Tag Archives: Dog

Freezing Time

Posted by dkrashb on

We had a winter weather warning last night.  Perhaps it did get dangerous last night when I was sound asleep, but when I got up this morning, it just looked like another rainy day.  Then, I realize I have to go out in this rainy day.

Is it wrong that I long for snow whenever it rains in the winter?  Wouldn’t everyone rather have the landscape blanketed in the fluffy white stuff than to duck in and out of overhangs trying to keep their hair dry?

I decide that it must be miserably cold in the rain and that this may be my only opportunity wear real winter garb:  a Patagonia down “sweater” (still don’t get why they call them that) with my North Face tri-climate shell.  I also pull my rain pants on over the fleece pants I wore to bed last night (I rarely bother to change out of my “pajamas” before walking Tisen in the morning; good thing I sleep in hiking clothes).

I look a bit, well, shall we say, more eccentric than usual?

It’s not really that cold out.  Even so, Tisen is not enthusiastic about the rain–thankfully he does not refuse to out in it like some dogs.  He does, however, walk the minimum distance required for him to complete his business and then immediately turns back towards home.  In spite of the short walk, I am starting to sweat by the time we return, but I can’t resist taking a quick self-portrait while all the water is still beading on my jacket.  Perhaps “more eccentric” was too kind?

I look out the window and see the magical effect of the street light on the pouring rain.  I love how you can’t see that it’s raining except in that one, tiny patch of light directly under the street light when it’s still dark out.  I decide to try to shoot the rain in the street light.  I setup my tripod on the balcony and get ready to shoot.

First, I realize that the slow shutter speed required for the lighting conditions prevents me from capturing the rain drops.  I need a fast shutter for the individual drops to show up–as it is, they disappear into a barely perceivable mist.

Then, my ADD kicks in (I don’t really have ADD, but I’ve been feeling left out) and I find myself distracted by the long streaks of light captured as cars drive through the frame.  This is one of the effects of photography that I know I shouldn’t like, but I just get so mesmerized by it.  Despite the fact that when I look at the photos later, I mostly think they look like a cliche, I can’t stop myself from taking them.  There is something inherently fun about shifting reality by perceiving the passage of time from the perspective of an open shutter.  How else can we see the passage of time frozen in a single frame?

George Tisen and Mr. Beaver

Posted by dkrashb on

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, George Tisen, aka Tisen, has a new friend. His name is Mr. Beaver. Unlike Red Dog and Squirrel, Mr. Beaver required a more formal title.

Mr. Beaver was yet another spontaneous purchase, this time at Target. I responded to some super natural force that caused me to turn unexpectedly down the dog toy aisle. In spite of the fact that Tisen now has a squeaky toy collection of Red Dog, Squirrel, Puppy Love, and Minnie Teddy in addition to 3 squeaky Kong tennis balls, I felt compelled to add Mr. Beaver to the collection. It seems neither one of us can resist a squeaky toy. I’m guessing our neighbors in our echo-chamber apartment building love them just as much as we do.

But George Tisen loves his toys so much, it’s hard to resist buying him another one. Especially when he does something as adorable as he did today. He took Mr. Beaver with him on our evening walk. I managed to get Mr. Beaver out of his mouth long enough to slip the collar over Tisen’s head, but when I tried to push Mr. Beaver out of the way of the door, Tisen snagged him up and headed out the door with him in his mouth. I was too overcome by the giggles to take Mr. Beaver away and leave him at home.

Tisen often likes to carry toys with him on walks, but this is the largest he’s insisted on taking with him. Last time I let him carry a toy, it was a tennis ball. He got bored with it and set it down in the gutter just before we crossed a busy street. I didn’t realize he’d set it down until we got well into the park. Luckily, it was still sitting where he left it on the way back and he snapped it back up again on the way home.

Today, I’m confident Mr. Beaver won’t fair so well if Tisen leaves him somewhere, so I watch him like a hawk for signs he’s planning to set Mr. Beaver down. He holds Mr. Beaver all the way across the street, through the parking lot, past the first pee stop, and doesn’t set him down until we’re at the first grassy knoll. I pick up Mr. Beaver just to ensure he doesn’t end up in the line of fire since Tisen is sniffing around. Tisen turns around and grabs Mr. Beaver immediately, apparently upset that I’ve picked him up.

At one point, Tisen spots an area that’s recently been dug up. He sets Mr. Beaver down and starts to dig like he’s going to bury him. I tell him he can’t bury Mr. Beaver and pick him up again. Tisen takes him back once more and doesn’t set him down again until we’re inside the apartment.

It’s better entertainment and cheaper than a movie.

