Hee hee. I submitted this picture to www.faildogs.com.

Teddy spent a couple of days in the hospital. Here he is on his IV drip and wrapped in a blanket.

He was extremely lethargic at this point and we really didn't have an idea of what was happening. We were very worried. It also was a difficult reminder of what we went through with Jack over the holidays. But by the end of the day he was feeling better. The hydration, stabilizing his temperature, and some medications perked him up. We left him in the hospital overnight. At around midnight he backed up the grate on his cage, like a dump truck backing up to the landfill, and let fly. Projectile style. And amid the staff diving out of the way, out shot a makeup sponge. Diagnosis complete. After that he was fine. We kept him under observation for another day but he's back to his normal self. That was the most expensive makeup sponge in the history of mankind.

Here he is about to get his followup examination yesterday, which he passed with flying colors.

Yesterday we noticed that Teddy was feeling lethargic and didn't have an appetite. Today he was throwing up from both ends, and was clearly very sick. I took him into the Veterinarian today and they're concerned. He'll be spending the day there and getting an IV, x-ray, and some TLC. We don't know what's wrong with him. He's only five months old!

Now, YOU, fail.

Chloe, originally uploaded by Murphy Dog Studios.

Rob shoots Chloe with his fancy ring flash. Nice.

Dogs, originally uploaded by Murphy Dog Studios.

Here's a picture of our dog Jack taken by my friend Rob over at Murphy Dog Studios. Jack died over the Christmas holidays and we miss him. Jack was a Weimaraner.

_DSC6332, originally uploaded by Mike and Bunny.

Experimenting with off camera flash. I actually held the flash off to the left of my camera.

Fail Dogs is hilarious. We'll, it's possible you need to be a dog person to find it so, but here it is anyway.

That's a first for me, even after all these years living with dogs. That's it. Move along. Nothing more to see here.

This is a heart warming story.

_DSC6228, originally uploaded by Mike and Bunny.

Ah, all relaxed.

_DSC6222, originally uploaded by Mike and Bunny.

This is my fave.

(Here's Teddy during his first trip to the Veterinarian)

We adopted a new Shinese puppy named Teddy. He is about three months old. A Shinese is a Pekingese and Shih Tzu mix. He weighs about four pounds and is extremely fluffy. His fur is very fine and extremely soft. He has a very curious and playful personality and seems to warm right up to people. He insists on chewing on the corner of our kitchen cabinets, despite our discouraging him from this. When left alone, he cries bloody murder, which is heart breaking, but like any puppy he has to learn to be by himself. He'll be okay in a few days. He has an enclosed area with a fluffy bed, puppy pads, food and water, and a nice red lobster chew toy. So far he's living in a different room from the other dogs (he is our third), but hopefully that won't last long.

Chloe is a bit afraid of him. She is very submissive. When she gets afraid she just stands in one spot and shakes with her tiny little tail down. Could she look more pathetic? Not likely. She'll be fine playing with him soon.

Sanjo however is a bit of a problem. He's protective and dominating to concerning levels. He growls and barks and snaps at other dogs. In fact I think we're going to bring in a professional to help us settle our little furry family. We're mostly concerned about Sanjo's attitude. Now we know why Pekingese are called the Little Lions!

Interestingly, I didn't find much at all about the Shinese breed on the web. Google kept trying to tell me I meant "Chinese", which was actually quite annoying because I got a lot of results with "Chinese" instead of "Shinese". Arg. Google got that wrong. I ended up adding "-Chinese" to my query to get rid of the false positives in the query. This was really the first time google has really got something like this blatantly wrong for me.

We didn't know the Pekingese and Shih Tzu mix was called Shinese until I searched around tonight. Below are a couple of links about the breed, which were really the only useful sites I could really find. The rest were just unlinked lists of all the millions of hybrid breeds or links to ads selling the dogs in random newspapers or websites, or lame aggregation sites. There's not much at all out there about Shinese at all. Nothing at all on Wikipedia.

