Everything Pets

Dragon, the Marine Veteran war dog

2012-01-14T14:50:00.000-08:00

I received a fun request a few weeks ago. The following story is about Dragon, a dog who was adopted by Marines during the Iraq war, came back to the US with the troops. Today he lives a peaceful retirement as a happy house pet in Pensacola Florida. I was proud to donate this painting in his honor for his owners.

Mischievous recruit dogging Marines on flight line

Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton

Story by Cpl. Matthew S. Richards

Reprinted from this story: http://tinyurl.com/7y6eprk

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Dragon isn't the most disciplined member of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268. He's been known to steal food. He runs around Camp Pendleton's flight line like he owns the place. And he can't maintain his bearing, always bowing his head and folding his ears back. Get him really excited and he'll even leave a puddle on the floor.

But his Marines love him. It's hard not to. The lovable mutt is just that -- a stray the squadron's Marines came to call their own during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Dragon has migrated from the streets of Kuwait to the squadron's hangars and he's never looked more at home.

His breed- "Persian camel shepherd," quipped Capt. Matt G. Robinson, his unofficial caretaker, now the quality assurance officer for Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (Training) 164. Ten-month-old Dragon took the name from the squadron that adopted him in Ali Al Saleem, Kuwait, more than nine months ago.

"We found him hanging around the British tents," Cpl. Shaun Kelly, a crew chief for HMM-268, said while playfully scratching Dragon's head.

The squadron dubbed the adoptee Dragon after their mascot, a giant red dragon.

"It was two weeks before everyone entered Iraq," Robinson explained. "He was a malnourished tiny thing and he had been beaten and abused. He had a huge gash on top of his head."

Dragon wandered around the tents, begging and stealing scraps. It's a habit he's had a tough time breaking. Robinson is still tugging Dragon by the leash away from some of the Marines' lunches.

The Marines immediately took a liking to the pup and began to nurse him back to health.

"We fed him parts of (Meals Ready-to-Eat) at first; his big thing was peanut butter," said Robinson, who was HMM-268's officer-in-charge of the flight line during OIF. "After the first couple of meals, he slept for five days straight.

"We were worried about him," he said. "We didn't think he would make it."

Dragon, retired and enjoying life

Dragon's new family joked around about how he first behaved under their care. "For the first month he would bury half his food in the sand," Kelly said. "Then after we fed him enough, he forgot about that and just ate every bit."

Dragon soon became accustomed to the flight line. The constant whine of the engines and chopping of the rotor blades soothed him to sleep.

"At first he was scared of the (CH-46s)," said Staff Sgt. Marcus A. Gomillion, maintenance control chief.

He said the dog learned to live with the helicopter noise without fear of the noise.

The dog was a natural Wing Marine, a fact made apparent after his arrival at Los Angeles International Airport.

"It was funny, because after my wife (Bethany) picked him up at LAX and took him out of the kennel, he ran right to the flight line where the planes were," Robinson said. "She had to chase him down."

Dragon was all fun and games, but the lengthy process to bring him into the Unites States wasn't. He had to be on a civilian airliner at a cost of more than $2,100.

"We're still paying for the cost to ship him from Iraq," Robinson said. "My wife had to hunt down the only veterinarian in Kuwait City, and (she) really went out of her way to help us out."

The Robinsons weren't the only ones to pitch in for Dragon's journey home. More than $1,100 came pouring in from Marines and their families to keep the pup with the squadron.

Dragon was quarantined after he got all his required shots. Then all his paperwork was checked and double- checked at U.S. Customs in Los Angeles.

"After we had been through so much with him, I knew there was no way we'd leave this guy behind," Robinson said.

After all, to his Marines, he's part of their family ?much to the chagrin of some in the squadron. Mail even seemed more regular for Dragon than for the Marines.

"That dog would get packages before I would," Gomillion said. "Everybody loved him."

Dragon gave as much as he got, too.

"He was a definite help through hard times, because we lost some Marines out there," Robinson said. "He was something the Marines didn't have out there. He was something they grew attached to and took care of."

Dragon's not going anywhere soon either. Marines at HMM-268 made him part of their family. He even has his own Service Record Book.

"When he sees the uniforms he starts going crazy," Robinson said. "The flight suits or the cammies ... he loves being around Marines."

Just because the squadron treats him like part of the Marine family doesn't mean he's completely given up his wily ways. The little pup is mischievous, even around Robinson at home.

"One time I was cooking hamburgers and I had five out in a glass bowl on our table," he said. "I turned around and when I looked back there were only two left. The bowl hadn't moved at all."

Feed me

2011-11-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

What do you mean, it's not lunch time?

Sherman the vizsla is very vocal and has lots of personality. I couldn't resist sharing this photo of him trying to manipulate me into feeding him lunch at 10 am one morning! Pleeeeez! accompanied by lots of whining, didn't do the trick.

October is fire season in Southern California

2011-10-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

None of us who lived through the fires will ever forget. The first fire in over 40 years to roar through Poway, and all of San Diego County, was in late October, 2003. I was just getting ready to move into my new house, and instead I evacuated my friends’ animals to it. My living room was filled with crates and birdcages, my corral with horses. And then the fire kept coming, and we had to move them all again.

The birds stayed in my car up in Rancho Bernardo for four days, where the air was safer for them to breathe. The horses ended up in a kind stranger’s back yard in north Poway. Many more horses ended up at the Del Mar Racetrack until their owners could claim them. If you’ve ever lived through a natural disaster–tornado, hurricane, fire, earthquake– you know how traumatic it can be.

The landscape and trails were decimated. Everything was covered in a thick coating of ashes for weeks. We rode out and discovered animals burned to a crisp, still in the pose they were in when the fire caught up with them…running. It is still hard to look at the photos.

2007

Then it 2007 it happened again, this time coming in from the north and east. Thousands of homes burned. This time Rancho Bernardo and northern Poway got the worst of it. Several of my clients and friends lost their homes. Some of them lost their animals too.

The cross says "For the animals, 2003 Cedar Fire"

Today

We all get a little leery of October now. We plan to stay in town. We clear the brush. We update our emergency kits and put air in the tires. Make sure the horses remember how to load in the trailer.

I occasionally walk a Kerry Blue Terrier near her home at the far east end of Garden Rd, an area that was burned in the 2003 fire. One day I ventured out of the neighborhood and onto the surrounding trails. I found a homemade memorial (above) to the animals that died in the 2003 fire. It is still there, and I find it very touching. I visit often while Wrigley and I walk. I want to remember.

One day I came out the front door with Wrigley, and there was a beautiful rainbow just across the street. I’m not especially religious, but I remember my bible studies. The rainbow was a sign of hope that God showed the survivors after it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. I like that.

Thundershirt for dogs

2011-10-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

Desi is afraid of fireworks and thunder

At the recommendation of other dog daycare owners, I ordered the Thundershirt. In fact I ordered one in every size, since I have canine clients of every size. The folks at Thundershirt claim this product will relieve anxiety caused by storms, loud noises and other scary things. Several of my clients are also having trouble at home with their dogs, and I thought the shirts might help them. The gentle constant pressure around a dog’s body has a calming effect. For theory and examples, visit their website.

I told one of my friends about this miracle product and she laughed. “So your clients will show up at your house and all the dogs will all be running around in straight jackets!”

Oliver models his Thundershirt. Look! He's sitting still!

The experiment: Oliver

One little rascal who stays with me, Oliver, is in constant motion. I wrapped him up in his shirt, and the difference was immediate. Instead of zooming around, totally agitated, he settled down at my feet. As time went on, he was still active and busy, but the edge was off. Oliver was a much nicer dog to have around.

I asked his owner Lianne, if he was always hyper at home and she said no, but she’d like to try the shirt. So I sent it home with her. I have a feeling he’s more active than Lianne let on! She explained that he gets pretty wound up when people come over. The Thundershirt definitely has an effect on his behavior, and now she wants to get a second one for him.

Wally

Wally, a Dachshund/Lab mix, had a nasty habit of charging anyone who came into the house, and even bit a few people. The Thundershirt instantly calmed him, and he’s much easier to live with. I got a note from Wally’s owner, Claire:

Thanks so much for the Thunder jacket for Wally! He loves it. It’s amazing how it calms him down. Now he’ll wear it and watch movies in bed with me. Before, the sound made him upset and he’d run outside.

Sadie

My helper Judy was skeptical. After all, it’s only a shirt. So one day when she was here, I put one on Sadie, an Aussie who constantly barks. She was instantly silent. Neither one of us could believe it.

It doesn’t work on every dog in every situation – nothing does. But I’ve had several successes and highly recommend one if you have an anxious dog.

Vacation!

2011-09-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

I took a week off. This is a major event, since I felt like all I’ve done is work, seven days a week, for the past several years. My trip to Portland with my high school girlfriends, Janis and Laurie, was a real treat, and we made the most of it. I came home invigorated and ready to conquer the world, which is exactly what vacations are supposed to accomplish.

The Northwest is where I am happiest. Give me some big green trees and cool weather and I know I am home. In Eugene, we hiked, ate wonderful food, tromped around the University of Oregon campus, visited art galleries, walked for miles (oh my aching feet), and spent hours talking, just like old times.

In Portland, we visited the wonderful Powell’s Books, which houses several floors of new and used volumes, right in the heart of downtown. I was THRILLED to find my new book, Animal Planet, Dogs 101: Labrador Retriever for sale! The book is finally out, and I was hopping around like a little kid at Christmas when I found it on the shelves. The salesperson had me sign it, and they stuck a sticker on the front that says “autographed,” like I’m a celebrity or something.

Our visit to Portland included lunch with my cousin and her daughter, and a visit to my aunt in her retirement home. Some antiquing, a visit to the test Rose Gardens and a stroll around Reed College finished off our trip. I came home tired and happy.

My excellent week continued when I discovered the book in Petsmart and Barnes and Noble. For the first time, I felt like a real author.

Home again

I returned home to some sad news. My sheltie Lily, age 14, had taken a turn for the worse, and she died the afternoon I got home. She had never recovered from her spell with vestibular syndrome, and her old body finally just gave out.

Lily came to me with Bonnie– both girls were rescued from a Texas puppy mill and brought to California. They had both weaned litters right before I adopted them. I’ve had them for seven years. Bonnie is now deaf and is also in fragile condition, so I treasure these last months with her.

Australian Shepherd portrait by Terry Albert

2011-09-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

My latest painting, this one of Gibson the Aussie, is an 11" x 15" done in acrylics on Strathmore board, matted to 16" x 20".

I sure struggled getting started on this painting. I kept asking the client for more photos, and I got several that showed the proportions of the dog, but none I liked so well. I originally didn't want to use this pose because his nose looked way to long to me; camera distortion, I'm sure. I finally realized, once I started drawing, that his nose looked long because his tongue was hanging out so far-- optical illusion! So I shortened that tongue and am happy with the result.

Many dogs, especially German Shepherds, have huge long tongues that look odd if painted the way they actually are. If a dog's tongue is hanging out that far, he's probably hot and tired, not something I want to convey in a painting. Painting exactly what you see is not always a good thing.

Gibson, "Gibbs" for short, is one of several pieces I have done for this family over a period of almost 20 years! I finally got to meet them last summer, and we were instant friends. Thank you Larry and family, for allowing me to paint the many wonderful dogs you've owned over the years.

Art Critics

2011-08-21T20:11:00.000-07:00

Everyone’s a critic, including me. As I sat at a client’s home with their tabby cat on my lap, I studied a mural painted on and above the fireplace. The Trompe-l'œil scene depicted a tiled veranda with plants on pedestals, and a view of the hills in the distance. To create the illusion that you are looking out a window, the entire setting is surrounded by painted drapery. My own inner art critic kicked in while Charlie the cat napped on my chest.

As Charlie purred, I marveled at the drapery. It was so real I couldn’t see the edges of the fireplace wall. The clouds and sunlight in the distance were luminous. The entire scene looked soft and ethereal, almost like someone muted the colors with white powder over the whole thing.

But something about this work was really jarring. I finally identified the problem. The perspective was off on one of the pedestals. The porch tiles were accurate, the front pedestal lined up, but the back one was just a bit off, and the handrail that went down the stairs was therefore also off. Right smack in the center of the painting, the illusion was spoiled.

Then I noticed a tree in the distance. It looked like it was growing out of the flowerpot on the porch, which was in the foreground. UGH! It’s a good thing the cat woke up. I wanted to get out my brushes and fix it.

