Doppler’s Birthaversary

We still can’t understand how anyone abandoned this dog–but someone surely did.

She arrived at the pound with her nails curling inward, her coat matted with poop and mud. She was left in a baseball dugout with her brother (or father–we don’t know), Bentley.

g-h-and-doppler

Three years ago today a very apprehensive Helaine and I drove to the pound in Wallingford to get Doppler. A few days earlier Doppler chose me when I came to look at their ‘special case.’

We still can’t understand how anyone abandoned this dog–but someone surely did.

She was left in a baseball dugout with her brother (or father–we don’t know), Bentley. They arrived at the pound with their nails curling inward, their coats matted with poop and mud.

Doppler get her hair cut-IMG_7871-05262012-h700We’ve heard stories. Sometimes people become sick, or die. Their relatives don’t know what to do with the dog. Sometimes people lose jobs and can no longer afford the upkeep.

A dog discarded is the end of what’s already a tragic story.

We took a chance adopting. We got lucky!

May262013_3798She came trained. She came polite. She came laid back. She fit in perfectly starting on day one.

Doppler has seen a lot in the past three years. And now, after a coast-to-coast ride on Helaine’s lap, she’s a Cali girl.

A few hours after we brought Doppler home our friends Cheryl and Steve adopted Bentley. Another “happily ever after” story.

doppler-doesn't-want-to-be-recycledWe don’t really know how old Doppler is. She’s very puppyesque, but our Connecticut vet’s estimation (based on her teeth) is six or seven.

Who got luckier? Doppler or us?

My Pound Photoshoot Logistics

I laid down on a blanket and hoped for the best. Before the shoot was over even the blanket had been piddled on.

“I need something I can get dirty.” That’s what I told Helaine before Saturday’s trip to the Wallingford Animal Shelter. Getting dirty was part of the battle plan for my shoot at the pound.

I took a backpack full of stuff, but used little.

I have a technique for shooting dogs. The two most important elements are shooting low and shooting wide. Getting close usually produces the best shots.

Our shooting area was behind the shelter. The dogs get exercise here while pooping and marking their turf. These dogs need less fiber!

I laid down on a blanket and hoped for the best. Before the shoot was over even the blanket had been piddled on.

The EXIF file packed inside every digital photo (yes, even the ones on your phone) tells me a lot about each shot. Shutter speeds varied, but in Saturday’s bright sunshine the vast majority of shots were 1/400 and faster. That stops action and helps handheld shot be sharper.

I took 455 shots with my Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 lens. There are clusters of shots at each end of the length, but it looks like I used its entire range pretty evenly.

Normally I’d shoot everything at F/2.8 which produces a sharp foreground and a dreamy, fuzzy background. Because the dogs were always in motion, meaning focus would be a problem, I opted to stay mainly at F/4 and F/5.6. If any part of the dog was in focus the entire dog would be sharp!

Another 60 pictures were taken with an 8mm fully manual fisheye lens from Rokinon. Focus is totally uncritical with that lens, but I shot mainly f/8 and f/11 just to be sure.

My camera was a Canon 7D in RAW mode. Each photo is 18 megapixels (5184 x 3456). Each photo file runs around 25MB.

Going from 500+ photos to 100 is easy. Lots of shots are blurred, poorly lit, missing the action, or just plain bad. Others closely duplicate each other.

Getting from 100 to 20 was a lot more difficult.

Doppler: Now I Have The Photos

The vet said it was bar none, one of the worst cases he’d ever seen.

I’ve traded emails over the last day with Lisa at the Wallingford pound where we got Doppler. Though I’m happy Doppler’s with us (and her brother Bentley is with our friends Cheryl and Steve) I am getting more-and-more upset by the treatment these dogs received before they were rounded up.

Lisa wrote:

The vet said it was bar none, one of the worst cases he’d ever seen.

Helaine asked I not publish the ‘before’ pics. They are disturbing.

Bentley was the worst – his poop was trapped to his skin due to his matted fur. His entire back end was ulcerated. 🙁

Doppler was such a mass of knots we could not determine her front end from her back end with ease.

As far as we can tell there’s no lasting sign of Doppler’s mistreatment. Dogs live in the moment.

There’s nothing wrong with getting a dog that’s been bred for sale. Roxie, Stef’s oversized mini dachshund, is an AKC registered pup. However, if you just want a dog to love there are plenty of them locally at shelters. Like Doppler they clean up good!

Cheryl wrote me earlier this evening.

My eyes filled up with tears of joy that we adopted these little ones, and even though the remaining dogs there need homes, I really feel they have one with those WONDERFUL , caring people that work there and love those dogs like they were their own.

She is talking about Lisa, Dean and the rest of the folks in Wallingford. I couldn’t agree more.

We’ve Found Our Dog

We wanted a small young female who needed to be rescued. I think we’ve found Doppler!

For the past few months Helaine and I have discussed adopting a dog. We wanted a small young female who needed to be rescued. I think we’ve found Doppler! We found her at the animal shelter in Wallingford.

As it turns out the dog we’ll be getting Friday isn’t the dog we originally asked about. She was already spoken for.

Here’s part of the note I received from Dean, an animal control officer. It’s sad and probably much too common.

We do also have two Maltipoos, a male and a female, that are not online yet. We have not put them up yet because they needed a little TLC. They were abandoned, blocked in a baseball field dugout. They were very thin, their coats were matted to their skin and their nails were to the point of curling. The poor things were sad and scared. After a good bath and haircut, and a much needed pedicure, two new, happy dogs appeared!. They are the sweetest. They are socialable and love everyone.

I went to the shelter this afternoon to meet the dog they’re calling Charlotte, but who will become Doppler.

She is sweet and friendly–a licker. As far as I can tell she’s not much of a barker (in a shelter there’s plenty of encouragement to bark from the other inmates). She was playful without being hyper.

We’ve got some things to prepare so she’ll be staying in Wallingford until Friday.

There are a few things we need and for one of them I’m turning to you. We need to find someone to take care of her when we go away–doggie daycare. We’d prefer a place that takes care of dogs without keeping them crated or someone who’d come to our house to walk and play with her.

Meanwhile we’re very excited. We hope Doppler is too.