Dog Breed Info page 1
Dog Breed Info page 2

One thing I've noticed about dog pictures on the web is that they all suck. Okay, most suck. Okay, a lot suck. And the dog websites? Um, 1991 called and wants its website back. But you get the idea. Maybe our pictures of Teddy will be the best Shinese pictures on the web. I'll have to get cracking. These were a bit tough - low light, plus he kept rushing the camera and running around all short and low to the ground and stuff and hyper and stuff. I'd lay on the floor and he'd come over and chew on my nose and glasses. Sigh. Puppies. Have. Sharp. Teeth.

BTW, for some awesome dog pictures (not of our dogs), go here:
Murphy Dog Studios
Erin Vey

Get your monitor screen cleaned automatically!

Steps:

1. Maximise your browser window

2. Click this link

BTW, this is NOT one of those flash movies that attempt to scare you out of your pants.

A few weeks ago the power was out for a few days following a storm. Here's a picture of Chloe the Yorkshire Terrier in the dark. I used a flashlight to light her face.

Sanjo likes to hang out the steps and watch the front door.

A couple more pictures here.

You get the satellite dish.

Some more pictures of Jacky boy here.

Yes, we are now officially crazy dog people. She's a little Yorkshire Terrier. She weighed 3 lbs 8 ounces at the vet last week. She's fairly timid but everyday she gets braver. She's probably a "Teacup" Yorkie, but we're not sure.

Some more pictures of her in the backyard here.

I took some shots of Jack and Sanjo fighting over some toys in the back yard. Here's ten pound Sanjo biting seventy five pound Jack's ear.

The light was fading so I used my Sigma 30mm lens. This lens is tricky. If you open the aperture up too far, the focal area of the shot is tiny. Hence the picture of Jack with his eyes in focus, and his nose out of focus. I don't think this is the best lens for action shots. I took about a hundred pictures and only a handful came out. I think this is a better portrait lens. Lesson learned.

This is his "Throw it! Throw it now! Cmon, throw it! Cmon! Cmon! Throw it!" expression.

Geez, what a poser:

Pink tongue

And Sanjo is victorious. Of course. Was there ever any doubt?

Mine! All Mine! Back off buckwheat!

The rest of the pictures are here on http://pictures.mikeandbunny.com.

Pogo is my sister's family's Cockapoo. I was inspired by the dog pictures I posted links to the other day and took these shots at a family gathering over the weekend. I use my Nikon D70S with my 10mm Fisheye lens. I was also playing around with depth of field, which is why the background is blurry in the first one - I really like that shot because I managed to focus the camera on the little furbag's eyes. He was a little scared of the camera so he was a bit tricky to photograph. Boy oh boy, I feel like I have so much to learn about photography. I do a little better every time though! Hope you like the shots. He's a cute little fuzzball.

A couple more shots of him here: http://pictures.mikeandbunny.com/gallery/1676055

Siome fantastic and inspiring pictures of dogs. These shots make me want to bust out the camera and join the barking fray! Woof!

http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&q=dogs&m=tags

http://flickrdogs.com/

and of course

http://www.murphydogstudios.com

OMG, check out Faith the two legged dog. She walks upright cause she doesn’t have front legs. No joke. Dogs rule.

Jack seems to be doing well. No sick symptoms. His backyard bidness is much improved. Not one hundred percent, but much better.

I took some pictures of him tonight, fooling around with my new Nikon D70s. This is my favorite of my bunch:

Check out the gallery of furbag pictures here.

First the bad news: he's still having problem with his private time bidness. He's also barfed a couple of times. The latter could be due to him eating something like an entire Naugahyde couch or Foosball table or grass, which he likes to do. Especially the grass (and we're not talking a spliff here). He's always been a grass eater and barfer, so this may not mean anything, but we'll note it in the logbook.