Once Charlie had removed himself to the kitchen and the comfort of a bowl of milk, I walked up to the mural and realized that the carved floral decorations and swirls on the fireplace front were not real, but painted on. I had to touch them to be sure, and I was less than a foot away.

So I have to admire this nameless artist. I’m not sure I could have done as well. But I thought of times I have sat in my show booth with my own art. People talk about your work like you’re not even there. “I could do that,” is by far the most annoying comment!

Dog Portraits

But I’ve heard some doozies. Because I paint dogs, People will critique the dog’s conformation, rather than the artist’s depiction. “Look at that awful lower jaw,” said one. Her friend answered, “I know that dog; it’s what he looks like…” One time a Pug breeder looked at one of my paintings and said, “I wouldn’t have that hanging in my house. Look at those legs, terrible hocks.” Oops. I was humbled by that comment! I wonder if I ruined his legs or his breeder did.

If I am doing a commissioned painting of a pet, I try to make it look like the actual dog while not overemphasizing any physical faults. But if I’m going to exhibit a painting, or make prints for sale, that dog better be a gorgeous show quality specimen of the breed! Then both pet and show people will like it.

Time tells

I need to get away from my art for a day or two after I sketch it, and again about half way through the painting process. When I come back to it I see any glaring flaws that I was previously blind to. A little time away keeps me from painting a tree growing out of someone’s head. Major flaws, like putting eyes too low on the head, are easier to fix before you start painting than when you are half way through.

I have made all these mistakes and more. I am ruthless these days. I can go back in and completely paint out a section and redo it, where I used to be afraid I’d ruin the entire thing. I also am sure that if I don’t get the eyes right, the entire painting doesn’t work.

And the biggest test: I am happy if I can go back to a painting a year later and still be happy with it.

Pugs pet portrait by Terry Albert

2011-07-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some experimenting with my art. This portrait is 10" x 20" on canvas, painted in acrylics. To add a touch of bling, I added a little bit of glitter to their eyes, and the client loved it. The dogs, Oscar and Cilla, go to work every day with their owner, Lynn, at the Buried Bone here in Poway, California.

The canvas is 1 1/2" deep, so it doesn't need to be framed. Here is the photo I worked from:

As you see, I moved the two dogs closer together to enhance the composition. I usually work on illustration board or watercolor paper, then cut a mat to frame the finished piece, so this is a new way of working for me. I also usually add detail in pencil, and it is a big change for me to do the entire painting in just paint, no mixed media. Also, on canvas, I am stuck with the composition, I can't just cut off an edge if I want to crop the painting differently when it's done! I'm sure I will be switching back and forth between the techniques for awhile until I decide which method to pursue.

If you are interested in a portrait of your pet, please contact me. Thank you!

Animal Planet Dogs 101: Labrador Retrievers, by Terry Albert

2011-07-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to announce that my latest book has been released and is now available on Amazon.com. Soon, it will also be in Petsmart stores. It is one of a new series of breed books. The first release includes 8 titles, including Chihuahuas, Cavaliers, Yorkies, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Shih Tzus and Beagles. More books in this series will come out at the end of 2011, including another one I wrote, about Boxers.

For those of you who know me, you know writing a book about Labs is my dream come true. I've known hundreds of Labs over the years. I have boarded them in my home, fostered many for rescue both in Seattle and San Diego, and of course owned my own beloved Lab, Tank, for over 13 years.

My initial thought was, oh I could practically write this in my sleep. Hah. Some sections were easier than others, but I still did mountains of research and interviewed many experts. Don Ironside helped me with the nutrition chapter. His many years as a sales rep in the pet food business gave me an insiders' look at ingredients, manufacturing and the differences between brands and formulas. He also taught me how to sort out marketing hype from facts, a sometimes murky subject. Don's wife Barbara and Nina Mann gave me lots of good information on how they help buyers pick a puppy, health issues, activities, and showing. Edith Bryan, my training buddy and rescue partner up in Seattle, has participated in every activity ever invented for dogs and their owners. She talked me through therapy work, search and rescue, agility, tracking and other dog sports.

Tank

Edith also has fed her Labs a raw diet for over ten years, so I valued her input on that subject. Down here in San Diego, my friend Angie Meeks feeds her dogs a raw diet and has done extensive research on the subject. My friend of 20 years, Julie Cantrell, has been making home-cooked food for dogs for as long as I've known her, which was years before raw and home-cooked foods became popular. She and I were trainers at the Academy of Canine Behavior where we began our dog careers.

For health issues, my own vet, Sarbit Singh, DVM, patiently walked me through the minutiae of basic health care, from worming routines to vaccine protocol. It may seem pretty straightforward, but I found that when I was assigned to write about a subject, I wanted to understand it thoroughly and be absolutely accurate in my explanations. Once this information is in print, people take your word for it. I wanted to answer important questions correctly.

For inherited health issues in Labradors, Frances Smith, DVM, president of the Orthopedic Foundation For Animals and chair of the Labrador Retriever Club Health Committee, generously shared her time and knowledge with me.

These people all kindly gave me their time and attention, answering even my dumbest questions. I couldn't have done it without their help. Thank you!

Next time, I'll write about some of the dogs whose stories are featured in the book.

Great Pyrenees pet portrait by Terry Albert

2011-06-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

Tanner, a Great Pyrenees

I have just completed a new pet portrait of Tanner, a Great Pyrenees. His owner, Patti, is a veterinarian in Montana, and I have done five portraits for her over the years. It is amazing to me that it is almost 20 years since I did the first one, a portrait of Mugsy, her golden retriever. I recognized the setting for this painting, in the same yard where Mugsy posed one winter's day all those years ago.

This painting is 11 x 15", matted to 16 x 20, and done in acrylics and colored pencil.

Here are the other paintings I have done for Patti. They are all displayed at her veterinary practice.

Mugsy Golden Retriever, pastel

Ursa, a Great Pyrenees, watercolor

Polly, Bernese Mountain Dog, watercolor

Mugsy, pastel

If you are interested in a custom portrait of your dog or other pet, please contact me! Visit my website, http://www.terryalbert.com to see more examples of my work.

Canine look-alikes

2011-06-17T16:03:00.000-07:00

Bonnie, above, and Lily

Most people have trouble telling two purebred sable shelties apart. My two, Bonnie and Lily, are usually greeted with “Hello Bonnie or Lily or whichever one you are.” And of course the same is true for Labs, German Shepherds and most other purebreds. They all look pretty much alike. But what about mixed breed dogs?

Lucee, puggle

Rylee, goldendoodle

With “designer breeds,” I can identify pug-beagle mixes (puggles) and Golden retriever-poodle mixes (goldendoodles) pretty easily. But some wonderful mixed breed dogs, a soup of assorted breeds, can also sometimes appear almost identical. As a pet sitter, I have fun comparing the odd assortment of dogs that I meet.

Stussy and Mobi

Stussy/Mobi

For example, my most recent guests: Stussey is a white 8-year old, and Mobi is a red 2-year old. They have different owners, and although different colors, they are identical in every other way. They have soft coats, curly tails, black-spotted tongues, and love to “talk” in a growly sort of way. Their owners both refer to them as chow/lab mixes.

Ivory, left, and Rex, right

Ivory/Rex

Ivory is a 2-year old female, and Rex is a 6-year old male. They also have different owners. Rex is a scrappy terrier mix, Ivory is much more mellow. There’s probably some poodle in their ancestry.

Oliver

Fausto

Oliver/Fausto

Speaking of scrappy, Oliver is the ultimate troublemaker. I remember thinking he and Rex would either be best friends or kill each other. They love each other. Fausto, Oliver’s identical twin, has an entirely different personality (thank goodness). Fausto was a stray adopted in Mexico.

You might notice a certain resemblance between Oliver, Fausto, Ivory and Rex- I swear these guys are all the same mix of breeds. Fausto is a little bigger than the rest of the bunch.

Chobee

Identify this mix!

This is Chobee, and I actually know that he is the product of two purebreds. Can you guess the breeds? (Answer at the end of this post)

Sally left, and Max, right

Max/Sally

Max and Sally also have different owners. Everyone assumes they are border collie mixes, but who knows. They also resemble Belgian Sheepdogs.

Chobee answer

Chobee is a Shar Pei/ Doberman Pinscher mix.

Sheltie painting by Terry Albert

2011-06-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

I had such a cute sheltie staying with me this past week. I pulled out the paints and did a quick painting of him. This is Rolex, and he belongs to my friend Patty. It is 8” x 8” and done in acrylic on wrapped canvas.

It’s odd how I loosen up and just go for it when I am working on something that is just for fun–not a commission or assignment– just inspiration. I hope to transfer this abandon to another painting I am working on. Sometimes I get stuck, because I’m not sure what to do next. I didn’t have that problem here.

Here’s the real Rolex. I think I’ll go groom my shelties…

Contact me if you would like a pet portrait of your dog or cat!

My old sheltie girls

2011-06-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

Bonnie

Bonnie and Lily are both closing in on 14 years old. I have had them since they were six, rescued from a Texas puppy mill. Both had just weaned a litter, and were thin and frightened. Today they are grand old ladies who I love dearly, but they are suffering some age-related illnesses.

I wrote in a recent blog about Lily’s onset of old dog vestibular syndrome. She continues to have balance issues and her head is always cocked at an angle. But she remains sweet and always hungry, so all in all, she is doing well.

Pancreatitis

Bonnie, however, had a scare last week with a bout of pancreatitis. She spent two days getting IV fluids and antibiotics at the vet hospital. Symptoms included bloody, smelly diarrhea, vomiting, and lethargy. I thought I was going to lose her.

Bonnie has had digestive issues for over a year, and is on a special high-fiber diet, so at first I thought it was just another episode. But she didn’t get over it, and started to get dehydrated.

In conversations with friends, I discovered that many shelties are prone to this ailment in old age. My Mac died from it, and my friend Lynn in Seattle has had several shelties that were affected. My dachshund Tuffy also died from pancreatitis. Once a dog gets it, they tend to relapse, and that starts a downward spiral.

Lily

Fatty foods, like Thanksgiving turkey, can trigger a bout of pancreatitis. In Bonnie’s case, there was no known trigger.

Old dogs get expensive, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. My girls are so sweet, and as long as they are comfortable, I will do my best for them. The love of an old dog is priceless.

Why I love Labs

2011-05-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to explain a "zipper" to fellow dog writer Susan Conant, who writes great mystery novels featuring her Malamutes. She asked for some advice on Labrador retrievers and what makes them look different from each other.

Well, I suggested, some have a zipper down the middle of their face between their eyes. It's a little ridge of hair growing in the wrong direction that sticks up and is very noticeable. A Lab staying at my house, Nate, who is yellow, sort of has a zipper, though his is just color, not an actual ridge. I thought I'd show her what it looked like.

Okay Nate, pose for the camera...

If I ever have to explain airplane ears, that one will do the job...

Now Nate let's try again... "sit!"

Those beady little eyes in the background are my dachshund, Desi. Notice the blurry, wagging tails.

Once more with feeling. Okay Nate... "Sit!"

I knew you could do it! Not much of a zipper, but you get the idea...

Update on the desperate cat

2011-05-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Wally in his perch on top the bookcase

Wally is now at my house, confined to my art room. He has been here since Thursday and has settled in well. Sterling and Whisper, my cats, have been sniffing at the door, and Sterling woke me this morning by scratching on Wally’s door.

I think it is time to introduce them. My two came into the room for a minute and sniffed around, while Wally watched from the top of my bookcase, in the cat tent (see photo). We’ll try again today and see how it goes.

Wally would still like to have a new home, but he is safe here.

Wally makes friends with Lassie

The lap of luxury

Situation desperate. Cat needs a new home

2011-05-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

Wally needs a new home

You’ve heard it before. Owner lost job, then her home, has to move, cat can’t go, etc. For those of us who have spent years rescuing homeless animals, we get a little jaded (no…a LOT jaded). We snarl and say “Since when did ______(insert city here) not allow cats?” “Why can’t this person get a cat-friendly apartment?” and so on. It’s easy to lose patience with people who seem to discard their pets so easily.

But times have changed dramatically. Now, more often that not, even the most responsible pet owner has no choice in the matter. And the rescue community needs to show more compassion for people who are truly in crisis, and are not just throwing away their pets.

Give my friend a job

I encountered this attitude recently while trying to find a home for my friend Virginia’s cat, Wally. A librarian, Virginia was laid off about two years ago. She has worked as a librarian in hospitals, government and law schools, and has a degree from San Diego State in library science.

Recently she has been working for a temp agency. She finally realized she could no longer afford her condo, has sold it at a tremendous loss, and is now moving in with her sister’s family. And her niece is allergic to cats, so Wally can’t come. Jasmine the dog is welcome in Virginia’s new home.

