News

Champ, my parents’ Rottweiler, was euthanized this morning at their house. He spent the morning laying on the lawn, enjoying the unusually warm weather and sunshine. His final resting place is under the shade trees, near all the other dogs who have gone before. His favorite toy, a Curious George doll, accompanied him.

Three and a half years ago, this awful looking Rottweiler wandered onto my parents’ rural Virgina property. Quite a sight, he was skeletal, covered in fleas, and in need of some TLC. He got TLC and then some – my parents took him in, cleaned him up, and he became part of the family. Which I found rather curious, as my parents never liked Rotties — they considered them mean and aggressive dogs. Champ showed them the true nature of a Rottweiler: loyal and kind.

Greeting every visitor with a WOOF and a head-butt, he welcomed anyone and everyone. The UPS and FedEx drivers knew him by name and greeted him as they made their rounds.

Playful, even at his age, he was sometimes a real bruiser of a dog when he played with his own kind. He scared all of my dogs, except Nemo, who seemed to love playing Champ’s games.

He will be missed.

I’m so excited!

Just got the final photos from my photo shoot with Shannon Zirkle. She took over 250 photos, and I had to narrow them down to 20. Not an easy task! I picked 20 that I could use for Smart Dog University (web, print, etc.) and then I’ll order separate prints – because I had many more favorites!

I love the way Shannon captured their expressions, their selves. And I’m really impressed that she got all three of them to sit still at one time out in the yard.

I’m having the web site redesigned, so you’ll be seeing some of the new pictures there. But here are a few of the 20 that I chose.

This is an investment. I’ll have these photos forever, long after my dear dogs are gone. I had some personal favorites, that weren’t necessarily the best for the website or for print use, so I decided not to get the digital files of those. But I will order prints and enlargements of those special photos, to hang in my office and throughout the house. Pictures of dogs are cool, but pictures of your own dogs – as art – are even cooler. If you’d like to talk to me about working with Shannon, give me a call, send me an email, or leave a comment. I’m happy to chat with anyone interested in capturing their dogs as art.

Why does good news seem to always come with bad news? Can’t good just come all by itself every now and then?

Let me start with the good…

Nemo’s staples are out! Unfortunately, there’s some swelling and fluid at the incision site. Nothing to worry about says Dr. Cook, but we have to keep the leg wrapped snugly to help reduce the fluid. So, now all we do is wait and hope the fungus doesn’t show up ever again! The worst part about this, though, is now Nemo (and all the dogs, really) can’t go swimming at Lake Anna anymore! That’s bad news, but it’s not the worst news I have for today…

The worst news is my parents Rottweiler, Champ, has cancer and was given 3 weeks to live. He found them at Lake Anna about three years ago – and he was in very rough shape. He wouldn’t have made it through the summer if he hadn’t stumbled onto their property. Almost hairless, covered with fleas, and skeletal, he was quite a sight. I remember looking at him and thinking he’d never recover. He was hard to look at.

A few months of frequent bathing, living indoors, and some good quality food, the turnaround was nothing short of amazing. He was a different dog, truly. My parents, never fans of Rotties – they thought they were all mean – found themselves with quite the canine companion. He’s traveled across country in the RV, seeing lots more of the US than I have! Better yet, he showed my parents the true nature of a Rottie – extremely sweet, loyal, and friendly.

We’re not sure of his age, he was about middle-aged when he found my parents, so he might be between 9 and 11 years old. Dogs don’t live long enough…

Just a quick one today, as everyone’s busier than busy… I hope everyone and every dog out there has a terrific Christmas, spent with the people and dogs you love.

I mentioned earlier that this is a special Christmas for our house – it’s possibly Lucky’s last, we feel ridiculously lucky to have Nemo here after all the fungus mess, and we have Rocky (the first service dog we raised) back for a visit. I’m taking a ton of pictures, taking time to just sit and enjoy the day and the dogs, and enjoying time with my family as well.

I hope everyone’s enjoying themselves and their dogs today.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
All the creatures were stirring, and running, and jumping and playing.

And dissecting the giant plush bone I gave them in hopes of occupying them while I got last minute chores done. Now I still have five active dogs, plus white stuffing everywhere!

Anyway, enough of my housekeeping woes…

Nemo had another bandage change today. You wouldn’t believe how good the incision looks! Wow! The good folks at Kingsbrook Animal Hospital custom-made a cool candy-cane and Christmas tree (with presents!) design for his most festive holiday bandage!

I’m still surprised at the length of the incision, but it’s healing really well! No blood, no gaps in the staples, no infection…I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it continues to do well. Only another 10 days until the staples come out!

That’s it for tonight – still a ton of things to do .

I’m getting a head start on some new and exciting things I’ve got lined up for 2008. This blog is one of them. Maybe a new web design, possibly some new courses, lots of ideas swirling around in this little head of mine.

I also want to share a little secret… I’ve found a terrific photographer – photojournalist, to be exact – who is great with dogs. She’s local here in the Washington-Baltimore metro area and Smart Dog University just had a session with her.

Shannon Zirkle. Check her out. Click on the "Pets" section and you’ll see Tango, my yellow Lab. She took over 300 photos at our session and I had to narrow it down to 20. 20! And they were all really good. The photos from from the shoot will show up on the new site, in some new publications, and definitely on my wall at home!

If you’re looking for a way to capture your dog (or cat, I’m not biased) and get yourself a piece of art as well, you should give her a call. Tell you heard about her from me here at Smart Dog University. And then let me know how your photos turned out!