Now the good news: we weighed Jack tonight. It's been a little over two weeks after starting him on his human diet. He weighed in at 61.5lbs, which is up five pounds from when we started the diet. Yay! And he seems to always be hungry. His attitude seems great. Lots of energy, including spontaneous spaz outs complete with the bucking bronco arched back leap (gotta see this to appreciate it). He's not acting sick at all.

So that's where we're at with this. We'll be taking him to the vet for a consult in the next few days and we'll see what that brings. I'll update ya'll then. Thanks everyone for your concern and words of kindness.

Here he is looking submissive. Don't be fooled, he probably just ate your Naugahyde couch.

I've owed this blog update for a couple of days now - sorry I'm slow getting to it. People keep asking me what's going on with Jack. The blogosphere is truly mind boggling sometimes.

We decided not to do the surgery for now. Too expensive. Too invasive (a huge incision plus weeks of recovery time). And Jack isn't acting sick. So I did some research online and found that it's possible that his current "issues" could be caused by a food intolerance, allergy, or something like irritable bowel syndrome. Cancer is worse case, and if it is cancer, we're going to lose him either way, frankly. So we're trying a diet designed to eliminate anything that he's previously been eating. His previous food was a fish and potato prescription Eukenuba diet. We're now feeding him steamed rice and chicken we prepare human style. No preservatives. Fresh food. We're planning to do this for a couple of weeks and see if he's better. Already he seems like he's gained a bit of weight and he seems even more spastic, so it seem to be improving things. He's unbelievably enthusiastic about his new diet. His "bidness" isn't much better though, but that may take some time. This is this critical issue so we have to keep an eye on it (yuck). 

It sure seems like the specialist was sure in a hurry to cut him open. That plus the cost of the procedure has me wondering if they really have my dog's well being as their first priority. Also the fact that a food intolerance was never brought up by my vet has me a bit disgruntled and considering starting over with a new one. We'll see how it goes in the next few weeks. If this cures him I'll be very relieved and happy about Jack but a bit pissed off because we went through all this emotional and financial pain (and literal discomfort for Jack) for no reason, i.e. they could have addressed the food issue like a year ago.

We'll see. Thanks very much everyone for your continued interest in Jack and I'll update the blog as soon as there is anything to report.

Here's a picture of him from Christmas a couple of years ago. Clearly we're disturbing his valuable nap time.

Just talked to the Specialist. The results are in from the scoping. No diagnosis yet, unfortunately. This could be a good thing, at least they didn't find cancer. I think the doctor was expecting confirmation of a bowel lymphoma (cancer). So the next step is surgery - exploration and sample taking. So Jack is scheduled for this procedure on Monday. He'll be in the hospital for two days and recovering for about two weeks at home. If it is cancer, he can be treated with oral and injectable chemotherapy, but the prognosis is probably not too good in this case. If it's not cancer, he may actually survive this, though I may not financially, the way things are going.

Here's a picture of him from when my dad and I (and Jack) went tooling around the fire roads in the Cascade mountains in Washington State last summer.

They don't have the results of the biopsy yet, but frankly it looks bad. I won't know anything until late tomorrow afternoon for sure so maybe I'm over reacting. Maybe I'm pessimistic. Maybe it will be okay for him. But I just don't feel it. B. keeps telling me to think positive and that we don't know anything for sure yet. But my gut it telling me different. I feel the news just getting worse and worse. The specialist today was very somber. The prognosis is not good. Her words, not mine. The problems that he has been having, the fevers, the joint pain, the weird test results, the digestive problems,  everything added together all points toward cancer. Jesus, he was supposed to live at least another five years.

He's home with me now. We just got back from the Specialist's office. Even in his present emaciated state, he still gets complements, still draws attention, and he still has his positive attitude. Even now he's trying to scavenge any little morsel from the kitchen floor. Yesterday the doctor told me that they tried to give him a Snasauge and he wouldn't eat it. All he wanted, she said, was you. Almost lost it right there, I swear to god.

