needed to take the most pressing problem and start there. One thing at a time. Baby steps, baby steps.
I decided on day 3, after the nap and filling in the drag marks in the gravel drive, the first and foremost thing was getting her to come up to me. We couldn’t do anything if she didn’t trust me enough to get within 15 feet. So I gathered up the dog beds, some pillows, blankets and a book and settled in on the family room floor. I put one dog bed on each side of me, fluffed the pillows, snuggled in with the blankets and assumed the reading position, planning to be there as long as was necessary for her to come up to me. On her own time. With it being her choice.
It was my guess that no one or thing had ever been submissive to her and since I noticed she was more comfortable when I kneeled down I figured laying down might be even less threatening; especially if I was ignoring her and doing something else. I decided to give it a shot and see how that might work out. If it didn’t, at least I got a good day of reading in.
I called Willow over, who was more than happy to lay there being pet and praised. “Good girl Willow. What a pretty dog. Today’s high is going to be 70. The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards. A meteorite has a terminal velocity of between 200 – 400 miles per hour.” Anything to get Breeze interested in what we were doing. I even changed the pitch and tone of my voice to the ‘good girl’ frequency. And I ignored her.
Breeze spent the first hour and 6 chapters pacing outside and peeking in the back door. The next 7 chapters she spent pacing between the door and the couch with frequent trips outside. By now I had the light bulb moment that outside was a safe place (the other one being the crate behind me). After a snack and potty break (for me) we had a little bit of a set back as Breeze again spent a bit more time outside peeking in the door. Damn.
I thought about now would be a great time to take another nap. When I woke up she was in the house by the back of the couch again. Chapters 14, 15 and 16 marked the progression to the front of the couch, by way of the far end, and to the far side of the coffee table.
I noticed each time she would come in to the point where she felt safe (a relative term, that) stay for a few seconds, retreat so she could regroup, then try again, coming in just a little further each time. And when I say a little, I mean little, like little little. Measured by inches.
By hour 4, she had made her way around the front of the table and now circled the front of the couch on the way outside. Though she had yet to cross over the major boundary from tile to the carpet of the family room floor.
Hour 5 and well over half-way through the book she had touched carpet; it was like watching someone test the water of a spa to see how hot it is before sliding in. She then leaned in, neck stretched impossibly long, to sniff my propped-up-on-pillows feet. Willow was absolutely basking in the praise by then and Breeze's retreats outside were becoming shorter and shorter.
During hour 6 she conducted a full new Mom tour, circling me and pausing to sniff at my head. I raised my hand and left it up during one of her retreats to outside so the next time she circled she sniffed my hand. A few more trips and I was able to slowly lift my hand and touch her chin.
During hour 7 she decided it was OK to lay down in the room with us. In a impressively tactical move, she took up the Sphinx pose beyond the top of my head where I couldn’t easily look at her, body far enough away that she could spring up and into action if need be, but head just close enough for me to continue the now accepted delicate chin scritching.
By the last chapter and well into hour 8, she had laid down on the bed near me, head on my thigh with me scratching her ears. Her body was again poised for flight but she was there, letting me touch her. The saving grace, I guess, is that she wanted to be touched and loved; you could tell by her longing looks and body language, she was just too afraid of being hit to get close enough.
We stayed that way for a while, her lying next to me, ready to run and me petting head, ears and chin. After saying a quick ‘thanks’ that it had been a good book and that the submissive-to-Breeze plan worked (because I had no idea what I was going to do if it didn’t) I decided it was time to call it a day. By then I was pretty stiff and had to get up. I did so slowly, rolling away from Breeze and crouching first before standing fully. The caution taken in getting up didn’t work and she sprang up and ran directly out the back door. Though a little less hurried and with a less panic than that morning.
In all, a highly successful day.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
SATURDAY PET BLOG HOP
Happy New Year! The girls and I would like to wish you all a year filled with love, hope, friends, family, laughter and wonderful memories.
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