Tag: dog

Moose On The Loose In Irvine

We spent the evening with our cousins. My plan was to write about the night. It’s on hold for now.

As we left the house I saw a small black and white dog at the corner. He was piddling. There was no one with him.

I wish I knew the breed, but he was adorable. Not an in the street dog.

With Helaine and Cousin Melissa behind me, I got on my knees and held the back of my hand in his direction. He came right over.

He wore a collar.

Moose! I was holding Moose.

Melissa read the number and I dialed… five rings… voicemail. Seriously, doesn’t anyone answer calls from numbers they don’t recognize anymore? I left a message then promptly redialed.

She sounded like I’d woke her up. Probably. It was near midnight in Texas, where I was calling. Her husband was home watching Moose in Irvine.

“You saved my life,” said Moose’s dad when we handed the dog over in his garage. I’m sure. Maybe we saved Moose’s too?

Nice ending.

Doppler Learns Her First Trick

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Doppler has few responsibilities. This week I changed that. Doppler learned her first trick. She can shake hands.

It wasn’t difficult to do. Just a few tiny treats when she’d normally get rewarded anyway, like when returning from a trip to the lawn. She caught on quickly.

At this point I’m worried because she’s offering up her paw before I ask!

If I had my way (and had the persistence) I’d teach her to jump through my hands or into them. Are there enough treats?

Doppler’s Only Job: Be Cute

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Helaine’s at the dentist. I’m doing some things around the house. I left Doppler to her own devices.

Doppler has her favorite spots. She likes her bed in a corner in the kitchen. She likes the blanket we leave on the floor behind my desk in my office. She LOVES the sofa in the loft. That’s where she went today.

I didn’t see her for at least a half hour, but when I did she was quietly enjoying a freshly constructed blanket and pillow fort.

Doppler’s only job is to be cute. She gets an excellent employee review every time!

Good Boy, Sailor

The Fox family loves dogs. Stef has Roxie. We have Doppler. A few days ago there was Scout at Michael, Melissa and Max’s. Now at the secret lair of my mysteriously reclusive friend in the Valley there is Sailor.

One day in the future my friend will probably ask me to pull the battery in my cellphone as I approach the house.

Sailor is a big dog, a White German Shepard.

He is a sweet dog, but he is different from any other dog I’ve ever met. He is intensely vigilant!

Sailor paces the house as if he’s going on rounds. He will fix his gaze on a point and remain motionless until he resolves the target.

Most are harmless. That doesn’t lessen Sailor’s resolve.

The best way to describe his physique is through analogy. Imagine a guy in great physical shape at 25. Now he’s 45. He tries… but he’s 45.

My friend spent last night with his girlfriend. I had the big house to myself–save Sailor.

As I watched Skyfall on DVD, Sailor rested a few feet away. Every once in a while he’d get up, scope out the room and return to rest.

It’s his job.

Static Cling Doppler

11:00 PM, Wednesday

The dew point at Bradley is 2&#176. On the shoreline the numbers are in the teens. The air is bone dry. It is static cling season.

Doppler suffers greatly. Her fur is attracted to blankets and carpets. Her hair stands up like Professor Irwin Corey’s.

I’ve sparked her while hooking leash to collar. My guess is she gets sparked a lot.

I like the scruffy look on Dop, but this time of year she’s probably better served with less fluff factor.

Laura Loves Dogs

The story starts with Laura. There isn’t a reality show about Laura. There should be!

Stef called last night with a story she wanted in my blog. That’s unusual.

The story starts with Laura. There isn’t a reality show about Laura. There should be!

Originally from Wisconsin, Laura lives in Los Angeles where she trains and takes care of dogs including Stef’s dachshund, Roxie . Daycare, overnight and long term guests happily stroll through her place in the Hollywood Hills.

What Laura does is a business, but it’s driven by her love of dogs. There are rescue and rehab puppies along with the paying clientele.