Here's a picture of him when we first got him. I don't think he's over three months old here. The toy is the background is one of his first toys, his hedgehog.

I hope you can bear with my sentimentality here, this is very tough on B. and I.

Our pesky varmit, Jack, has been ill for a while (as you know if you read my blog). Nothing life threatening so far (at least as far as we know). He’s been experiencing some intermittent high fevers with joint pain, and the latest problem is with his digestion. I’ll spare you the details here. And believe me, you want the details spared. Gah. 

He’s also lost ten pounds. And when you weigh sixty four pounds, that’s a huge loss. The poor guy is obviously way too skinny.

His attitude is still good though. He still is frisky and very interested in leaning on you until you pet him. He still will do about anything for the tiniest crumb of whatever you’re eating. Unless it’s a Jalapeno pepper. If he smells one of these, he leaps backward, shakes his head, and starts drooling all over himself. Much to our confused amusement.

So today I took him to the vet and she has sent me to a specialist. This dog is very sick, she said. And we need to get him well. So on Wednesday I’m driving up to Fremont to see a Veterinary Internal Medicine specialist. Gulp. They’ll probably scope him and check out his insides with a camera.

I really hope we can figure out what’s wrong with him and treat him. If we lose him, I’m going to be devastated.

Anyway, that’s what’s up with the varmit.

Here's an old picture of him curled up on a bean-bag chair.

I love my dog, but holy mother of buddha there must be something wrong because he's letting some ungodly stink bombs fly, let me tell you. I think it's time for professional intervention.

I'm talking the kind of bomb that forces you to your feet no matter what you're doing (I'm talking even brain surgery or nuclear bomb defusing) so that you can kick down the door SWAT style and run outside screaming and waving your arms like a swarm of killer bees is chasing you. 

I'm talking the kind of bomb that combined with open flame would cause a whump and then a lingering rain of shingles on the neighbors.

I'm talking the kind of bomb that kills cactus, the most hearty plant known to man.

Friend, that's a lot of stank.

These stink bombs take twenty minutes to clear and causes the dog to become overly excited, wagging his tail and running around in tight circles, his back arched and his back legs passing his front legs, leaving a rooster tail of chopped lawn like a ocean racing cigarette boat. He's excited because everyone is running around and opening doors, and he thinks he's going on a car ride or walk, but the last thing you want it this mortar cannon following you around. So all you can do is run, and run, and run, and hope the wood floors will take him out (he spins out like a race car on a frozen lake), and you hope you can make it to the safe house, the oasis, the hermetically sealed escaped pod, but you hear the ffffsssssssssstt, and you yell "incoming", dive head first into your foxhole, and grab that gas mask even though you know it's too late for you, the bell has tolled for thee.

"ffffssssssssstttt!"

Seeing a dog loose in the back of a pickup truck really makes me feel homicidal. Talk about road rage. When I see this I want to toss the driver into the back of the pickup truck, get behind the wheel, and do some drifting around some tight corners, leap some creeks Bo and Luke Duke style, and alternately slam the gas and brake pedals to the floor. Hope they can hang on (if not, oh well!). See here's the thing, DOGS CAN'T HANG ON!

Ten thousand dogs die per year because they're thrown from the back of a pickup. So we have Rover in the pickup's bed, wagging his tail, hanging his head out in the breeze for a good long sniff, clearly enjoying himself, scrunching down to keep his balance, trusting master, and then a huge semi truck flies by on the freeway and Rover is fatally airborne. Driver pulls into rest stop ten miles later. Hey where's Rover? Insert long string of profanity here (by me, now, not at the rest stop).

Why are people so stupid? Seriously. I want to know.

Dogs can also easily suffer from heat stroke, or have their eyes or sensitive noses damaged by flying debris as they joyfully sniff the breeze. This is also why it's a bad idea to allow Rover to stick his head out of the car window. It's cute and entertaining, I agree, but would you let your children stick their heads out of the window when you're cruising down the freeway? Um, not. If so, you don't deserve to be a parent.

