Fall Dog Photos

The other day when I got home from work I wasn't feeling very motivated to take Z on an hour-long walk. I figured we'd just stick to the parkway so she could be off-leash and feel like a country dog.

I hadn't walked that way in the daylight for weeks – it's part of our everyday morning walk but these days it's  dark out until 7am – so I wasn't prepared for how beautiful it was. It seems almost everywhere else the leaves that still remain on the trees are sparse and everything is past its fall prime...but not where we walked that day!

The birches were in their full yellow glory, and while the sumac plants had all lost their leaves, the berries were a rich, deep red. It had been a cloudy, somewhat gloomy day, but of course on our walk the sunshine peeked through the slate-blue clouds and lit up those yellow birches.

Immediately I mentally kicked myself for not bringing my camera. Of course, I can't let conditions like that slip past me so we headed back home and I got my big camera. Back I went up the parkway – again – with Zada bounding ahead, joyous, as if it were the first time that day :)

She always likes to carry a stick with her so after she pulled a good candidate out of the woods I proceeded to use that as my "carrot" – she's a dog that prefers play over treats anyway – to get her ears up. I'm sure we made quite the picture to the passing cars: me on my stomach, camera held to my face in readiness with one hand while the other waved a stick about over my head, trying to get the perfect angle on her ears (and then rewarding her by throwing it, of course – which is NOT easy when one is lying down).

I realize dog photography isn't all about getting the dog looking perfectly cute in every shot – life isn't about posing so why would we want every picture "posed"? – but I know my dog and she gets bored quickly and looks it...so I worked on the "posing" a bit more than I normally would with a dog portrait session.

Plus, her ears have ever been one of my favorite features on this dog (I call it her "Zadar") and she just looks so damn good with them standing at attention. Maybe it all stems from the German shepherd I had growing up who grew too big, too quickly and his ears never stood up (unless he happened to be facing into a strong wind).

While I hadn't planned on being out for a long dog walk originally, once it was all said and done we were out for almost 2½ hours. Miss Z is ever so patient with me, doggedly doing what I request of her: stay here, come this way, down...she just does what she's asked with nary a complaint until I release her. Well, almost no complaining – at one point she looked up at me imploringly, stick hopefully quivering in her mouth, with a look that clearly said, "can't we just play fetch now?"

When it was all said and done I realized what a fun little impromptu photography shoot it was – just me and my dog enjoying a beautiful fall evening. I'm glad I went back for my camera!

My German Shepherd is Six!

This morning my Facebook News Feed was saturated with pictures of kids on their way to their first day of school for the fall 2012 season. I don't have human children (that I know of) but at Casa de Danks we're talking about another milestone: Zada's birthday.

That's right – my fur baby turned a year older today. Six, to be exact. For a German shepherd, that's not "old," per se, but she ain't no spring chicken, either. In fact, we had some rather sad news this weekend...the vet found arthritis in her left front paw :( In addition to the hip dysplasia and spinal arthritic changes they found early this spring, it's been a bit of a tough year for me...her exercise/activity will have to be managed moving forward.

Don't get me wrong, managing this condition in an "older" Zada is going to be MUCH easier than trying to limit her activity when she was younger, but still...it's killing me to know she can no longer run to her heart's content – we'll have to constantly watch her for any signs of limping and back off her exercise and give her an anti-inflammatory.

*Sigh*

BUT, she's been managing pretty well up to this point (i.e., the diagnoses) so on one hand I'm sad to know my girl's getting older but on the other I'm relieved to know what's happening so I can treat her properly moving forward.

She does SO love her active lifestyle: playing fetch endlessly; swimming as much as she can; going on long hikes; chasing cats and {ahem} deer (she's a dog...I can't control everything); playing with her best dog buddy; playing more fetch; heading out on the trails with us when we horseback ride; going with Dad whenever he drives the Gator anywhere; playing even MORE fetch...

And I'll still allow her to do all those things – I'll just have to watch her closely so she doesn't overdo it. Which, I guess, is what we all have to do at some point – animal or human, we all get old. Correction: we all age and need to redefine our limits. 

Right?

Besides, there are many other things I can still do with my four-footed friend:

• bring her to happy hour
• Walk for Animals
• head to a Saints game
• take her swimming (the vet says she can't swim enough; it's a GREAT form of exercise for her)
• continue making her pose for my camera
• and, of course, Yappy Hour over at Dick & Jane's :)

So, all things considered, my lovely Miss Z is just entering into another phase of her life. And I'll be there every paw print of the way :)

Happy birthday, pretty girl!