I have heard my share of snide remarks as I've help Virginia spread the word about Wally. I'm sorry people who don't know the situation have so little sympathy.

About Wally, the cat who needs a home

Wally has been with Virginia for 11 years, since he was an 8-week-old kitten. She had recently lost her beloved Toad, a yellow kitty, and wanted another yellow cat to complete her family. I saw an ad for yellow kittens, and she went right over and brought baby Wally home.

Wally has lived peacefully with dogs, but has never lived with another cat. He has never been outdoors. He is healthy and well-cared for, and comes complete with all his supplies and toys.

This situation is heartbreaking for Virginia. Our local no-kill shelter, Helen Woodward’s Animal Center, charges a $2,000 “donation” to take an elderly cat. Wally will probably stay with me while we look for a permanent home for him.

Why Wally is at my house

Friends help friends, and Virginia is one of the most generous people I know. When I was going through my divorce, she kept my collie, Emma, for almost four months while I was in an apartment. I already had a dog and two cats at the apartment; a collie would have been tough to hide.

When I got my house, I took Emma back, and Virginia had earned lifetime gratitude and free pet sitting.

Please spread the word here in Southern California. Let’s help Wally find a new home and take one sad burden off of my friend’s shoulders.

Old dog vestibular syndrome

2011-05-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

Just when I think I’ve seen just about every medical condition a dog could possibly suffer from, something new happens, and I am humbled by my lack of knowledge again.

I have taken care of hundreds of dogs over the years, from foster dogs to boarding dogs and my own dogs too. Ask me about dermatomyositis in shelties, collie nose, cold water tail or exercise-induced collapse in Labradors. Ask me to explain arrythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy in Boxers. Skin problems, thyroid conditions, heartworm, snakebite, or pancreatitis– been there, done that. But I am not a vet, and I’ll never see it all.

My heart sank when I saw my sheltie Lily walking with her head tilted to one side. She was having trouble making it across the room in a straight line, and then she stumbled and fell. She tried to climb up the stairs to the couch (put there for my dachshund, Desi), but lost her balance and fell off. I knew something was terribly wrong.

Lily was frightened and panting, dizzy and vomiting. Her eyes darted from left to right. I thought she’d had a stroke. Off we went to the vet, who examined her carefully and gave me the diagnosis: old dog vestibular syndrome.

Her symptoms fit perfectly. Lily is 13 ½; it came on suddenly out of nowhere. She had been perfectly healthy. The vomiting is due to dizziness. Dr Singh said she feels seasick, and recommended an over-the-counter medicine that people take for the same symptoms. I was to give her one pill a day. He said it could take two or three days to recover, or up to five weeks.

That was good news. She would recover! She may or may not have a relapse in the future. Her symptoms calmed down immediately with the meds, and I discontinued the pills within a couple of days. I hand-fed her canned food because her balance was so far off she couldn’t get her head down to the bowl to eat.

Now, three weeks later, she is much better, though the head tilt has not gone away. She can climb up the steps to the couch with no problem. I still feed her canned food, but she can eat it without my help. All in all, she is getting along fine.

This syndrome can strike any breed. Read more about it here at:

http://www.vetinfo.com/dencyclopedia/devestib.html

Boxer with a tail: pet portrait by Terry Albert

2011-05-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

This is an unusual dog, and his portrait really is a custom piece, since you almost never see a Boxer with a tail. Rocky the Boxer’s portrait will be a birthday surprise for my client’s good friend. This one is 16” x 20”, larger than I usually work. I hope she likes it! The flowers in the background are bearded iris and society garlic. She is fond of purple.

Sorry I had to slap a screaming copyright notice right across the picture, but I've gotten very weary of having my art and blogs ripped off.

In other Boxer news, I have received the proofs of my upcoming Boxer book, Animal Planet: Boxers. I am busy proofreading and can hardly wait until it comes out in January 2012.

How many pets is too many? Time for soul-searching

2011-05-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

Bonnie contemplates a nap

For the past 20 years, pets have been my passion, sometimes to the exclusion of other equally important pursuits, like marriage and family. Over the past year, I have tried to find more balance in my life.

I tend to overdo things. When I fostered dogs, I had five or 6 at a time, rarely just one. When I started owning horses, I suddenly had four instead of one. Then I got a donkey. When I got a second dog, I soon had a third, a fourth and a fifth. Two cats became four cats. Two box turtles expanded with the addition of two sulcatta tortoises.

I had a serious, and traumatic, reality check about 8 years ago. My marriage imploded and I was on my own. My husband kept a horse, the donkey, our Lab Tank, and the sulcatta tortoises. Off I went with two dogs, one horse, two cats and the box turtles. I didn’t exactly travel light. I promptly bought another horse and adopted two more dogs.

I finally realized I didn’t have to save every homeless dog myself, and I can’t adopt them all either. I quit volunteering for rescue and started boarding dogs. Now I say to myself that I still get to know all these different breeds, but I don’t have to own them. I joke that I rent them until the feeling passes. I sometimes had as many as 12 guest dogs. I’ve cut the number back to 6 or 7, max.

As my own dogs pass away I do not plan on getting more. I’d like to stick with two of my own. My two female shelties, Bonnie and Lily are 13 now. Too many dogs equal too much stress, on the animals and me.

Horses
I went on a horse-acquiring spree last year, and adopted two more horses. One died (Honey) within six months. Now I am at a manageable number and plan to stick with three. Two and a half, actually, since Sherlock is a Shetland pony! I will not replace them when they die.

Ethel's new home

The box turtles

The big change (maybe not to you, but to me it was) is that I found a new home for my box turtles. After 20 years, they are in a place where they live in a dirt-and-bushes habitat instead of a terrarium. With all these dogs, I couldn’t safely keep them in the yard. Their new owner is a dedicated reptile expert, my friend Liz Palika. I couldn’t have found a better person. She wrote the book, Turtles and Tortoises for Dummies. Fred and Ethel should be very happy. I will post photos as soon as I get some.

I was pretty anxious about letting them go. Here I was, hovering and giving Liz feeding instructions, like she needed to be told. She reports that one of them is sleeping next to Pearl, her leopard tortoise, every night.

Another issue

Lurking in the back of my mind is another issue: money. Like everyone else, I have been touched by economic woes, and I realize I cannot continue to spend so much money on the animals. As I inevitably age, my earning power will drop. Horses live 30 years or more, and Star is only 10. As pets age, they require more care for end of life issues.

My love for animals has not waned. But common sense has finally settled in. Whoever said “Everything in moderation,” gave good advice. It’s time I listened.

Newfoundland pet portrait by Terry Albert

2011-04-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

Although his real name is Ricky Ricardo's Cuban Congaboy, aka "Ricky," this Landseer Newfoundland is known as Mr Smooch, the world's greatest smoocher. He earned this name because he's always smooching everyone he meets. Since newfies are known for their expertise in water rescue, his owner and I chose that theme for his portrait, with a smooch image on the life-ring.

Ted, Ricky/Smooch's owner, purchased the portrait through the Labrador Lifeline annual auction. Lab Lifeline, like the similar group, LabMed, provides financial aid to Labrador Retriever rescue groups to help dogs that need expensive medical procedures. I was happy to donate a small portrait for their cause. The finished art is 5" x 5" and is framed to 8 x 8. It is done in acrylic and colored pencil.

Yes, I expected to be doing a Lab portrait, but I had fun with Mr Smooch!

Breezi, a sheltie pet portrait by Terry Albert

2011-04-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

Breezi

I’ve been catching up on a lot of paintings lately–some commissions, some for fun. This project is Breezy, a sheltie belonging to my friend Larry and his wife, Debbie. I painted Breezi with her roommate, Tucker, many years ago, when she was just a puppy. Now Breezy has passed away at the age of 12. Time has flown by, and Larry asked me several months ago if I would consider painting Breezi again for them.

Breezi and Tucker

When contemplating what to do next, Breezi’s photo just spoke to me—I wanted to paint her portrait, so here it is. I never met Breezi, but I know her owners adored her. I posted a photo of the art on Larry’s Facebook page, and here was his response:

I don't even know what to say! Debbie's in tears! You have brought Breezi back to life...it is about as perfect as it could be!!!!! Thank you doesn't begin to cover it!!!!!!

--Larry

Tucker

A reaction like theirs is so heartwarming and wonderful for me. I love being able to give them a precious keepsake. I’ve owned six shelties over the years myself, and I know how precious they are.

Rookie, a yellow Lab pet portrait

2011-04-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

After my last portrait, an involved project that took well over a month (mostly due to lack of confidence!), I moved on to a commission that is second nature to me. I think I could paint yellow Labs in my sleep, I’ve done so many. In any pet portrait, the eyes are the most important element. In the photo I worked from for this painting, the flash blanked out his eyes, so I faked it. Then again, I didn’t fake it. I’ve seen those soulful eyes before.

I think every yellow Lab I paint has a little bit of Tank in it. My beloved Lab of 13 ½ years, Tank has been gone since 2003, but I’ll never forget him. And that’s how the people who owned Rookie, shown here, felt.

How do I know how they felt? From the heartfelt note that came to me with his photos. The fact that the woman kept a newspaper article about my artwork for several years before she contacted me. And, as people always do when she saw the final work, she told me a story about this dog her family loved so much. It’s not just a picture, it’s a precious memory.

I get it. So this one is a salute to Tank, Tally, Rookie, Angel, Justin, Taz, Charlie, Corky, Seigfried, Buddy and all the other other much-loved Labs I’ve painted over the years.

A new pet portrait by Terry Albert

2011-04-08T17:58:00.000-07:00

Meet Finch, a golden retriever, subject of my latest pet portrait. I took a break from painting after Christmas so I could finish my upcoming book, and it took awhile to get back into the swing of painting again. This is done in acrylics on multimedia illustration board, with colored pencil over the paint.

Finch passed away recently, of old age, and his owner, Robin wanted a scene of Finch enjoying one of his favorite hikes. She lives in Montana and this scene was near Baker Lake.

I added in some of the local wildflowers: clarkia, gentian and heather, though I wouldn't expect you to recognize them! Painting the rocks was a real challenge. I wanted to make them interesting without so much detail they took over the picture.

Finch's owner wrote something very sweet when she saw the finished picture. "It will be good to have Finch home again." I got a little teary-eyed at the thought.

The finished piece is 11 x 14", matted up to 16 x 20 and ready to frame. If you are interested in a portrait of your pet, please contact me!

Squished snails and rabies

2011-04-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

The LabMed Cookbook

My cousin’s daughter, Whitney, publishes a lovely blog, Squash Blossom Babies, where she shares her recipes for wholesome organic natural baby foods that she prepares for her beautiful daughter, Ava. But now her sister Julie is expecting a little boy, so I felt it my duty to step up to the plate, so to speak, and offer my own contribution to childhood nutrition. After all, little boys have different needs than little girls, being made up of all those snakes, snails and puppy dog tails…

Since I have forsaken cooking for all time, I am reprinting (with permission) a recipe from my favorite cookbook, The LabMed Cookbook. Proceeds from the sale of this book benefit homeless Labrador Retrievers- specifically ones with expensive medical needs that local rescues can’t afford to pay for. You can learn more about Lab Med at http://www.labmed.org.

Back to the recipe

Picture yourself the mother of an eight-year-old boy, and it’s time for his birthday party or soccer team picnic. What can you feed a bunch of amped up little kids that will grab their attention? Make notes, dear Julie, because Lab Med has the answer:

Boogers on a Stick

Yield 30 servings, submitted by Tom Booker

8 oz. Cheez Whiz

green food coloring

30 pretzel sticks

1. 1. Melt the processed cheese spread in the microwave oven according to the directions on the jar.
2. Allow cheese to cool slightly
3. Using a long-handled spoon, carefully stir in about 3 drops of green food coloring, just enough to turn the cheese into a delicate snot green.
4. To form boogers: Dip and twist the tip of each pretzel into the cheese, lift out, wait twenty seconds, then dip again. When cheese lumps reach an appealingly boogerish size, set pretzels booger-down onto a sheet of waxed paper. If the cheese in the jar begins to stiffen, simply reheat it.
5. Allow finished boogers-on-sticks to cool to room temperature for ten minutes, or until cheese is firm. Gently pull boogers off waxed paper and arrange on a serving plate.
6. Sicko-idea: Set a bowl of chunky red salsa in the center of the platter so your gourmet guests can turn plain boogers into bloody ones.