Last year I decided to step up my efforts by rescuing a pregnant dog with the plan to raise all of her puppies, train her, find them all perfect homes, and film the entire process. I rescued Abbey when she was near the end of her pregnancy and hand-delivered her 6 puppies. The last two, Link and Oliver, were sick and barely alive, but I revived them and nursed them to health over the course of months. At 8 weeks old Oliver suddenly lost his ability to walk, and I began taking him to vets to find a cure. We saw 9 vets and spent thousands of dollars on testing, but no one knew what his condition was or could give us much hope for his survival. Finally, I saw a specialist and he was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Osteo-dystrophy. – From Help Save Oliver James

The cost of Oliver James’ veterinary care is high. Laura estimates over $24,000 over the next year!

In order to defray costs Laura is raising funds online and holding a one night benefit concert/art gallery/silent auction on Saturday October 6th in Los Angeles. Helaine and I have donated some of my original photography for the auction along with a contribution.

Only you can decide whether you’d like to help too. Here’s a link to the full story or you can watch the video below.

Save Oliver James from Wild Life on Vimeo.

Nancy’s Rescue: Doppler Helps Make The Sale

I didn’t do it. Doppler made the sale! Doppler is the poster child for good doggie!

There are lots of big, powerful dogs in local shelters. That’s great for some people, but not as good for others. For instance, we wanted a dog small enough to fly under an airline seat!

Doppler came to the Fox family last November. We sprung her from the joint! Doppler, then named Charlotte, was abandoned in a most upsetting way then plucked from the streets by Wallingford’s Animal Control officers who lovingly cared for her in their shelter.

I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog talking about our experience in rescuing Doppler and what a perfect fit she is. Our friends Cheryl and Steve adopted Doppler’s brother/father Bentley. Same outcome.

Surprise–people read! I got this note from Nancy Benson a few days ago

Well Geoff you did it – you turned me into a dog owner at the age of 52.

Thanks to all your Doppler stories and the fact that my 15 year old cat died in May I started looking and found WALLY at the Meriden Humane Society. We brought him home on Saturday. He’s a chihuahua mix and we found out yesterday as he was barking for the first time that the other part is probably beagle!

He’s warming up to us and had two milestones yesterday in that he finally went up our office stairs during the day (up and down a few times on his own after that) and went up our home stairs last night (after about 20 minutes of intermittant barking and whining during which I actually fell asleep).

He’s a welcome addition to our family!

I didn’t do it. Doppler made the sale! Doppler is the poster child for good doggie!

There are lots of big, powerful dogs in local shelters. That’s great for some people, but not as good for others. For instance, we wanted a dog small enough to fly under an airline seat!

Just because every dog isn’t for you doesn’t say one won’t be! If you’re looking for a loving family member start at a shelter where there’s undoubtedly a puppy waiting for you!

Congratulations Nancy. Congratulations Wally.

Doppler’s Latest Photoshoot

I appreciate that you indulge me and look at the photos I take. Photography is satisfying to me. Maybe I’m a little obsessive.

Having Doppler has greatly increased my photo ops. She’s always available!

I took the photos posted here this afternoon and tonight.

I appreciate that you indulge me and look at the photos I take. Photography is satisfying to me. Maybe I’m a little obsessive.

Having Doppler has greatly increased my photo ops. She’s always available!

I took the photos posted here this afternoon and tonight.

Helaine had just made the bed. Doppler was relaxing on it. The sky was dull gray, but bright enough to fill the room with soft light.

All these shots have shallow depth-of-field. That makes what’s in focus pop. The background is very soft and blurry.

The files I work with are immense. Each photo produces a file around 25mb! Everything has to go through Bridge then Photoshop before it’s ready to be posted.

Fifteen shots this afternoon. Four shots tonight. Here are the three keepers.

The Dog’s Got Bling!

Doppler’s normally very docile, but you probably don’t want to diss the Phillies.

Doppler is nothing if not a stylish pup. She wears a collar with hearts, skulls and crossbones. Her sweaters carry designer labels. And now, on this day Phillies pitchers and catchers report, Doppler has a new tag to wear around her neck.