Playing Around with My Life-Size Converter EF Lens

The other day I "found" something fun in my camera bag: my Canon Life-Size Converter EF lens.

I've had it for several years but hadn't really used it that much. So, last weekend while tending to my pretty little garden I decided to dust off that macro converter lens, break out the tripod and see what happened (also, I happened to find snails in my plants so that's what started the whole macro lens photography session).

After shooting with the converter lens that day, I realized I've never really gotten into macro photography. So, the life-size converter and the 50mm lens have stayed on the camera (and the tripod) for over a week and I've been continuing to try it out on the flowers.

Since Zada likes to follow me out onto the deck to hang out while I'm "gardening," it was only a matter of time before I turned the lens on her.

Now, my tripod's not very low-to-the-ground friendly, so I had to take the camera off the tripod to take Z's picture...it's a good thing she keeps so still when I ask her to.

No tripod, camera lying on the ground, trying to focus on a specific portion of the frame and hoping she stays still enough to get a crisp shot...it was interesting. Not that she did anything; I had to contort myself into some weird positions to get it done.

But, as usual, my good girl was ever the willing model and I ended up getting some pretty neat shots.

I think the next time I go to Como Conservatory I'll be bringing the converter lens along so I can try it out on more types of flowers than I have on the deck...

It's been fun re-examining macro but as of today I have to take off the little lens and change it out for one that's much, much bigger: a 70-200mm telephoto lens. I'll be shooting a softball game so I need all the lens length I can get (although the telephoto lens will still give great depth of field). We'll see how that goes.

Most likely, once I returned the big lens (it's rented), the macro photography will resume at Casa de Danks.

Swimming Lesson at Lake McCarrons

We've been having some crazy weather in Minnesota this year. I'm not complaining; just stating a fact. We've had cold-and-rainy immediately followed by warm-and-sunny, then a spate of pleasant, summery days and back to blustery, chilly weather. It seems to have no rhyme or reason.

 This Memorial Day weekend followed the "pattern:" a nice day on Friday followed by cool/rainy weather on Saturday...then Sunday it was in the upper 80s and humid.

What to do on an uber-hot, sticky day? Why, head to the lake, of course. And when you're covered in a fur coat, the lake water is the only way to go for exercise.

So the neighbors and I bundled the dogs (Gus & Zada) into the car and headed to Lake McCarrons. See, Gus had never been swimming – in fact, from what I understand he'd never even been in the water (on purpose) – so we took them to the boat landing for a swimming lesson.

Zada, of course, needed no prompting: I lobbed the tennis ball out into the waves and she plunged in. Since SHE seemed excited about the water, Gus bounded right in after her...until he realized the water got deeper. As soon as his short little legs couldn't reach the sandy bottom, he turned around for the safety of the shore.

But, each time Z would swim out to retrieve the ball, Gus would bound back out...just far enough to realize he still didn't really want to swim.

He did well for his first time "swimming," but he tired pretty quickly of the whole thing and decided being on shore was safer. Meanwhile, Zada kept retrieving (per usual) and wasn't too thrilled we weren't paying strict attention to her ;)

We weren't the only ones cooling our dogs off in the lake – when we first arrived there was already a pitbull on the scene (which ended up having to be leashed, since she wasn't dog-friendly...weird) and later a border collie joined us.

It was a good day for dogs to be swimming...and we humans didn't mind the wet legs and feet we got from the dogs shaking on us – it felt pretty good.

After about a half hour of swimming and enjoying the lake, it was time to go home...of course, we had to towel the dogs off before letting them jump into the car :)



***Note: these pictures aren't the best...some are pretty blurry since I was trying out a tele-converter for my 24-105mm lens.***

Yappy Hour with Hoy the Havanese

The other evening was a great "Yappy Hour" over at Dick & Jane's. Not only were there delicious mimosas (and these aren't your ordinary mimosas), but we had three dogs and four people in attendance.

One of my other neighbors wandered over with her dog (Hoy) to see what all the hooplah was about...she ended up staying for a mimosa and chit-chats – and then we saw her dog's special "toy" and that's when the cameras came out.

Get this: she's a farm girl from WAY down in south-western Minnesota, yet when she got her little Havanese dog a few years ago she learned her puppy really, REALLY liked this stuffed bunny she'd purchased for him at Target.

Well, when said bunny met its demise (as stuffed dog toys are wont to do after enough time has passed), her little dog was much chagrined, so she bought him a new one...which he promptly denounced as unworthy.