The Etiquette of Dog Flatulence

Posted by dkrashb on

I took Tisen to the vet.  He was due for heartworm medicine and given the number of mosquitos that have been active, I figured it’s not safe to skip heartworm in the winter like we used to in Columbus.

He weighed in at 60 pounds, but the vet thought he still looked like he was on the thin side.  He’s gained 20 pounds since he first arrived at the McKamey Animal Center.  1/3 of his total body weight.  I wonder what I would look like I lost 1/3 of my total body weight?  That’s rhetorical.

Apparently the bald patches in his fur are due to a severe allergy to fleas.  Although his hair is growing back and we’ve seen no sign of fleas, the vet encourages me to try a flea treatment that is a bacteria taken orally.

I give him the “test” pill with his dinner Friday night.

He does not exhibit any allergic reaction, but by Saturday morning, he seems to be suffering from excessive flatulence.  Well, at least he has excessive flatulence–not sure he’s suffering as much as we are.

Of course, this is the day I am having a guest.  What exactly is proper etiquette when your dog is passing gas silently, but so lethally that it makes your eyes water?  Do you say, “Oh my, Tisen, you’re really stinky today!”

I think about an article by Miss Manners on this topic.  As I recall, she felt because a polite person would, of course, never pass gas, there was no reason to excuse one’s self because it simply didn’t happen.  Does this rule apply to dogs?

I eventually am so distracted by his stench, I have to say something.  I end up telling this story:  When I first started working from home many years ago, I didn’t have a desk.  So, I would sit in a recliner with my laptop in my lap and a speaker phone further down on my legs, which were propped up on the foot rest.  Our Mastiff, Bogart, liked to come over and sit in my lap from time to time.  He would walk up, swing his rear around in a large arc, and then plop his butt down on my lap while all 4 feet were still on the floor.

On this particular occasion, I was on the speaker phone on a call with 12 people.  When Bogart swung his rear around, he paused about 6 inches above the speaker phone.  Then, he passed gas for at least 10 seconds with reverberation audible in the next room.

The longest silence on a conference call I’ve ever experienced followed.  Since I didn’t think “It was the dog” was going to fly, I remained silent and hoped no one knew it was my phone.

I wonder what Miss Manners would say about that?

Today, I am back to using the iPhone to snap a few shots of Tisen curled up next to my lap, still stinking up the room.

Wishing for Winter

Posted by dkrashb on

This evening, I take Tisen out for his evening stroll.  We head across the street, dodging cars that refuse to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk with a green walk light.  This is a curious thing about Chattanooga.  No matter how much infrastructure they build to support pedestrians, the drivers still try to run them over.  I frequently end up stopped half way in the crosswalk waiting for the cars who are turning to realize they need to stop.

I usually give up and try to dive in front of a car where there is enough room for them to stop and the driver appears to be at least paying attention to what’s directly in front of them.  It’s a little dangerous, but after several weeks of this, I’ve found a few more drivers are watching for pedestrians and yielding.  Sometimes it just takes an accidental death to get traffic problems resolved.  🙂

Having made it safely across the street, we make our way down the sidewalk.  Tisen spots a strange mix-breed dog coming towards us, about 50 yards away.  Tisen crouches lower, juts his head out level with his shoulders, and his muzzle appears to have shape-shifted into the shape of a wolf’s.  If I didn’t know any better, I would think I was walking a border collie.  When the bizarre mix (he looks like a golden retriever with a pug’s head) gets closer, Tisen lunges with growly barks.  This is a first!  I think perhaps it is due to the strangeness of the dog.  But then we pass a chocolate lab puppy who is being a typical silly, playful pup and Tisen does a complete repeat performance.

I don’t know what changed between yesterday and today to make him behave so differently.  I keep thinking the longer it’s been since he was neutered, the less aggressive he’ll be, but I’m guessing whatever hormonal effect there will be has already happened.  I consider the possibility that it’s seasonal.  After all, we’ve had ridiculously warm weather for at least a week straight now.  Maybe his body thinks it’s spring.

While I am usually longing for spring this time of year, I find myself longing for winter instead.  Not out of hope it might settle Tisen down, but, in part, because it’s harder to appreciate the spring fully when you haven’t gone through a long, cold winter.  And, to be honest, I’m already tired of swatting mosquitos.  I do not want to think about what the insect population is going to be like if we don’t have any more cold weather this year.  I can only hope the bird, bat, and dragonfly populations keep pace.

Since I cannot take any photos of snow and ice, I decide to pull out some old ones.  Here are some shots from the Canadian Rockies in Jasper National Park, Alberta.  The high temperature our first day there on that trip was -15 Fahrenheit.  Now that is winter.