Doppler’s normally very docile, but you probably don’t want to diss the Phillies. Just because she doesn’t use her teeth doesn’t mean she won’t!

How I Screwed Up Then Saved A Dog Photo

I was down low, actually laying on-the-ground. I’m a huge proponent of shooting dogs from below their eye level.


I like to think I’m a good photographer, but lots of my shots don’t come out. It’s a matter of frustration for me. There are so many settings and actions that go into shooting a photo. It’s so easy to forget or be stuck in an unusual situation and guess wrong.

The photo above is my case in point. I was down low, actually laying on-the-ground. I’m a huge proponent of shooting dogs from below their eye level. It makes a much more interesting shot.

My 8mm Rokinon lens was on the camera. That’s a fisheye lens. It sees a lot and exaggerates distance from the camera. Everything looks farther away than it really is.

The Rokinon lens is fully manual. The photographer sets the aperture and focuses. Neither is extremely critical. I shot at F/11.

I didn’t realize the camera, a Canon 7d, would see the bright blue sky and close the iris. The dog was totally underexposed.

All my photos are shot in RAW mode, including this one. RAW saves what the sensor saw with no loss or compression. The files are immense, around 25 Mb for a single photo, but they contain lots of additional details that can be recovered using Photoshop.

I didn’t just turn up the brightness. In that case the sky would be pure white and without detail. I masked the sky and manipulated it and the rest of the photo separately.

After that I performed some minor surgery to remove a horse’s ear from the dog’s head, sharpened and tightened up the contrast.

This photo has much more ‘noise’ than most photographers would accept. Tough. I like it.

What We’re Learning About Dog Adoption

With dogs Connecticut is to North Carolina as the US is to China. We are a net importer.

I wrote a dog rescuer in North Carolina last night. Her organization brings dogs up to Connecticut every month. The truth is if you search Petfinder.com most of the dogs listed for Connecticut aren’t actually here.

With dogs Connecticut is to North Carolina as the US is to China. We are a net importer.

The other thing I’ve learned is a dog’s listing is on Petfinder.com doesn’t mean it’s actually still available for adoption! Here’s part of an email I received this morning.

Abby Lynn has been spoken for by another family.

This all seems to be a labor of love by volunteers. They can be excused. Of course the problem is you can’t put out too many feelers at once and you don’t know which will actually get you the dog you want.

I wish the system was more efficient, but it’s not my call. The search continues.

The Foxes Want A Dog

We are looking for a puppy we can rescue. That’s not as easy as it sounds.

The Foxes want a dog. We’ve wanted a dog for a while, but our house has been in a state of disarray since January. That’s behind us. The time is right. I am posting this on my blog because one of you can probably help us.

Don’t do anything yet. Read on.

We are looking for a smallish dog–fifteen pounds full-grown sounds abut right. Size is important because at some point our dog will need to fit inside a bag under an airline seat.

We are looking for a dog that doesn’t need wide open spaces. We have wide open spaces. We just aren’t outdoorsy. A dog that craves lots of outdoor activity will be very disappointed with the Foxes. We don’t want to disappoint.

Our Westie Ivy was extremely calm. She was almost a still life. That would be nice, but we’re not sure there are any more Ivys. Calm is good, but a dog who likes to play with her toys will be welcomed (and showered in toys).

We are looking for a dog we can rescue, preferably up to a year old. That’s not as easy as it sounds. We have looked through adoption and shelter listings on numerous occasions and have come up empty. There are lots of big strong dogs begging for homes, but few small cuddly ones.

Our dog will be a member of the family. She’ll/he’ll be a constant companion. Her/his birthday will be celebrated. She/he will have a stocking hung for the holidays. She/he won’t eat table scraps, but if she/he needs home cooked food Helaine is ready.

So, what d’ya think? If you have any suggestions please comment here or send me an email.

I expect we’ll get more suggestions than we’ll be able to accommodate. Please don’t be offended if we can’t take your help.