Please note: The nutritional data for this recipe is skewed because of the variables involved.

So there you have it. For more recipes and stories that Labrador lovers will treasure, check out The Labmed Cookbook.

And to all my health-food addict friends out there (Kim and Laurie, you know who you are), you really will find some wonderful ideas for adults and kids on my cousin Whitney Backsen’s blog!

© Terry Albert...explained

2011-04-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

I’ve been throwing a tantrum since I discovered this blog has been ripped off in its entirety by not one, but several, other blogs. I guess the copyright notice I put at the bottom of every post is meaningless to some people. As a professional artist and writer, you can bet it means plenty to me, and I’m not happy.

If you are reading this blog anywhere except http://everything-pets.blogspot.com, then you are reading an illegally copied version.

To those who would steal my writing and photos

The copyright is owned by the creator of a specific piece of work. “Work” means art, photography, writing, sculpture or similar creative endeavor. Unless the creator specifically relinquishes the copyright to someone else, for example a publisher, the creator owns the reproduction rights. AND YOU DON’T.

It is illegal to take someone else’s writing and represent it as your own, or reproduce it without permission or payment. So even though my name is still on it, you have violated the copyright.

It is illegal to paint a picture from my photographs, or reproduce my photos in any way without permission from ME, Terry Albert. Get it?

You are welcome to hit the share button at the bottom of each post, and a link will appear on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you send it.

Don’t think copyright doesn’t apply to you because you aren’t selling the work to someone else. Don’t think I should be grateful because I’m getting all this “free advertising.” I have yet to get one paying assignment as a result of your theft.

Read about the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, A federal law: “Blogger (where my blog resides) respects the rights of copyright holders and complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other applicable copyright laws. When we receive proper notice as required by the DMCA, we will work to promptly remove content offline that has been identified as copyright infringement. Repeat infringers' blogs are removed, and in some instances terminated.”

And more here: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf

To my readers

Sorry I had to spout off on this subject. Now back to our regularly scheduled blogs...about pets…everything pets.

Terry Albert

Old Yeller

2011-03-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

Tommy Kirk and Old Yeller

My friends know me too well. I had dinner with my friend Mary Ann’s family the other night. Out of nowhere, she asks me, “Who was the child who starred in Old Yeller?”

“Tommy Kirk,” I replied. Of COURSE I knew. Just ask me about Spin and Marty, the Mousketeers– all those Disney stars and shows.... as a child of the 50s, I didn’t even hesitate.

She pulls a photo out of a big manila envelope. “I got you his autograph,” she proudly announced.

I LOVE it!

And here is at a recent Western festival Mary Ann attended in Arizona.

Roup was here

2011-03-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

Roup's tennis balls

Roup’s visit this week reminded me of my days with Tank, the yellow Lab I owned for 13 ½ years. Roup is so much like him: rambunctious, noisy, funny and very, very busy. I always tell myself I can’t own a million dogs, so I just rent them until the feeling passes. So this week I had the pleasure of “owning” a Lab again.

Roup would have made a good drug detection dog. He is OBSESSED with tennis balls. When I was doing rescue, that’s how we tested dogs for working jobs. If he just wouldn’t let up, this is the dog they need for drugs, arson, customs work, etc. That kind of drive is tough to live with in a pet, but it’s perfect for working dogs. Roup has found his place in life as a service dog for his owner Lisa.

Here's Roup with his buddy Nate on a recent visit, shredding a dog bed. They were justy having too much fun to make them stop.

And this was Tank, with his favorite bunny.

Adopt a Pet!

2011-03-11T10:12:00.000-08:00

March 15 is the day to tell everyone you know about adopting a pet, sponsored by petfinder.com. I'm happy to report that several of my friends have recently adopted new family members:

Lily
Adopted by Edna and Richard in Poway, Lily came from Bull Terrier rescue. Richard drove from San Diego to Sacramento last week to pick up Lily and bring her home. She is a four year old female. They have owned Bull Terriers for years, and have been dogless for several months since Shelby, their 15 year old Bull Terrier, passed away. You're a lucky lady, Lily!

Niki

Nikita is a beautiful Russian Blue cat adopted by my friend and petsitting client, Sandy. Adopted from the Escondido Humane Society, Niki has landed in the lap of luxury. Sandy hasn't owned a kitty for three years, since her home burned in the Witch Creek Fire in 2007. Her elderly cat Sabrina, died in the fire, and Sandy waited until their home was rebuilt before she decided to get another cat.

Murphy
Adopted from helen Woodward Animal Center, Murph got off to a bad start. Just two weeks after being adopted, he came down with parvo. His new owners, Kim and Mike, went the extra mile for Murphy, and he has fully recovered.

So spread the word- there are lots of really nice homeless animals out there!

Here's how (from the Petfinder site):

What It's All About
In honor of our 15th birthday, Petfinder is asking people everywhere to pledge to spread the word online about adoptable pets on March 15, 2011.

What You Can Do

Add a badge (below) to your Web site to show your support.
Take our pledge that you will tell one person about pet adoption on March 15. By pledging, you'll enter for a chance to win one of 10 Pet Hair Eraser^®Vacuums from BISSELL.
Caption a Petfinder adoptable-pet photo on ICanHasCheezburger! The photos with the best captions will be featured on the ICanHasCheezburger.com homepage on March 15.
On March 15, donate your Facebook status and photo to an adoptable Petfinder pet. Simply replace your photo with one from the Adopt-the-Internet All-Stars gallery and post one of these messages:

More than 320,000 pets are waiting for homes on Petfinder.com. Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet today and find forever homes for as many as possible!
I adopted my pet from Petfinder and now I want to help get this pet adopted! If you want to help pets in need of forever homes, please repost this!

On March 15, share an adoptable Petfinder pet on Twitter with the hashtag #adopttheinternet.
Add a link to your blog, Facebook or Twitter post to this page! (Visit on March 15 to find out how.)

Couch potatoes

2011-03-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

This is an odd group, but they get along well: Sherman the Vizsla, Magnus the Min Pin, Otto the Doberman, and Tucker, a Boxer. Magnus and Otto live together. Magnus has a heart pacemaker- I can feel the little box on his neck when I pet him.

It's not ALWAYS chaos here!

Update on Indy, the rescued horse

2011-03-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

Indy moving for the trainer

Indy met a trainer named Tambi today and his owners got to learn a little more about him. He is looking great and feeling much better, Just a tiny bit of lameness on his left rear. He remains sweet and willing, though today he resisted turning his head to the left, as if he feared it would hurt. He wasn't too happy to be longeing either, but I think once he realizes his old injuries are healed, he'll be eager to do whatever they ask of him. He has turned out to be a gorgeous horse!

Ari amid a pile of hair, and lots more to go

Meanwhile, my own shaggy pony got a good brushing this afternoon. One thing you can say about Icelandics- they get very furry in the winter. And when Ari is groomed, he leaves a pile of hair that looks like someone skinned a skunk. I also groomed Sherlock the shetland, but he's not losing much hair yet. Star yelled in protest, afraid I was going to take Ari away from him. No Star, that's tomorrow, when we'll head out for a ride!

Ziggy and Mary Ann

And here's an update on another rescued pony: Ziggy went out for a walk today with Mary Ann. He's the cutest kid on the trail!

Another neglected horse finds a home

2011-01-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

I am so proud of my friends Corrie and Steve today. Last Tuesday I forwarded an email I had received about a horse at the North County shelter. A 14 year old Thoroughbred, Indian had been in rehab for seven months, a victim of severe neglect. 400 pounds underweight when rescued, he had lost a lot of hair and was severely lame.

The next day I got an email from Corrie: “OMG! We went over and adopted this horse!” They’ve been holding court ever since as all our horsey buddies come over to meet the new family member.

As Corrie was wondering what she gotten herself into, she mentioned that she knew I would understand, since I did EXACTLY the same thing twice last year, adopting two wonderful horses myself. “He just spoke to me…” she explained.

Indy, Corrie and Steve

I went over to meet the new arrival yesterday, and I saw what she meant immediately. Indian is the sweetest most docile horse I have met in a long time (well, at least since Honey). He is in good condition now, though he still needs some TLC. As his condition improves and his abscessed hoof heals, I’m sure he will perk up a lot, but he is clearly a gentle spirit. He loves to be handled and I had a lot fun giving him a nose massage- doing TTouch moves on his nostrils, ears and mouth. He loves to cuddle and almost fell asleep while I chatted with Corrie and Steve.

They are so excited to let him out in a corral where he can kick up his heels a bit. He’s lived in an 8 x 24 stall and has had no grass or dirt to walk on for months. And he’s had no buddies nearby, a very stressful thing for a horse. Now Teddy and Harley, his barn mates, will show him how to be a horse again.

Indian, who I dubbed Indy, has clearly been ridden a lot, and was probably someone’s prize performance horse at one time. He’s a whopper, probably a warmblood rather than a thoroughbred, a gorgeous bay with a big heart.

Welcome to our world Indy—you have lots of new friends!

I'm baaaaack....

2011-01-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

After the trauma of the holidays, things are finally somewhat normal and I am getting back into my routine. I’m still busy with lots of dogs staying here (thank goodness) but the real project is my looming deadline on a book I am writing. Animal Planet: Boxers is due to the publisher on February 15. Although I did lots of research before Christmas, writing came to a complete standstill over the holidays. Between pet sitting and plumbing, my plate was full (And if you remember correctly from my earlier post, I couldn’t wash that plate).

Tucker and Tyson, my two favorite Boxers

So now I am scrambling and writing 2,000 words a day to finish my 35,000-word book. I had a hard time getting started because many of the subjects are the same as my first book for Animal Planet, Labrador Retrievers. But I need to say it all in a new way. How many different ways can you describe tapeworms? I finally figured out a way to do it (by not looking at the first book at all), and am now clucking along, churning out pages. I’m a blabbermouth; I’ll have lots of editing to do.

A special treat this week, and a great motivator, was when the proofs for the Lab book arrived. I was thrilled to see it all laid out with photos. The book won’t be out until September, and I can hardly wait.

My beautiful Christmas quilt- Thank you Kalysta and Debbie!

A special Christmas gift

In the midst of all my holiday plumbing trauma, an unexpected gift arrived. This beautiful quilt (shown here) was made by my young friend Kalysta, and her grandmother, Debbie. Kalysta and her family visited last summer and we had a fun evening with the horses. Kalysta and Honey were instant friends, and the palomino pony on this quilt looks just like Honey. The cat looks like my Sterling, and the pony in the lower left looks like Ari.

Needless to say, I was moved to tears. It was the most thoughtful, beautiful thing I have received in a long time, and I was really touched that they went to all that work just for me. I had no Christmas spirit until the quilt arrived; then I was filled with gratitude and love for the wonderful people in my life.

Holiday from Hell

2011-01-03T08:45:00.000-08:00

About two weeks ago, the main drain to my septic system backed up. Snaking all the drains didn’t help. Then it started raining. In California, 6.5 inches in two days is the equivalent of Hurricane Katrina. We just don’t cope well. I was okay if I didn’t flush the toilet more than once every four hours. Couldn’t take a shower; couldn’t wash dishes.

My front yard- my garden demolished

Once the monsoon was over, my gardener dug down and exposed the tank and the pipes, which are 50 years old and corroded beyond saving. They just fell apart when the shovel hit them. So, once everything was exposed, it started raining again. Then it was Christmas.

In the meantime, my 20-plus year old dryer quit. Beyond repair.

After Christmas, I had the septic pumped so we could open up the pipes. I also bought a new dryer. My neighbor, a plumber, bless his heart, replaced the pipes and all was running again…almost. The plug on the cleanout under my kitchen sink would not stay put, so every time I run the water, it drains out onto my patio, a black stinking sludge.

Bodi, Nate and Madison

Through all of this I had between 7 and 9 visiting dogs staying here. On Friday after Christmas, a new dog, Bodi, arrives. His owners had been out at the desert all week, camping, and were heading to their father’s here in town for the New Year before they drove back up to their home Northern California. So Bodi stayed with me. But he had diarrhea. Projectile, sopping wet, explosive diarrhea all over my living room- floor, walls, dog beds, you name it.

During the night he had another episode in his crate, and again out in the yard in the morning. So I called the owner and they came over and took him to the ER for pets. He come back with meds and special food, and all was well from then on.

Meanwhile, I noticed a cut on the hip of another visiting dog, Molly. She is the sweetest dog on earth, and it looked like a stray tooth had snagged her while everyone was playing. I inspected the inch-long gash and it went through the skin, but not into the muscle. I could lift her skin and see a pocket underneath- perfect for infection. I knew she needed stitches and antibiotics. Off to the ER for pets with this dog.