Double Play

Posted by dkrashb on

I have come to realize I am down to three obsessions to write about:  Tisen, Photography, and Hang Gliding.  I was hoping to combine all three into a single post today, but hang gliding didn’t happen today due to weather.  Maybe tomorrow–my own little triple play (sorry, it’s a telecom joke from back when I worked in the telecom industry).

After driving to the training hills, getting about 10% into assembling a glider, and then having to put it away and drive home, I consider taking a nap.  However, I have volunteered to help organize a St. Patrick’s Day fund raiser for S.O.A.R., so I decide to do some work on that instead.  I have a photo that I want to use of Cody, a Red-Tail Hawk, but it had a noisy background.  It was also taken with my iPhone–what I can do with it is somewhat limited.  Nonetheless, I end up spending an hour figuring out how to cut the hawk out of the photo and put it in front of a different background.  No wonder I hate editing photos!

Before:

Cody Flaring for Landing - iPhone photo slightly retouched

After:

Cody with New Background

I end up putting a different busy background behind Cody because there are so many places where I either erased something I didn’t mean to or didn’t erase something I should have.  I need the background to distract from my mistakes.  Regardless, I think it will work for a brochure and it turned out better than I thought it would.

After creating a draft poster and brochure, I take Tisen for a long walk.  There are tourists on the Walnut St Bridge taking pictures.  I have to smile to myself–I can’t count the number of times I’ve been up on that bridge shooting.  But, today is not a good day for shooting at all.  It’s gray and misting and I feel lucky I can pick the days I haul my equipment up to Walnut St Bridge.

I realize today that I’ve decided without actually deciding to include photos with each post, even if means grabbing a few shots with the iPhone.  After finishing the walk, I decide to get out my real-deal camera with the 100mm macro lens and start playing.

After seeing some shots on a real photographer’s blog that make me think maybe dog photos can be artistic, I decide to stick with Tisen as my model, but to try to use the macro lens to get something a little different.  Unfortunately, until I am going through the photos later, I don’t realize how much having a logo showing detracts from a picture.  It looks like I was hired to do a shoot for Kong dog toys.  That would have been nice!  While I’m doing an unpaid ad, Tisen does prefer Kong’s tennis balls–they squeak.

If I weren’t tired of photo editing, I would edit out the logos.  But now, I have the great joy of watching Tisen’s tail wag as we head out the door.

Sleepless Dog Names

Posted by dkrashb on

I am tired.  And it’s Tisen’s fault.  We’ve been talking about renaming him.  Does “Sleep Deprivation” make a good dog name?  I think back to when we innocently coaxed him onto our bed, even getting out Squirrel to entice him.  All because I thought I would sleep better not having to listen to the noises a dog in a crate in an “industrial loft” (aka, echo chamber) style apartment makes, even when being good.

At first I was right.  I did sleep better.  Tisen curled up quietly in the middle of the bed and didn’t move all night long.  But then Tisen started hogging the blankets.  Pat suggested we let him sleep on the floor two nights ago, so I put his bed in the corner, piled up blankets and squeaky toys, and assumed he would happily sleep there.  But as soon as I laid down, he jumped up and laid beside me, trapping me under the covers.

Last night, I decided I would put him back in the middle, but he collapsed on the bed before I got under the covers and it was all I could do to get enough blanket free to cover half of me.  I was warm enough when I first went to sleep, but I woke up cold later.

He seemed to need to nuzzle up beside me whenever there was any space between us–maybe he knew I was cold.  At some point, I woke up to discover he was pawing at me.  When I opened my eyes, he was on his back, waiting for a belly rub and my torso was covered with a small dog blanket.  It’s more probable I got up and got it in my sleep than that Tisen covered me, right?

I woke up every 15 minutes from that point onward.  It was a long night.  I fell into a sound sleep sometime between 5:30 and 6AM–my alarm went off at 6AM.

After rushing out with the dog, I grabbed a cup of coffee and got to work.  It was one of those 12-hour days with no breaks, so I was grateful when a conference call ended early around noon, giving me 15 minutes to take Tisen out.  I was even more grateful when my husband showed up around 2PM with food from a local barbecue.

Tisen slept like a baby through most of my work day–maybe that’s the problem!  At one point, he was laying with his paws looking like a basket weave.  I had to snap a quick picture with the iPhone.  Maybe “Weaver” could be a dog name?