There are a few restraints you can install into the bed of the truck. The important things are:

1. The system has a padded body harness, not a neck leash. A neck leash can kill the dog in an accident by breaking it's neck or choking it. A neck leash is for WALKING your dog, people. Even then a body harness is better.
2. The harness restricts your dog to the center of the bed. If the dog can hit one of the side of the truck or worse fly partially out, the dog may survive but could be seriously hurt or maimed in a minor accident.

Something like this is okay. The problem here is the dog isn't in the center of the bed.

This sucks - "Safety" my ass.

This sucks and pisses me off. It's death trap for your dog. Hopefully people are smart enough to see how dangerous this is.

Incidentally, if you have an SUV you're not off the hook. What do you think will happen to Rover if he's in the back unrestrained and you rear-end somebody? Rover becomes a sixty pound projectile and you're in his path. He flies through the window. He hits the dashboard. He hits your kids in the head before he crashes through the wind shield. To be honest, I've been guilty not restraining my dog myself in my SUV. When I've been good I've put a body harness on him and leashed him to a tie down in the back. Not perfect, but it would probably save his life. I'll do better here, I promise.

The BEST thing to do is crate your dog (in a SUV or pickup truck bed) and strap that crate in properly. If you have a pickup, it'd be better if you had a shell to further protect Rover from strangers and the elements (in addition to the crate). BTW, if you think that crating your dog is caging your dog and is mean, frankly you're an idiot uneducated person and haven't done your homework at all. If this is true, I feel sorry for your dog.

This is very good, though I wish the picture showed it strapped into the pickup truck bed.

These look very good.

You get the idea. Please comment if you have more info on this topic, or you know of good products to keep rover safe, even if they're not pickup truck related.

Some more good reading:

1. http://www.elpasotexas.gov/weather_task_force/trainning_tips2.asp
2. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4631498/
3. http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/dog_care/why_dogs_and_pickup_trucks_dont_mix.html

The picture is of my dog, whom I love very much and want to keep safe.

P.S. Drifting is not for street driving, though the link I provided implies this. I've seen lot's of videos where idiots people get into their Civics and think they're going to drift around the local mountain roads and they end up off the road, down a hundred foot embankment. You've been warned.

Our beloved weimeraner, Jack, is sick. He's had a fever of around 104 for a few weeks now (99 - 102 is normal). We've taken him to the veterinarian a few times now and he's had a slew of tests, including and x-ray and ultrasound. We don't know what's wrong with him. Statistically, because he's a young dog it's probably some kind of infection. If he were older it would probably be cancer. Gack. He's also lost about ten pounds now and he's looking very boney and skinny. We've been feeding him eggs and such to get him to eat more, which he is doing, but he's still seems to be loosing weight. A concern is dehydration and because of that he's in the hospital today getting an IV to get his fever down and get some fluids in him.

Mostly he's been lying around sleeping. For example, he doesn't get up when we come home at night. Usually he's out of his mind with excitement when we get home from work. We first really noticed something was wrong when we were driving up to Portland a few weeks ago. We became so concerned that we stopped at an emergency animal hospital in Medford Oregon. They gave him some antibiotics. Not much we could do then. Since then we've done as much as we can for him.

I put together a little photo gallery of some of my favorite pictures of him here.

I really hope we don't loose him. We'd be extraordinarily sad if that happens. He's such a great loving dog. If you know him, you know what I mean.

This whole thing brings up an interesting question. Money. How much do you spend trying to get your pet well? We're already in about $1800.00. As far as I'm concerned, he's a family member so I don't care how much it costs to get him well. But is that true? Does it really not matter? What if it costs 10k or 20k? Where do you draw the line? What an unpleasant question, but it's something I've been thinking about lately. Even if I had pet insurance, which is expensive, it would only cover like half of the costs. I don't know the answer to this. I'm just throwing it out there.

Click picture for more pictures