Poor Molly

$773 later, Molly came home with a big shaved patch on her hip, stitches, a drain, an Elizabethan collar, and bottles of pills. I had phoned her owners, who weren’t too happy about the whole thing, but I assured then she was getting the best of care and lots of TLC.

The next morning I let the dogs out for a break while I fixed their breakfast. Nate the Lab decided to play with the drain cleanout plug on the patio. Even though I had a rock over it, and a concrete block on top of that, he moved them and pulled out the plug, and started digging in the black sludge that poured out. I came outside less than ten minutes later, and his muzzle was black up to his eyes, his feet were black about 6 inches up, and he had tracked sludge all over the patio. He reeked of sewage and looked like he’d been dipped in a bottle of ink.

Since Dawn dish detergent works on oil-splattered birds in the Gulf, that’s what I used on Nate, and he cleaned up nicely. But we weren’t done. An hour or so later, he started throwing up: black crud on my living room floor, kitchen floor, and out in the yard. I gave him some hydrogen peroxide to help the process along, and after that he was fine, while I washed the floors yet again.

My friend Judy, meanwhile, brought over a soft e-collar for Molly. Poor dog had been banging into everything, refusing to eat and drink. The soft collar solved it all. She drank a long drink and returned to a totally normal happy dog, wearing her hat.

On Sunday afternoon, Madison the Golden went home. She, Nate and Bodi had been having a blast rough-housing and face fighting all weekend. I got a call from the owner. Madison had some scratches on her neck, and one looked like it was getting some pus. She was taking her to the vet. And I felt I need to pay for it.

ARGHHHH!!! How will I ever convince these owners that there were no fights? Just rowdy dogs playing rough.

And that was my holiday. I hope the cleanout plug will be solved tonight. I currently have a pile of concrete block keeping the dogs away. Then I can wash dishes…

Three pet portraits for holiday gifts

2010-12-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

This is Mac, a fox red Labrador retriever. I had a wonderful photo of him peeking under a garage door, so I made some changes so the painting would tell a story. Now Mac is looking under a fence at his favorite toy–every Lab's favorite toy–a tennis ball.

One thing I learned from Mike Sibley's workshop this fall is that if you tell a simple story with your art, it will have much more appeal. Most of his work tells a nice story about living on a farm. So I think this painting is a good step in that direction

This one is Buster, an Australian mixed breed who resembles a sheltie. This painting was shipped all the way to Australia. One friend told me her eye looks funny- that is because she is a blue merle, and has white patches in her actual eye. A friend gave me photos from their vacation in Australia so I could see what the Australian outback looks like. Very red, hence the vivid background.

Both of the above paintings were done in acrylic and colored pencil.

And this is Fiona, an Alaskan Malamute. For some reason I always like to paint Mals in pastel. The chalk nicely captures their fluffy coat. (I can hear Malamute breeders screeching "It's not fluffy!!!!) This piece of art had a harrowing trip to Denver for Christmas. Because I had insured it, the post office demanded a signature at delivery. It bounced around in the back of a truck for a few days before it finally got to its new home, and I was terrified the chalk would be smeared or worse. Pastels are fairly fragile, and even with careful packaging, I was nervous. But if arrived safely, finally, and the giftee loves it.

I have two more commissions to do in January, so I will be busy in the New Year, doing what I love!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

It is absolutely pouring outside, but the Christmas spirit is alive and well here in Poway. My poor ponies are soaked, but this is what they looked like last week:

Ari, Terry, Star and Sherlock

Star is at his photogenic best in these photos. He's a really flashy guy, except when it's raining! I had to move him out of his corral because it is under water:

It's safe to say he's still getting wet:

But here he is last week:

Much better, don't you think?

In California, we complain if it rains, we complain if it's hot, we complain about our lack of weather, or when we get anything resembling weather at all. So cuddle up indoors with your doggies and kitties, and have a Merry Christmas!

A day at the dog show

2010-12-12T14:37:00.000-08:00

Blue merle collies wait to go in the ring. Gorgeous!

I went to a dog show yesterday to interview some Boxer folks about their breed for my next book. I hadn’t been to a show in awhile and I had a blast looking at all the gorgeous dogs and checking out the vendor booths.

I no longer do booths at shows for my artwork. It was just too much money and too much work. And no profit. Now with the economy in the trash, entries are way down and it was very quiet at the show site. Every class was much smaller than I am used to seeing. Just 6 Labs and 7 shelties; the only large class was Golden Retrievers. How sad.

This makes me want to rush home and groom my dogs

I did manage to avoid buying an $80 dog bed and a $200 grooming table. Those fantasies have to wait until after the vet bills are paid. I’m just like everyone else: on a budget.

The highlight of the day was meeting several devoted Boxer lovers who kindly spent a few hours educating me about the breed. When you are “in dogs,” you make instant friends with total strangers. I can research dogs all day long, but talking to the experts makes a world of difference. And I especially enjoyed sitting on the floor getting snuggled and snuffled by a sweet boxer girl.

As always, the collies are so beautiful they are breathtaking. And a row of wirehaired dachshunds always makes me smile. It was a perfect day.

My Aunt Charlotte

2010-12-03T18:39:00.000-08:00

As my Aunt Charlotte's 91st birthday approaches, I think back to a couple of experiences we've had together over the years.

Aunt Charlotte was staying with me for a weekend. One morning I saw her down at the end of the hall, walking back and forth from the bathroom to the bedroom, mumbling, “What did I do with them? They were here a minute ago...” Having suffered through plenty of my own senior moments, I figured I better help her find whatever she had misplaced.

“My teeth,” she explained, “I JUST had them here on the nightstand. I’m sure of it!”

Aunt Charlotte enjoyed Beans and Tuffy, my dachshunds

As I turned to walk back into the bathroom to help her look, I spied my collie Emma, sitting in the living room chewing on something. Emma loved synthetics; no roll of duct tape was safe from her. Dog dishes and other plastics were fair game at my house, and any thing left carelessly near the edge of a countertop was gone in sixty seconds…or less.

There she was, happily munching on Aunt Charlotte’s teeth. I pried her mouth open and retrieved them, and luckily they weren’t destroyed, just gooey with dog slobber. I returned the dentures to their rightful owner, with the suggestion that she might want to wash them off before using them.

Another adventure with Aunt Charlotte

Aunt Charlotte accompanied me on a Sunday visit to Huntington Beach so we could go to my niece Kirra's birthday party. As we got off the freeway and headed through the concrete jungle to my brother’s home, I saw a guy jogging with his German Wirehaired Pointer. I used to see lots of hunting breeds in Seattle, but it was unusual to see any sporting dog other than a Lab or Golden retriever in the city.

“Wow, look Charlotte, it’s a German Wirehaired Pointer!”

“I was looking at the guy,’ she replied.

I need to get a life.

Poop bags save the planet

2010-11-25T16:22:00.000-08:00

Imagine an archeologist in the year 2800 examining the Poway landfill. What will he make of the thousands of little blue bags filled with dog waste, carefully knotted and preserved for all time? He’ll probably decide that cultures from an earlier century worshipped dog feces, and therefore, he might conclude, those people must also have worshipped the dogs the dogs that created it. He would be right.

Picture this ritual from the dog’s point of view. As soon as he drops his “duty,” his devoted follower, the owner, falls to his knees and reverently scoops up the poop, carefully packages it in colorful wrapping and carries it home. The owner then deposits the package in a large urn that he always keeps near the house. Well, by gosh, Rover says to himself, that stuff is sacred!

Rather than lead our heirs astray, several companies have created biodegradable poop pickup bags, and I encountered my first sample at a pet sit this morning. Made with a cornstarch base, the green-colored bags will decompose and allow their contents to decompose too.

What a concept! In this day and age, when “eco-friendly,” “green,” “sustainable,” “recycling,” and all those buzzwords hold great sway with the public, now dog owners can do their part. No more must dog waste be preserved forever in our landfills.

So, I figured, here I am using plastic grocery and newspaper bags to clean up dog waste. That’s as bad as the blue baggies. I’m inadvertently contributing to the destruction of our planet. This is a no-brainer, an easy fix. We must do something about this situation.

The Cat contribution to the problem

But wait. What do all my pet sitting clients use to clean their litter boxes? Nowhere have I ever seen a biodegradable bag for disposing of litter box contents. Everyone uses wastebasket liners or grocery bags.

I think I’m on to something here. I’m going to invent a biodegradable litter bag. It’s time for cat owners to unite to save the world, and spare that poor archeologist of the future a lot of confusion.

Grocery bags

This entire train of thought made me look at the issue from the opposite direction. Why aren’t grocery bags biodegradable? That would solve everything.

When I’m walking dogs, I think about these things…

Chewed art: The art of deconstruction, by Chris Ward

2010-11-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

Of course this would have something to do with a Lab! Who else is a die-hard chewer? Chris Ward has created a wonderful ebook that is now going to be published as a hardcover coffee table book, if he can get enough orders by December 24.

This is a unique approach to publishing, and a great subject. You'll enjoy the video above, I promise!

Click the title under the video to go to the website. Sorry a bit of the video is cut off. You can see it correctly on the Kickstarter site.

Poway mounted rangers featured on Poway Patch website

2010-10-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

Patch is a new community-specific news and information platform dedicated to providing comprehensive local coverage for individual towns and communities. This means Poway has its own website featuring local news and events. Corrie Vaus, is an independent local reporter who contributes stories to Patch and several San Diego TV stations. She also owns a horse, Teddy, and we ride together on the Poway trails. So my friend and fellow ranger, Jackie Groveman, and I were happy to help with her story.

Me on Little Red, Poway Days Parade 2002

Poway has almost 100 miles of trails, and the mounted, bicycle and foot patrol reserve park rangers make regular patrols to check for maintenance and safety issues and provide assistance for people using the trails. The trail system is an important part of Poway, and I want to be sure it doesn't disappear due to development or misuse. Serving as a ranger is my way of helping insure the trails are here for many more years.

Me with Honey

I have written about Ari, my horse, and our work as rangers in previous posts. Ari, Honey and my previous horses, Little Red, Sage and Spice all were ranger horses.

How to torture your veterinarian

2010-10-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever done this?

Dear friends: My vet can’t figure out what’s wrong with my dog (cat, horse, rabbit…). Here’s a picture. Can you give me any ideas of what’s wrong with him?

That is the shortened version, but it is exactly what I did, desperate to find a cure for my horse, Honey. My armchair vets, Monday morning quarterbacks, and home-grown experts came back with some great ideas. Unfortunately we had eliminated all of those possibilities, and we had to euthanize Honey last Tuesday.

Honey

I realize now that we must torture our poor vets. Mine patiently sat me down and gave me long explanations for every condition he had eliminated as a possibility. He went through all of the options for further testing and what it might show us, patiently repeating things he’d already told me when I wasn’t ready to listen. He (and an expert–a real one– he consulted) narrowed it down to three things: a tumor/mass in her chest, an internal abscess, or valley fever. Her chest cavity was full of fluid.

Her prognosis was lousy. She wasn’t eating or drinking, and the steroids he’d given her were the only thing keeping her upright. Reluctantly I made the decision, but fought it tooth and nail to the very end.

There was no alternative; I just wasn’t ready to lose her. We’d only had a few months together. I’d only ridden her a few times. I wanted to go for more walks with her, rides on her, let more wonderful kids ride her. Honey, we hardly knew ye.

Ari sniffed her halter for a long time

I think letting her go was the hardest decision I’d ever made for a pet. And my vet was endlessly supportive and patient with me. I apologized for asking all my friends what could be wrong with her, and he said, “Well, you’re not the first who’s ever done it.” These were desperate times.

But I made the right decision in the end. My other horses yelled and screamed for her for several hours. That was hard to listen to.

I think my vet is better than any doctor I’ve ever been to for my own health issues.

Rest easy, my Honey.

A very sick horse

2010-10-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to blog sometimes. Life gets in the way, as it did this week. My Icelandic horse, Honey, is very ill, and I don’t know what the outcome will be.

She’s only been with me for 7 months, and she is 20 years old (we think), so some of my decisions on her care are influenced by her age and the fact that she is not my main riding horse. She was adopted as a pasture pet, but I’ve been lucky. She is rideable, her gaits are very smooth, and I’ve had fun with her. She’s given pony rides to some great kids and everyone who meets her has fallen in love with her sweet disposition.