So far, the list of suggested names I am considering is:  George, Lucky, and Rudy.  I haven’t come up with any ideas myself.  I guess I’ve gone through too many dog names already.  Is he a Sneezy?  A Grumpy?  A Happy?  A Stinky?  (Was that one of the dwarves?)  Pat thinks we should just stick with Tisen.  What do you think?

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Dogs and Nomads

Posted by dkrashb on

It was a big day for Tisen.  We drove to Atlanta last night and stayed in a La Quinta (did you know they allowed dogs for free?).  Pat hung out with Tisen until my work meetings were over and I could take the rest of my meetings from the car while he drove us back home.

Tisen did not seem like he felt well from about an hour into the drive to Atlanta until we returned home today.  He was clearly nervous about traveling.

After returning home, we took Tisen with us to McKamey Animal Center to officially adopt him.  Nearly every staff member on duty came to see Tisen and to thank us for adopting him.  I’m not sure why they were thanking us–we are so grateful to them for saving him.

I have spent much of the evening with eyes brimming with tears, overwhelmed with gratitude.  Gratitude for the people who saved Tisen.  Gratitude for Tisen himself.  Gratitude that my sister-in-law fosters cats (which gave me the ides to foster dogs).  Gratitude that Anna introduced us to Tisen.  Gratitude that Tisen picked us as much as we picked him.

While we are at the shelter, Tisen flirts with a boxer/bulldog mix named Rosie through a glass door.  She has the opposite eye patch from him and they seem like they were made for each other.  She is so ridiculously cute, we are suddenly tempted to bring home a friend for Tisen.  But, when we do the “meet and greet” to see how they get along, Tisen will not allow Rosie to get any affection from any human in the room.  When someone starts to pet her, he dives between human and Rosie, making growly noises.  We decide Tisen wants to be an only dog, which is probably for the best.

After another stop at PetsMart for a couple of items we forgot last trip (which results in the purchase of yet another squeaky toy), we return home.  I cuddle Tisen on the couch.  He lays across my lap and sighs like life just doesn’t get any better.  As I sit here petting him, I think he might be right.

But, I am trying to write my blog.  Tisen seems to want to be between me and my laptop.  I tease him that he is both helping me write my blog by providing a subject and preventing me from writing my blog by physically interfering.  He doesn’t seem to get the joke, but he sighs again and readjusts, hoping for a belly rub.

As I contemplate the long-term commitment we have just made, I realize I might have to change my domain name.  We came to Chattanooga thinking we would live here 6-12 months and then move on to a new area.  Instead, we have extended our lease on our apartment, committed to lease a manufacturing space for 3 years, and taken in a dog.  So much for being nomads!

 

 

Night Walks

Posted by dkrashb on

I love walking at night, but I also apply lessons from self defense class and pay attention to what’s around me.  Had I not been listening carefully, I might have missed the calls of the nighthawk or the yips of what I suspect is a family of foxes.  I would have been mystified by the sudden sting of a mosquito’s bite had I not heard one buzzing moments before.  Yes, there really are mosquitos on January 31st.

I listen to small rustling noises in the brush and try to imagine the size of the creature causing them.  I’ve learned that small things make big noises in the dark.  I imagine a tiny mouse scurrying under layers of leaves. Then, the sound of a small bird startled from its roost is followed by the vague impression of a shadow diving through the foliage.

This is when Tisen stops to poop.  Pooping is not my favorite subject, but this dog does the strangest thing.  He lifts his leg to pee on something and then he swings his raised leg around like he’s getting on a horse or a bicycle, but goes straight into poop position.  Whatever his target was ends up pressed up against his bum.  He often deposits his poop in out-of-the-way places like among tall grasses or weeds.  I am getting a little tired of trying to figure out how to remove semi-liquid dog poo from strands of grass and shrubs without ending up with it on my hands.  Tonight, I fail and after wiping the worst of it in the grass, start heading towards the restroom so I can wash my hands.

As we return from the darkest part of the park, we see two silhouettes coming towards us.  Perhaps the combination of being backlit and uphill from us is what makes them seem like they are giants.  Tisen freezes in position.  I freeze, too.  I watch the pair of ambling shadows approach, trying to get a make on them.  I get the idea there is a dog with them, but I cannot see the dog in the dark.  As they get closer, I realize the dog registers about the same color as the concrete sidewalk below him, giving him great camouflage for walking in a park on a sidewalk at night.

I also realize that the pair is a normal-sized couple out for an evening stroll with their dog, but the dog is the giant.  If you kept the basic outline of an irish wolfhound and colored it in like a golden retriever, I think you’d end up with something that looked related to this dog.