Since the little guy was so attached to the original Peter Rabbit, she had a great idea: merge the two stuffed animals so he'd "adopt" the new one. So she did...by sewing the head of the old rabbit on top of the head of the new rabbit.

This has evidently been going on for almost four years – and since they're currently in the midst of a merger, we got to see first-hand the creepiness that is Hoy's Bunny.

We had QUITE a few laughs and jokes about this really weird process and how ODD this toy is (plus, how she's changed her erstwhile country-girl style)...but Hoy's so darn cute we had to cut him some slack.

Meanwhile, in the background Gus relentlessly tried to get Zada's ball out of her mouth (in typical Yappy Hour style)...and she – in a never-ending show of infinite patience – allowed him to endlessly pester her.




It was a great Yappy Hour with three happy, panting dogs and lots of laughs.

Cairn Terrier Looks Like Nikki Sixx

The Neighbors have had their cairn terrier for about 8 months. Supposedly when they got him, he was two years old...which is a bunch of BS, since he is very much a puppy.

How can I tell? Well, he acts like a puppy, he gets crazy like a puppy, and since they've had him his hair continues to get longer and change color – which normally doesn't randomly happen to dogs no longer in the throes of puppydom. Anyway.

You might remember what he looked like back in March of this year when I talked about his new nickname (Coyote Bait on a Stick). He was shaggy then, but just a month later, his hair has gotten quite wild and crazy.

Like, Nikki Sixx crazy. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Nikki Sixx's hair! I'm just saying I don't know if a cairn terrier should look like a punked-out rockstar.

His hair gets even more tousled and feral when Zada's been chewing on him – I think her saliva acts like a kind of gel – and it's even BETTER when I then take the opportunity to mold it into a sort of up-do.



See the resemblance? Might be time for a trim, Gus.




















*Nikki Sixx screenshot taken from http://temptu.wordpress.com/2008/11/26/temptu-on-nikki-six-of-motley-crue/

Coyote Bait on a Stick

(AKA "Gus")

But first, a little background...

Last summer the neighbors – the ones who give me drinks (like the oh-so-yummy smoretini) – got a dog. Correction, they SAVED a dog. You know, one of those rescue-type deals where everyone feels warm and fuzzy inside for not having purchased their canine companion from a nasty breeder (like I did).


So this snotty little Mister Warm & Fuzzy came into the neighborhood. No, for real, he was snotty – he had rabies or something. Just kidding, it was kennel cough. Either way, he was quarantined for a while. Anyway, so he's a black cairn terrier mix. You know, like Toto! Oh, and guess what? That was his name.




Well, of course most NORMAL people (read: more creative than neanderthals) don't appreciate dog names that are cliché. So the neighbors – let's call them "Dick and Jane" – decided to rename him "Gus." Because, honestly, who doesn't love a little shaggy dog with an old man's name?

(I forget what "Gus" is short for...I think originally it was August but they changed that. For some reason I find myself listening to Loreena McKennitt while I write so it has to do with something Scottish...)

I think Zada assumed he – Gus – would be just like our other small-dog neighbor (Hoy) who's scared of bigger dogs. Not so...this newcomer small dog has SASS. And proverbial balls the size of Kansas. He sees Z running towards him – a 70-pound bundle of lean muscle, sinew and wolf-like stance – and what does he do? Why, stands his ground and jumps up on her to say "hello!" when she gets close, of course!


Needless to say, she was a bit stymied. But, since that first meeting they've become fast friends...our "yappy hours" are now somewhat daily occurrences and I know both dogs love running around together. Z (ever the Fetching Queen) gets a little frustrated when Gus (a normal terror...I mean, terrier) doesn't play by the rules and steals her ball or stick and won't bring it back.

He's so concerned with the having of and the CHEWING of the stick that when I've tried to get it away from him he'll hang onto it even if I lift it into the air...dangling, suspended from only his teeth by a death grip that could put a bulldog to shame. (Pssssst: that's the "on-a-stick reference :) Also, when Z's running around with HER stick, Gus will invariably launch himself at it and in spite of her spinning efforts will acquire the tip of it and wind up chewing vigorously on his end while she resigns herself to holding it at perfect terror – I mean terrier – height for him.

Okay. So on to the meat and potatoes of this random story: Gus has become coyote bait. Literally.