But now Dr. Martin (of Large Animal Veterinary Associates in El Cajon) is struggling to make a diagnosis without spending thousands of dollars. Every test we’ve done comes back normal. Her liver numbers are off, but her liver function is normal. He suspects a tumor. She is not eating or drinking.

An expensive hospitalization might, or might not, give us an answer. X-rays, more extensive ultrasounds (she’s had one)–the tests could go on and on. He pointed out we may not know what the problem is until a post-mortem autopsy. Ugh.

I wish all doctors would talk to their clients the way my vet does. He gives me credit for understanding a lot of what he says, and explains what I don’t. He doesn’t talk down to me, and he doesn’t try to sell me a lot of treatment. My own medical doctor isn’t as forthcoming.

My dog and cat vet (Dr. Singh of Animal Medical Hospital of Poway) is equally thorough with his explanations. He explains how he came to his diagnosis, explains what tests we could do next, and what they might tell us. If we aren’t going to find anything treatable, he is likely to be conservative in his recommendations. I appreciate that.

With a beloved pet, sometimes the decision comes down to money. The sky is not the limit here. I have to carefully analyze what I’m willing and able to spend, and whether the outcome will be worth it.

I really love Honey, even though she’s been part of my family such a short time. But I hope I will do what is best for her, and know when to keep trying treatments, and when to let her go. I will keep you posted.

Artists and donating art

2010-09-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

Every pet portrait artist I know gets hit up by rescue groups all over the United States, asking for donated art that will be auctioned to help fund the care of homeless animals. Back in the early years of my pet portrait career, I would donate a custom portrait in colored pencil, created from the donor’s photos.

I don’t have the time to do that anymore. But I have continued to donate art prints, notecards, ceramic tiles, and other products made from my art. I have also donated my book, Basset Hounds, Your Happy Healthy Pet, to Basset rescue groups.

I have had to cut way back on my donations for several reasons. First, the amount of requests, though worthy, is overwhelming. Second, I have to pay postage to send all these things, and it gets really pricey. Two years ago, I spent $500 in one year sending out donated artwork. Yes, it is usually tax deductible, but it is still out-of-pocket expense I can’t afford. Like most artists, I don’t make enough money to support myself from my art. Yes, we are starving. Maybe someone should donate to us!

And last, but not least by a long shot, I have never gotten one thing back from all these donations. Fundraising people always say “it is wonderful exposure for your art, like free advertising.” I never get new clients or commissions. A recent discussion on the Canine Art Guild group list revealed nobody else ever has either. So if we donate, we do it out of the goodness of our hearts, our love for animals, and our desire to help. And I am happy to do that. To a point…

What gets to me is the many donations where I have never gotten any acknowledgement back from the organization I donated to. No receipt, no thank you, no “this is how much we made.” If you can’t be bothered, neither can I.

I recently got a downright insulting request for a donation. The caller wanted me to donate a portrait. I said I don’t donate portraits, but I would donate a couple of prints. She replied, “Well, can’t you just do something small and simple, like with just five pencils or something that won’t take as long?” Right, but I’ll only draw with one finger…

Later she called about getting the prints delivered to her (obviously wasn’t going to the trouble of picking them up). She referred to them as “copies.” Like a xerox? My prints are signed and numbered limited edition lithographic prints with a certificate of authenticity. I donated the prints, and have as yet received no acknowledgement or thank you.

I won’t be donating to that organization again.

Mike Sibley artist's workshop

2010-09-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

I traveled out of town last weekend for five days to attend an artist’s workshop up in Solvang, CA. Mike Sibley works in graphite (pencil) and I have admired his work for years. This was his first trip to the western US from England, and I was thrilled to be able to attend. I booked it back in February!

You’d think that since I’ve done pencil art for years myself, particularly black and white, that I wouldn’t learn a whole lot. You would be wrong. He gave me an entirely new outlook towards how to use the pencils, and how to create backgrounds (the hardest thing!), fur, eyes (the most important part of any pet portrait), and especially composition. His work is so minutely detailed that he spends up to 250 hours on one piece of artwork.

I’ve never had that kind of patience, but there I was, spending 6 hours on a 4” x 5” section of a picture. I love detail and realism, and on the last day, he gave us a project where we could practice all the techniques we learned during the first two days. The art above is the work I did on the last day. He gave us all the same sketch and turned us loose to see what we could do with it. I’m itching to try it in color.

It was very intense, and we were exhausted by the end of each day. I even had to go out and buy a stronger pair of reading glasses, because my eyes got tired after 6 hours a day drawing.

But the time flew by, and I loved every minute of it. Mike and his wife Jenny are funny, friendly and you can tell they genuinely enjoy their work. Mike took the time to give every artist plenty of attention, and his critiques were honest and helpful. I also enjoyed hearing his various adventures over the years with publishers, selling prints, copyright infringement, donating art, and all the other business challenges that come up every day when you are an artist.

If you have a chance to attend a workshop, I highly recommend it. You don’t have to be an animal artist to learn a lot. His book is fantastic, too (available on his web site).

Bogey and Mr Cool find new homes

2010-08-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

Bogey is a hard-headed little terrier-poodle mix, and needed to be an only dog. He was one of my pet sitting clients’ dogs. He found a new home and it appears, from this picture, that he has landed in his own personal heaven. I am so happy for him. He had a tough couple of weeks being bounced around from place to place, and this little rough cut diamond deserves the chance to shine.

Mr Cool

A few months ago I sent this story to all my horsey friends about a retired police horse:

Own a Piece of Santa Monica P.D. History

PLEASE Give Mr. Cool a great home

Mr. Cool needs a home. He is too old to chase bad guys on Venice Beach. Santa Monica P.D. is asking for a $2,000.00 donation for Mr. Cool. He needs to be replaced and the Mounted Unit is struggling to survive. He has some good trail rides left in his kind heart. Please call if you would like to have Mr. Cool. ¼ gelding, 24 years young. 15 2 hands

Mr. Cool has patrolled Venice Beach and the streets of Santa Monica for approximately 16 years. Mr. Cool needs to be placed SOON, he just can’t chase people in the sand anymore. He deserves a good retirement Please help out! Santa Monica is one of the last Mounted Patrol units in California.

After some serious thought and some wheeling and dealing, my friend Kathi, who lives in Anza, adopted Mr. Cool, sight unseen. She about fainted when he got out of the trailer. He was bigger than 15-2, more like 16-3 hands tall. At first she wasn’t sure she would keep him, I think she was a little intimidated.

Then she rode him.

And then she fell in love with Mr Cool:

Mr. Cool is doing great, we've been out riding with other horses, my mare, and even come home alone, he's so kind and gentle. His size is no longer an issue with me, I just needed to get over the shock!

I love happy endings! And the photos tell the story. Here's Cool with his new roommates, Misty the mare, and Dolly the sheep.

My neglected blog and a writing project

2010-08-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

I have neglected my blog the past few weeks, but I have a good excuse. I am writing a book and it is due to the publisher on September 1^st. Needless to say, that is my writing priority these days. It’s been an interesting experience.

This will be my second book. Animal Planet: Labrador Retrievers (TFH Publishing) is the title. Anyone who knows me knows my love for Labs, and this is a dream assignment. Although I don’t own a Labrador any more, I have lived with hundreds over the years: foster dogs, boarding dogs, and my own beloved Tank, who was with us for 13 ½ years. And Cody, an elderly rescue we adopted who only lived a year, but was also close to my heart.

My first book, in 2008, was Basset Hound: Your Happy Healthy Pet, and it was a second edition, so I had a manuscript to start with and an outline from the publisher (Howell books). This one is from scratch. Provided with a rough outline from my editor, all the words are mine. I found myself paralyzed with fear the first few weeks, so I did lots of research to get into the subject. There is nothing so scary as a blank piece of paper, for an artist or writer!

And now I have just two chapters to go, and three weeks to finish and edit my work. I put off the history of the breed, thinking it is always so boring. I am fascinated, and love looking through different sources and comparing stories and trying to craft an accurate one of my own. Because the Labrador’s history is somewhat murky, it is a challenge to get it right, or as near right as one can.

It reminded me of art history classes in college. I tried to avoid them, and then found myself entranced as I studied the remains of Pompeii and the cathedrals of Europe. Even contemporary art took me off in a new direction for my painting. I combined my art major with a minor in history, studying what went on in the world while all this fantastic art was being created. Ancient Greece and Rome became my favorite subjects.

The events in the world have a major effect on art, culture, and even dogs. The Sheep Protection Act of 1885 stopped breeding of the St John’s Dog in Newfoundland, and the Quarantine Act in England stopped importation of these dogs. The landed gentry in England then embarked on their own breeding program, refining the Labrador into what it is today.

Politics affects everyone, even dogs.

Want to know more? I do.

Honey the Icelandic horse

2010-08-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

This is a story about a pony that loves children. Her name is Honey. She wear a pink halter and a pink saddle pad, and loves to take little girls for a ride. The little girls brush Honey's pretty white mane and tail and feed her carrots.

Honey's owner loves her and likes to share her with people who love ponies, because she didn't get to play with ponies when she was a little girl. And now she is all grown up, and she gets to play with her ponies all day long.

"Last Dog on the Hill" by Steve Duno

2010-07-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

I am deep into a new book by my friend from Seattle, Steve Duno. Last Dog on the Hill is the story of his dog Lou, a Shepherd-Rottweiler mix that he used to bring to work with him when we were both trainers at the Academy of Canine Behavior in Bothell, WA. We were both pretty green in those days, but my, how far we’ve come. I like to think Jack and Colleen McDaniel, the owners, would be proud of their alums. Many of us have gone on to lifelong careers in dogs.

Steve traveled down to Warwick’s Bookstore in La Jolla last week for a book-signing event, one of many stops on his book tour for the just-released book. We had dinner beforehand and caught up on each other’s lives and shared some fond memories of Lou and Tank, my Lab from way back then, and our days at the Academy.

Last Dog on the Hill is not Marley and Me, nor is it Lassie Come Home. Lou was a real dog, a scruffy mutt with a shady past who got lucky and landed in the right home. Some dog stories are really memoirs of the author’s life, and the dog is the vehicle to tell the story of a family (Marley and Me), or a life-changing event (Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain). In contrast, Duno’s book is more about Lou and his adventures.

I asked Steve how he could remember all those details. He said that although he’s always been a writer, he didn’t really keep a journal of Lou’s exploits. They are still fresh in his mind, because Lou was such a memorable part of his life for 16 years. I can relate to that. Every writer, even one who has never written about dogs, finds himself compelled to eulogize his beloved canine. Steve started writing about six months after Lou’s death.

Steve has written 18 books, but he got that misty far-away look in his eyes when we talked about this one. This is “THE BOOK,” that once-in-a-lifetime story that has to get out; the book I may someday write about Tank, the one you may someday write about your once-in-a-lifetime dog. Kudos to Steve for getting it down on paper, and for crafting such a compelling story.

Enjoy.

Update on my pony family

2010-07-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

With a houseful of ponies (okay, a back yard full), I thought I’d update you on the horsie family here at Heaven’s Half Acre.

Honey

Yesterday, I rode Honey on a ranger patrol around Lake Poway. She is the rescued Icelandic mare I brought home in early March. I didn’t know what I was getting when I took her, I just knew she was an older horse who needed a home. I am very lucky- she is rideable, no arthritis, and in good health.

She is also the sweetest little horse, very loving and loves attention. She now has a hot pink halter and saddle pad. She’s really the girly girl of the household. She recently hosted my friend Kiyomi for a pony ride and cuddle session (see photo).

I named her Honey because she was a rich golden palomino. Now she has shed out her winter coat and she is a dark chocolate color- with whipped cream on top!

Sherlock

Formerly named Rod Stewart, this Shetland pony arrived about 6 weeks ago. He was one of 18 neglected Shetlands, all stallions and pregnant mares, who were seized by Animal Control in LA County. He has fattened up nicely, is learning to be handled, and has been gelded and had his feet trimmed.

I take Sherlock for a walk several evenings a week, and he attracts lots of attention from the neighborhood kids. I have started clicker training him and he loves it. He looks forward to his nightly training sessions and is eager to play the game.

Star

My friend Saskia and I have been working with Star to get him used to trailering and ponying. We kind of stalled when school got out, but he loads better now. His ground manners have always been good, but because he doesn’t go out at all, he is very spooky out in the world. He has always been willing but uncoordinated, since he had a back injury sometime in his past. His coordination has improved, and I hope to start getting him out in public more. I want to be able to handle him if I have to evacuate from fires again.