Tisen lunges.  I grab the middle of the leash with my clean hand and hold him back.  Then, I start walking away, shortening the leash by increasing my distance.  I somehow manage to keep Tisen under control without getting poop on anything.  But, to be safe, we head straight for the bathroom sink and anti-bacterial soap.

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The End of Foster Care

Posted by dkrashb on

We’ve decided.  Tisen stays.

We took him hang gliding on Saturday.  Tisen ran over and start licking my face in the middle of a hang check and then follow my glider all the way down the big hill and back up again.  When I told the instructor he was a foster dog, she said, “That’s your dog.  He has claimed you.”  She’s right.  He is my dog.

It’s funny how this happens.  I wonder how a dog decides you are theirs?  And you cannot resist.  You find yourself committed until death do you part.  Except you’re committed to a well-behaved 3 year old with fur who will never be able to use the toilet.

Upon deciding that Tisen must stay, we immediately went to PetsMart to celebrate.  Since we are working on crate training, we, of course, needed a cozy matt to put in the crate, special chews to keep him busy while we’re gone, and a new squeaky toy since I’ve discovered he’ll do about anything for a squeaky toy.  He picks a bear for his squeaky toy, but then is so enamored with a ridiculous long, red dog that I cannot resist getting it for him, too.  It’s a good thing I don’t have children.

When we get home, he picks up the red dog and carries it in from the car, trotting along with his head held high like he’s won some sort of award.  The joy I experience watching him is well worth the extra $8.  When he gets to the living room, he plops his new toy in the middle of the floor and then pulls his stuffed squirrel out of the crate, laying them out on the floor side-by-side.  It’s hard to know what goes through a dog’s mind sometimes, but I have to wonder if he really just wanted squirrel to have a friend.

I pick up the dog and give it a squeeze.  Tisen starts poking at the dog with his nose trying to make it squeak.  Pat joins in and starts squeezing, too.  I grab my iPhone and try to get a shot (not having time to change lenses on my camera).  Tisen gets irritated with the flash, picks up red dog, and hides out in his crate.  I take this as a sign that crate training is going well.

Tisen’s obsession with squeaky toys reminds me of a story my mom used to tell about me.  When I was about 2, I was given a doll who would cry if you squeezed her.  Except, I wasn’t strong enough to get her to cry.  But, I figured out my own method.  I horrified a nice lady at the bank one day when she complimented me on my cute baby and I responded by throwing it on the floor and stomping on it.  My mother smiled weakly and said, “It’s the only way she can get it to cry.”  It’s really a good thing I don’t have children.

Clouds and Dogs

Posted by dkrashb on

I roll out of bed an hour and a half later than usual this morning.  I am not a morning person.  In fact, I am so not a morning person that even as an infant I was cranky in the morning.  But, I’ve learned that if I give myself a lot of time in the morning, I am able to function without snapping at too many people.  Losing an hour and a half of “me time” makes this difficult.

Fortunately for me, my hubby gets up and takes the dog out.  This is due to a secret I will share with just you, my faithful readers.  We are thinking about keeping the dog.  However, because fostering was my thing, I was doing most of the care taking.  And, since I work from home and I’m hanging out with the dog all day, Tisen has particularly attached himself to me.  My husband decided he needed to take on extra dog duty to decide if keeping him is feasible.  I am relieved to have the additional help with walking, even if we end up not keeping him.  We are weighing the joy of fostering against the joy of being dog parents.

This morning, because my husband is now fully participating, I gain back a half an hour of the time I lost by over sleeping.

Once the coffee is made, I look out the window and decide to shoot some of the clouds hovering over the aquarium.  I’ve been having fun using my 100mm lens for everything these days, so keeping with that trend, I try shooting the landscape with it as well.  Although I miss the range of a zoom lens, it’s nice that the 100mm gets me over the nasty parking lot in the foreground.

After shooting for a few minutes, I decide I’d better pack it in so I have time to refill my coffee before my first meeting.  But as I turn, I see beams of light streaming through the clouds behind me.  Why is it that the light so often does the most interesting things when you have your back turned?

I fire off a series of shots at various exposures.  I know if I stand there for 15 minutes the light will change and the beams will become more distinct, making a more intense image.  But, alas, the clock ticks and I don’t get paid to shoot sun rays.

At the end of the day, the clouds have cleared and I turn to Tisen as my model.  He loves to lay on the couch.  He looks at me without moving except his tail.  I do my best with a long exposure to get his wagging tail in motion.  I can think of nothing in life that so consistently makes me smile–I never tire of a wagging tail.  Then, Pat comes home and Tisen demonstrates how much he’s come to appreciate Pat by curling up on his lap.  Who can resist taking a picture of that?