What? We live in St. Paul, Minnesota. "How on EARTH could a cairn terrier mix come into contact with a coyote?" you ask. Simple. It's Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom behind Dick and Jane's town home (they have The Corner Lot next to The Woods). They've got it all: squirrels, song birds of all varieties, rabbits, ducks, deer, turkeys and recently...a coyote.

No lie. This coyote has been sighted by several people in our town home complex...but never before (since I've lived here, anyway) has the Canis latrans been spotted so frequently or so CLOSE to Dick and Jane's house as in the past couple of months.

Last week I was getting ready to go to work and Zada barked – yes, barked! – out the window. I assumed Gus was out and she wanted to join him, but nevertheless I looked out the window and to my utter surprise saw a coyote standing plain as day on the edge of the woods across the road. Right THERE. In broad daylight.


It seems our very own Wile E. has formed some sort of hunting ground/territory that encompasses our small patch of St. Paul and he likes to make his daily rounds. Of course, now that Dick and Jane have Gus this poses somewhat of a problem. Kind of like a fast-food problem.

See, they like to tie Gus outside on his tie-out so he can partake of the outdoors and get some fresh air. Nowadays this is sort of worrisome to them since, you know, there's a coyote around and according to Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge): "Urban populations of coyotes have been known to actively hunt cats, and to leap shorter fences to take small dogs. In particularly bold urban packs, coyotes have also been reported to shadow human joggers or larger dogs, and even to take small dogs while the dog is still on a leash."

Yikes.

So they've been keeping a close eye on Gussy while he's staked out but this evening at yappy hour Jane told me a scary story. This morning while Gus was tied out, Jane heard him barking. Not his normal, happy-go-lucky yapping, either. She said this was a "warning bark." She rushed to the patio door and saw her little Toto – sorry, GUS – standing at the edge of their patio, barking madly at a coyote that was less than 20 feet away. Not only was said coyote that close; he was slouching in for a little snack...Gus.

My brave Roadrunner whipped open the patio door and clapped her hands frantically, which sent Wile E. shooting off into the cover of the woods...Gus was safe.

Scarily, this is a real threat to little Gussy (aka Coyote Bait on a Stick). I'm not a small-dog person but damn, he is CUTE and he's so chock-full of attitude and energy you have to love him. When I told the story to Clint, he said maybe Dick and Jane should call someone about "re-locating" the coyote. I think he's right. At this point, it's not cool to see a wild canine that close...namely when it's stalking your pooch. Plus, we don't really want to put our names on the waiting list at the Great Minnesota Get-Together for a new creation.

Seriously, and all jesting aside, I think it's time for Mr. Coyote to find a new home. I mean, how can I stand thinking my favorite furry neighbor could come to harm???

My Kozies Shepherd Has Hip Dysplasia

I know I said I wouldn't waste any more time thinking and opining about Mark Kozitza down in Mankato, MN, but since Zada's health has taken a turn for the worse I feel inclined to dissuade other German shepherd lovers from falling prey to this backyard breeder like I did.

While I live in St. Paul – in a town home, no less – and Zada is a "city dog," I have her out for 1½ to 2 hours of exercise per day. I have her off-leash quite a bit so she can run; I'm constantly playing fetch with her (she never tires of chasing sticks or balls); we go for daily long walks around the neighborhood and I walk fast (she trots the entire time); and I also work her physically/mentally by down-staying her and hiding her stick or throwing it into the woods and releasing her to "find it" (she absolutely LOVES this game).

Long story short: she's in great shape. You can see her muscle definition through her fur, which for a longer-haired dog is pretty impressive. I keep her lean and she's never been over-weight.

She's Lame...Again

In spite of all that, she came up lame a few days ago – this time on a hind leg (she's had chronic problems on her left front for years). Since the only weakness she's ever shown on a hind leg has been attributed to her luxating patella, I assumed this was the same thing. I took her to the vet clinic and the veterinarian said she didn't think this limp was due to any problems with Zada's knees and suggested I get x-rays. Of course I said to go ahead, even though it was late evening and I didn't want her to be groggy for the rest of the night (turns out they didn't even have to sedate her...my good girl :)

I wasn't prepared for the news that came back: my European-line German shepherd has hip dysplasia. Not only that, she also has arthritic changes on two of her vertebrae: lumber 7 (L7) and her sacrum. The vet said the spinal arthritis was more concerning than the hip dysplasia, since it will not only get worse over time (same as the hip dysplasia), but could end up impinging on nerves and could cause permanent damage.