Ari

Ari and Star got their teeth floated, which means the vet filed down the sharp points on their teeth, making it easier for them to chew their food. It’s quite a process, and they have to be sedated for the procedure. Ari, my main riding horse, continues to be the perfect horse, and he looks like a Clydesdale next to the two new ones!

Little Red

Little Red has been at the J F Shea Center in San Juan Capistrano for two and a half years now, working as a therapeutic riding pony. They love him there and he is thriving. Recently a school class in Saddleback Valley sponsored his care for a year. I’m so proud of my pony!

Summer dangers for dogs and cats

2010-07-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

My summer has gotten off to a pretty dramatic start. There are so many things that can happen to pets in the summer when we are outside with them.

4th of July
Fireworks make me crazy, and they scare pets. A panicked pet, cat or dog, can run out in the street and get hit by a car, which is exactly what happened to a friend's dog this week. Fireworks aren't even legal here and it wasn't even the 4th yet, but someone shot off a noisy bomb and their dog Lily died for it.

Before you start thinking the owners were stupid, let me tell you my own story. Ignorant is a better term, which means we just didn't know what the consequences might be.

When I was a brand-new dog owner, we though it would be fun to take our sheltie, Sherman, to the beach on the night of the 4th so he could watch the fireworks with us. People were blowing off smoking, sizzling, sparkling do-dads all over the sand, and our dog just completely melted down. He never recovered from his fear of loud noises after that. What was I thinking?

Worse. We thought our cat, Sebastian might enjoy chasing one of those burning snake things out on our patio. I was holding him and when my husband set it off, the cat almost amputated my arm in his haste to get away.

Ignorance is not bliss.

Rattlesnake bites
You would think your dogs would be safe in your own back yard, but not always. My friend Melanie lives on a slope, so she has a patio with a retaining wall around it, and the hill slopes up behind the wall. A large red diamondback rattlesnake must have fallen off the edge into the patio. She heard frantic barking, and ran outside to see her standard poodle, Tango, standing between the snake and her rat terriers, defending his pack.

She brought the dogs in; her husband killed the snake. It was several hours before she realized Tango was swelling up from several bites. His head and neck were huge, and by then, it was too late. The dog died.

I had a similar incident in my back yard (not where I live now). I found a small rattler and rounded up the dogs. It was hours before one of the dogs swelled up and I realized he'd been bitten. He survived, but it was a long and expensive night in the emergency room.

There's not much you can do to protect your pets in the back yard, but when you are out on the trails, keep your dog on a leash and keep him from sniffing under bushes until you are sure there's no snake under there. Snakes like to rest in the shade along the edge of the trail. I also recommend rattlesnake avoidance training and a rattlesnake bite vaccine.

Heat
This week's disasters reminded me of another one a few years ago. Another friend was hiking on Iron Mountain one hot August morning. He is an extreme sportsman who enjoys mountain climbing in Europe and endurance riding. His white German Shepherd, Enrico, was with him, and the owner didn't recognize the signs of heat exhaustion. On the way back down, the dog collapsed and died before he could get him to the car.

He called me later, sobbing into the phone, "I killed my dog!" Needless to say, it was horrible and he was inconsolable. It's a hard lesson to learn. This man has a Ph.D. in physics, but he just didn't know any better when it came to his dog.

A dog loves his owner and will go and go without complaining just to keep you happy. Read my recent post about heatstroke in dogs so you'll be prepared.

It doesn't need to be an extreme situation for your dog to die from the heat. Temperatures rise so fast that even five minutes in a closed up car can kill your dog. Older and ill animals need to be kept indoors where it is cool.

When you walk your dog, if you touch the pavement and it is too hot for you to stand on barefoot, then it's too hot for your dog's feet too. His paw pads can get badly burned.

Photos: In memory of Lily, Tango and Enrico

New art for dog rescue groups

2010-06-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

This week I finished two projects. One is a cartoon for the Australian Terrier Club of America breed rescue. I started with a formal logo design, but they decided a cartoon would be more fun, and I have to say I agree. I don’t consider myself a cartoonist, but I do love a challenge! I hope to soon see it on their rescue web page.

Last year, I did a painting for their 50th Anniversary National Specialty show. This art was made into trophies and limited edition prints for the club.

Here is the finished art for rescue:

Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue

I didn’t design this logo; SPDR has used it since 1987, and the original is long gone. They needed a new clean copy of the logo that wouldn’t look awful when used large on banners and small on printed materials. So I redid it, and cleaned it up, using Adobe Illustrator to create vector art that can be scaled without getting pixelated. This is totally different from sketching a cartoon, so once again I stretched myself. I’m getting lots of practice with Illustrator, so that’s an added benefit to this project. My recent Bernese Mtn Dog art was also a vector graphic created in Illustrator. I gave them several different versions in color and black and white. In each, the type is a little different, either solid black, outlined, etc. I'm sure they will settle on one version after awhile.

A design for the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America

2010-06-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

At last I can share this new art with you! I had to keep it a secret until The BMDCA unveiled it at their specialty in May. Every year the club does a logo, featuring an adult dog, and a mascot featuring a puppy. I am proud that I was chosen as the artist for the mascot for 2011. I did two versions for the club. As you might guess, the specialty will be held in California next year, in Del Mar, just north of San Diego.

This is vector art, done in Adobe Illustrator. And here is the second version.

Tough dogs

2010-06-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Last week, a golden retriever decided he didn't want to be groomed, and he mouthed my arm so hard that he broke the skin. It wasn't actually a bite, nor overt aggression where a dog attacks, but it was definitely a warning to me. And I listened.

I am a pushover and I know it. This was a wakeup call. For all the advice I hand out freely, it was time to take some of my own medicine. This week's challenging guest was a shepherd/lab mix who also tries to mouth my arm when he doesn't want to do something– specifically, go in the crate.

I should not be holding dogs by the collar. I keep leashes handy and usually snap one on when I want to ask a reluctant dog to do something. Joe's owners swear to me he is crate trained, but Joe was having none of it. And he needed to be crated. So after I tried to shove him in, lead him in, lure him in with treats, back him in, and all my other little tricks, I decided I needed to get serious.

I sent all the other dogs outside. I put a leash on Joe and got out the hot dogs. (Recipe: slice hot dogs in thin pieces, then cut each circle in half. Nuke in the microwave for three to four minutes. Tiny bites make great treats and they don't goop up your pockets with grease like uncooked hot dogs)

Our first "trick" was the sit. He perked up instantly when he tasted his reward. After a few sits we tried a down. Nothing doing. "Never!" his body language screamed. He looked away, licked his lips, leaned on me, and started wrapping himself around me. Pushy pushy pushy; he would do anything but lie down.

After a few minutes of practice, he lied down, but after several repetitions, he still wasn't doing it immediately or willingly. I always gave him treats and praise while he was in the down position. I wondered if he'd ever learned it before. But he started to comply more willingly, so I quit while we were ahead.

An hour later, we did it again. A little better response this time. Now that he was listening to me, it was time to try the crate.

With all four paws braced against the door frame, pulling back with all his might, he wasn't going to give in. I threaded the leash through the wire and put pressure on him. Whenever he gave to the pressure a little, I loosened the leash and praised him. He immediately tried to jerk away. I was NOT using a choke collar or pinch collar. Finally he just sat in front of the crate and pulled back, refusing to look at me. The hot dogs in the back of the crate beckoned to him.

After a five minute standoff I almost gave up, but he suddenly gave in, walked in the crate, and started munching the treats. I shut the door, praising him to the skies, and dropped in more hot dogs. Then I did one of the hardest things I ever had to do in training.

I let him out. That was his reward. All that work and I immediately let him out. He walked on the leash for a circle or two, and I asked him to go back in the crate. He went right in. DONE.

I took off the leash and let him loose for the rest of the evening. At one point, he walked in the crate and looked for more hot dogs. I praised him from my seat in the recliner, but didn't close the crate door. At bed time, he went right in the crate and didn't complain once all night.

The rest of the week was uneventful. Joe spent a lot of time napping in the crate with the door open.

What a GOOD dog.

A happy ending picture story

2010-06-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I sent out an email to all my pet sitting clients about a litter of puppies that needed homes. My client Diana had contacted me about the litter, because the mother dog belonged to her son.

She wrote:

8 week old puppies, both parents are medium size mixes with excellent temperaments. Guessing that there is Shar Pei, Chow, shepherd mix (dad looks like a short coyote :) in there somewhere. They are many generations from purebred...Shouldn't get over 45 pounds. Ready to go to their new homes.

They are weaned and eating solid food. More females than males in a litter of 11. Five have found homes.

I'm happy to report that all of pups have found homes, and I hope they are forever homes, the kind we dream about in dog rescue. Diana and her family adopted one of the pups, and here are some pictures. I didn't think they looked much like Shar Pei when they were little, but now you can see it.

Bandit, the new little guy will be a buddy to Cowboy, their current dog. Cowboy has been boarding with me since he was a puppy, and I always laugh when they drive up to my house. Cowboy is a big dog, and sits between his owners with his head sticking up through the sunroof. Enjoy the photos!

Obedience classes: where you learn how to train your dog

2010-06-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

A boarding client, Tara, told me a story about taking her dog to obedience school, where the teacher wanted everyone to use clickers to train their dogs:

I just couldn’t get the timing right, and I’d click when I wasn’t supposed to. The trainer was getting frustrated; I was getting frustrated. The instructor said “Here, I’ll click YOU when you do it right.” I was totally humiliated. I just wanted to quit and go home.

I understand what the instructor was trying to do. In fact, Karen Pryor’s latest book, Reaching the Animal Mind, goes into great detail about using clicker training to teach gymnasts and other athletes. The method is called TAG teaching (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) and is an exciting discipline in the field of education. By clicking at the exact moment the performer is doing it correctly, the athlete achieves a better understanding of the movements required to perform the exercise. Instead of constant corrections, he is rewarded for his (or her) correct performance.

I’m sure this is how the obedience instructor was trying to teach Tara. But she didn’t really understand, and the effort backfired. Tara is now looking for someone new to help her train her dog.

Although clicker training is a wonderful method, it isn’t right for everyone. Using the clicker is the easy part. It takes some effort to understand the training concepts behind it and to apply them correctly. Perhaps a more complete explanation would have saved the situation.

Dog training is a learned skill

When we go to an obedience class, the instructor is teaching us train our dogs. We learn how to get new behaviors from our dogs, how to reward the dogs, and how to correct them when they made a mistake. If we just turned the dogs over to a trainer to do the work, we’d have well-trained dogs, but no skills to reinforce the training when we got home, and the dog would quickly forget.

Dog training for owners needs to be fun, or they won’t do it. People need positive reinforcement too. I’m sure many owners give up because they are frustrated, rather than because the dog can’t learn.

It’s not just about the dog. You both have to practice to be successful.

When you enroll in a college course, you expect to work hard and have lots of homework. Training classes are the same way. You and your dog are both in school, learning new skills. There is no magic pill to make a dog behave. You have a lot to learn, but a few months of committed diligence will result in a relationship you will both enjoy for a lifetime.

My new pony

2010-05-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

I will post the full story soon, but because I am so anxious to share, here are photos of my newest family member, currently named Rod Stewart. He needs a "My Little Pony" type of name! He is a stallion, and his stallion buddy is Ziggy Marley (the black stallion shown here too). They were part of a herd rescued from severe neglect and they are very thin, and won't be stallions for long!

Read the full story here:
http://keeblerelfrescue.blogspot.com/

Things Labs eat

2010-05-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Like many familiar sayings, “The dog ate my homework” is probably based on a true story. And the dog was most likely a Lab. Besides food, a typical Labrador will eat everything from socks to rocks. They should all be named Mikey (flashback to famous TV commercial).

My Lab, Tank, would eat absolutely anything. A Great Pyrennes foster dog dumped his kibble on our gravel walkway and pushed it around rather than eat. Tank found it and ate the dog food and the surrounding rocks without pausing. The next morning I woke up to the sound of an urping Lab on the floor next to the bed. He heaved piles of gravel and undigested kibble.

An x-ray at the vet’s office revealed Tank had a trail of gravel from his mouth to his rectum; there was no way the doctor could remove the rocks through surgery. It took almost a week for all the rocks to pass through his system.

Another time Tank ate a tube of cortisone cream that was left on the coffee table. By the time I caught him, all that remained was the metal band around the plastic lid. I made him throw it up.

Our neighbor liked to free-feed his Norwegian Elkhounds, and since we lived out in the woods, no one had a fenced yard. Tank went over there one day and came home looking like the Goodyear blimp. The neighbor confirmed all the dog food was gone—about 8 pounds. So again I made Tank throw up (small amount of hydrogen peroxide). I had to run around cleaning up the food as it came up so he wouldn’t just re-eat it.

To Bee or not to Bee

What brought all this to mind is a story this week here in San Diego about a Lab named Ellie who ate several hundred dead bees. Here’s the story from the Veterinary Pet Insurance web site:

http://www.vpihamboneaward.com/nominees/2010/April.html

I guess their point is that you need vet insurance for your dog. In March 2005 they posted another Labrador winner. This dog ate 23 packages of instant breakfast, complete with the packaging:

http://www.vpihamboneaward.com/news/lab-eats-23-packages-of-instant-breakfast-finds-instant-trouble.html

Labs that stay with me have devoured stuffed animals and the squeakies within, wooden branches, dog beds and rosebushes. I once had a foster dog, Neptune, who pooped navy blue blanket pieces for about a week after I took him out of the shelter.

Though not a Lab, my friend Lynn tells me of a German Shepherd that ate a light bulb. The owner fed the dog bread everyday for a week to ease the glass through the dog’s system.
So what has your dog eaten?

A picture is worth a thousand words: a new pet portrait by Terry Albert

2010-05-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

This week I finished a new pet portrait of Maddie and Butch, owned by my friends John and Janet. Over 10 years ago I did a painting of their first two labs, Sarah and Jack, and the two portraits will hang together in their home.

We volunteered together at Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue, and Janet was always taking in mixed breeds, a crime I was also guilty of. So all of these lovely un-Labradors are dogs that they adopted over the years.

I’ll let John tell the story of their beloved dogs:

Sarah, on the left, came to us in 1996 via the Huntington Beach animal shelter. We have no idea of her background, but soon were introduced to her ability to spontaneously urinate when happy. We managed this through out her life with us. She was 2 when found and lived for another 14+ years. We got Sarah to be Jack's buddy.

Jack, on the right, was about 6 in 1995 when we rescued him from the same shelter in H.B. He was found tied to a tree in a Westminster, CA park without food or water. He'd been there for a couple of days before someone finally called on him. Later, the guy who abandoned him was identified and arrested for heroin influence. Jack was love at first sight. He became the namesake for our sailboat, Jack's Place. However, he never adjusted to being on the water.

The second generation

Maddie is now around 11 or 12 and was trapped in an open field in Riverside County by an animal rescue group. She was about 5 then. She'd been under observation for several months as running wild after having a litter of 9 pups. She was very skittish and fearful, especially of men. Once trapped, she was kenneled for nearly a year when found by Janet's All Retriever Rescue Foundation, (a group I, Terry, especially like because they don’t limit themselves to purebreds). Maddie was later adopted by one of the volunteers but had to be re-located because she was a chronic fence jumper. We brought her home after I increased the height of the backyard fence. It took about three weeks to get her comfortable with being around her new family.

I saw a lot of potential in Maddie, so we decided to send her off for some professional training. We found a training place in Corona (http://www.assertivek-9training.com) and after 7 weeks, Maddie was a new pooch. They turned her into a push-button companion, although, still skittish.

Maddie enjoys life best when in our company. She thrived on the water and was later designated "B.D."; short for Boat Dog. Maddie is mostly chow with a little lab added for pleasure.

Finally, Butch is now about 17. Janet's sister works for L.A.P.D. and arrested Butch's owner for heroin influence. He no longer wanted his dog, so she called Janet to see if we would take him. We did and Butch has proven himself an incredible member of our family. A vet found that Butch had been hit by a car. His left hip was broken and allowed to heal without being treated by a vet. We had surgery done to correct some of the side-affects, but he never was fully functional. Butch is a lab/dalmatian mix.

A great Butch story happened one night around 10:00. Janet heard the back sliding glass door open and thought it was our daughter Andrea coming home from the neighbor's. Janet yelled out if that was her and Andrea replied she was in her room. Simultaneously, Butch began growling and ran down the hallway.

Apparently, some guy was watching Andrea through her window and came in to the house to do bad things. Butch nailed him while crashing in to some patio furniture. The suspect was last seen vaulting our rear fence. Butch came back inside with his smile beaming, just like you captured in his portrait, Terry.

I'll tell ya, Terry, writing about these wonderful dogs brings forth a lot of emotion. They have been incredible.

John

There’s not much I can add to that. I’m honored I got to paint pictures of such special dogs. Now that you've read about the dogs, read about the painting on the Canine Art Guild blog.

Unusual dog coat colors

2010-05-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

I was watching a pair of dogs play in the yard this morning, and marveled at their unusual colors. I thought I'd share them with you, and if you aren't familiar with coat colors, show you merle and brindle coloring. Willow on the left is an unusual merle color (diluted?), and Max, on the right, is a brindle. The brindle is brown with black stripes, while the merle is a combination of spots and patches.
It took there two almost 48 hours before they got used to each other and started playing. It was quite a relief when they decided to be friends!

The grey collie at left, Auggie, is a blue merle. And the Australian Shepherd is a red merle. The amount of merling can vary wildly. There can be just a little while the rest of the dog is a solid color (see Stormy, the black collie photo), or the merling can appear all over the body as in the red dog. A dog like Stormy is often referred to as a "cryptic merle."

Two dogs with the merle gene should never be bred to each other. Their pups may be deaf or blind or both. These pups often have white covering the ears or eye that is blind. Although a mostly white merle dog is beautiful, it could be severley handicapped. You will see white collies in the show ring, but they almost always have color covering their eyes and ears, and they are referred to as "color-headed white." See the photo of Tulip at left. She is a sable-headed white.

You will see the merle colors in many herding breeds, such as Collies, Shelties, Corgis, Australian Shepherds and border collies (no they are not all black and white!).

Brindle dogs are often Boxers, Pit Bulls, Bull Terriers, Mastiffs, Boston Terriers, and Bulldogs.Max, the brindle dog at the top of the page, is a mixed breed, and we'll never know where his brindle color came from.

'Tis the season for foxtails...again

2010-05-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

It is a year since I posted my article about foxtails, and that season has just rolled around again. Last year's post has a new comment, so I am glad people are still reading it. In case you missed it, here is the link:
http://everything-pets.blogspot.com/2009/05/foxtails-in-california-are-danger-to.html

Some people go out and pick flowers in the spring. I sit in the back yard and pick foxtails. They are so hard to find once they get on your dog, and you may not know there's even one on him until he has a bad infection from one. I'd rather pick them out of the grass than from between my dog's toes or out of his ears.

And mowing the grass isn't enough. Unless you rake it up, you are left with a bunch of dead foxtails that are even more likely to get stuck in your dog's coat.

Box turtles to the vet

2010-04-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

My box turtles Fred and Ethel had a checkup this week. We went to Acacia Animal Health Center in Escondido, CA. This is the most upscale deluxe vet office I’ve ever seen, complete with boarding training, dog daycare, and upscale prices.

The service was excellent, the people are wonderful. The price blew me away: $63 for an exam, $50 for the second turtle. The reason for this luxury treatment? My box turtles needed their nails and beaks trimmed. It is recommended that you get this done every year, and I regret to admit it had been more like 5 years since I had taken them in.

Turtles can wear down their beaks by eating hard foods but mine seemed to need some help. The vet says they appear exceptionally healthy, so a nutritional deficiency didn’t seem to be the answer. Sometimes a cuttlebone (like you would put in a birdcage) will help, and it is a good source of calcium. Mine ignore it.

The doctor used a dremel tool to grind down the beak. Any kind of clippers might split the beak and cause an infection. You can see their nice short beaks in the photo above. Before clipping, the end of the beak extended down below the lower jaw like a hook.

They are kept in an 18 “ x 36” terrarium, so they don’t wear down their nails either. If they were out in the yard they could dig, but a predator would eat them. Also, box turtles are masters at hiding. Let one loose, and they’ll go under your deck and disappear forever. So keeping them in the back yard is not a good option.

Regular clippers work well on turtle toenails, and just like dogs and cats, you have to be careful not to cut into the quick and cause bleeding. I decided to let the veterinarian do it.

The charge for “grooming” was $39.50 each. ACKKK!! So for a mere $200, my box turtles are happy, healthy and well groomed. No wonder I only take them in every five years. I won’t wait that long again, because their overgrown beaks could impair their ability to eat. I’m not convinced every year is necessary. I’ll let you know about a year from now.

Box turtle care website: http://boxturtlesite.info

The photo above was taken at the vet’s office. A nice touch; they photograph every client that comes in an add the photo to their file. Then they sent me a copy.

The “ideal low-fuss” pet: a recipe for neglect?

2010-04-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

This week’s Parade Magazine featured an article by my friends Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori of the Pet Connection titled “Fish: The low-fuss pet.” The story bothered me a little bit, because even fish need care. And the Pet Connection writers would be the first to agree. Sometimes editors write the darndest headlines.

No you don’t have to walk a fish every day, but you can’t ignore them either. They need regular food; you must clean the tank or pond, check the chemical balance, and monitor the fishes’ health. The final sentence in the article was “you are not just keeping fish; you are keeping an ecosystem.”

“I’ll feed him, mommy”

Notice I said “you.” This does not mean the kids. You can supervise while they take care of the pets, but don’t expect them to handle the responsibility alone, or perfectly. Even teenagers forget about their pets when the hormones kick in and they start to date and party with their friends. I know, I was one once.

I hate to think of the neglected turtles, fish, hamsters, frogs, snakes and lizards that waste away in Juniors’ bedrooms all over the country. I feel guilty remembering my own menagerie. If it wasn’t for my dad, they all would have starved to death or died from lack of water.

For some reason it is easier to neglect small caged pets than a dog or cat, though they certainly suffer too. I don’t remember my parents EVER taking our cat to the vet when I was young. We just didn’t have the money, and if Mustard got in a fight and the wounds got infected, well, he’d get over it eventually. Until he didn’t. He died, and I was heartbroken.

Teach your children that all living things require food, water and clean surroundings. If you can’t afford to, or don’t have time to, maintain their health and habitat, don’t get a pet.

Photos above: Koi, leopard gecko, and red-eared slider (water turtle).

Let sleeping dogs lie...

2010-04-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

I must love watching dogs sleep:

Wiley E. Whippet

Willa

Tucker and Sammie

Sandy

baby Trapper

Beautiful Shibas

Mugsy

Beans and Tuffy

Xuan Xuan and Desi

Baby Brooklyn

Katie- the Queen of Naps!

Bonnie stole my chair!

The ultimate compliment or copyright infringement?

2010-04-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

I am SO behind the times. Just when I thought I’d seen everything, someone surprises me, and it’s taken three days to figure out what I think about it all.

First, some backstory:

In my blog a few weeks ago, I wrote about my newest greyhound painting for Greyhound Pets, Inc. At the bottom, I included my little copyright notice, because I always do. This particular image was painted from a black and white drawing I did in 1993, which has shown up (or should I say, been ripped off) in many places over the years. When I posted this painting on my website, I added an additional, slighty grouchy, notice about how people are NOT allowed to use it without the permission of the artist (me, Terry Albert). I also made the copyright mark on the picture much bigger than usual.

These particular pieces of art, both the black and white and color version, are a little tricky, because traditionally the artist retains copyright on any artwork he or she produces. I donated the black and white drawing to Greyhound Pets, and they gradually began using it for their logo, which was fine with me. They have purchased the color painting, and plan to use it for their logo, on notecards, business cards, and other fundraising items, as well as selling limited edition prints. Although I technically still own the copyright, I have given them permission to use the art for their group in any way they see fit.

This does NOT mean that Joe Schmo can reproduce it on tiles and sell them on ebay. The guy that did that actually left my signature on it! Or Italian charms, embroidery patterns for a shirt company, and several other examples that come to mind where “my” art was used without compensation or permission from me OR Greyhound Pets.

The surprise

I am laughing now, but at first I was a little grumpy when I received the picture of the greyhounds on a tattoo as you see in this photo. Greyhound Pets gave this guy permission, so I’m not really upset, and the owner of this lovely arm is a big supporter and has adopted three dogs from them. I like him better all the time (I’m assuming it is a “him”).

But it does point out how easily we can lose the rights to our own creative work, especially when it gets splashed all over the Internet. I haven’t made a dime off of that first drawing, but some other people have made money, and that is not fair, or legal.

So listen up everybody. Don’t copy an artist’s work without permission! This includes adapting it to other mediums, like embroidered shirts. Greyhound Pets, Inc., and ONLY Greyhound Pets, Inc., has permission to use this art! And I’m going to start including specific copyright information with the art I create in the future.

I hope our tattooed friend made a nice donation :)