If You Don't Want a GSD with Hip Dysplasia or Arthritis, Don't Buy From Kozies Shepherds

I was devastated. Zada's only five years old and already I was thinking of the years to come of playing fetch, horseback riding through the woods with her at my side, hiking for hours and how that would affect my poor girl's hips and spine.

For someone who purports to breed German shepherds of European working lines that have good genetics and are "structurally sound," Mark Kozitza sure struck out with this breeding. I've heard from a few other people who own Kozies shepherds and between the four of us our dogs have quite the list of afflictions.

Known Health Problems of Kozies Shepherds

• hip dysplasia
• spinal arthritis (transitional vertebra)
• EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency)
• aggression towards children
• luxating patellas
• dog-dog aggression
• limping on a front leg after exercise
• bad teeth

I've noticed that Zada's dam (also the dam of two of the other dogs I'm mentioning above) has been completely taken off the breeder's website. One of the other dog owners (who has a female half-sister to Zada) told me that Zada's sire was supposed to be the father of his female but at the last minute Kozitza changed the breeding. When I asked if he knew why, this dog owner told me "because the dog went sterile."

This is obviously hearsay but it seems like too much of a coincidence for me – plus I have the vet bills to prove the bad breeding practices of Kozies. If anyone wants to see Zada's x-rays, I'd be happy to share.

All of Zada's temperament issues aside – which can result from genetics AND environment, I know that – these problems (especially hip dysplasia) are solely a product of poor breeding. There's nothing I could've done to prevent this other than NOT get my German shepherd from Kozies shepherds. Period.

Dog-sitting Miss Tesa

While Mom and Dad spend the month in sunny Puerto Vallarta, their golden retriever gets to stay with us here in the cities. Being a country girl, Tesa is used to being outside all day, running hither and thither and doing, well, pretty much whatever she wants.

Here in St. Paul, we don't have a yard so the only time she gets to go out is under supervision. I do have Zada out every day for a couple of hours, and she's used to a mostly-indoor life...but when Tesa's here I feel bad that she can't be outside more often like she is back home.

However, I've put my guilt aside and realized she's just fine...as evidenced by the amount of sleeping (and snoring) she's done while staying here.

Me thinks this is the face of a content pooch. Well, except she was waiting for me to stop snapping so she could get on with her nap :)

Hiking with Dogs in the Country

While up at Mom & Dad's for the Christmas weekend I took the dogs out every day for a couple hours...it's so lovely walking through woods and fields with nary a sidewalk in sight :) I get my daily exercise, the dogs love it and I get to pretend I'm a country girl again.



I used to bring my SLR with me on these walks, but it's so bulky and I'm always afraid of ruining it (sometimes I end up on trail-less land, clambering over/under/through brush, etc.), so I started slipping my new point-and-shoot into my pocket. Clint got it for me as a birthday present – in September – and I have yet to read the instruction manual, which is more than likely the reason why I haven't mastered its settings.



I say that because we sometimes fight about where the focal point should be and whether or not to use flash. I guess I could go ahead and read up on how to use it...


Regardless, it comes with me always in my purse (you never know when you'll need a camera) and of course while hiking in the country with the dogs. Zada is a pretty poser but Tesa...well, Tesa does some really weird stuff that's fun to catch on card (I can't say "film" anymore, although that makes more sense to me).

Unfortunately, while I had the camera with me I didn't have a free hand to capture her weirdest moment that weekend: diving head-first down a hole in the hay bales to chase after a stick. She's gamey and will do just about anything, but she didn't quite think her endeavor through...I just happened to be close enough to grab her tail as she kept falling and then got stuck. My sister and I hauled her out and she was fine, but it still would've been a funny picture (the mental one we have is hilarious).

Other than that, it was mostly a lot of tramping around in the woods, across fields, along the river, on lonely trails connecting backwoods plots of land, and in the horse pasture (to check the fence line).

This winter has been mild – for Minnesota – and there was barely any snow on the ground (not much more than a dusting), with temps in the 20s and 30s...perfect for hiking (in my country-girl opinion).

Hogan, Tesa and Zada were my constant companions while outside and I think they loved the walks as much as I did. While there wasn't open water for them to drink (like there was on the river over Thanksgiving weekend), they got bitefuls of snow here and there.

One of the things about these dogs – well, Tesa & Zada, anyway...Hogan's 10 years old, after all – is that no matter how long they've been out running around, they're always ready to go. If you're putting on your boots, they're whining at the door, excited to head outside again.



And if all the humans are inside, poor Zada resigns herself to lying on the porch (with an ever-ready stick at her disposal), waiting patiently for someone to come out and play :)