Back to your regularly scheduled program

But first, an update on Miracle, who is truly living up to his name. He's standing on his own and eating 12-14 cups of food a day. He's still got a ways to go, but his chances are improving every day! He's gone from looking like a zombie dog to the poster child for neglect, but it's a big step in the right direction. Miracle first arrived at 33lbs and now, with proper hydration and feeding, he's up to 50lbs and walking under his own steam to go outside to potty!

If you can spare a few minutes and a few dollars, please head over to IDR+ and make a donation. The bill for a recovery like this isn't going to be small and like all rescues, any little bit makes a big difference!

Now on to slightly less dramatic happenings...

I've been participating in a group called "52 Weeks of Chazhound", where there is a different photo theme each week. It'll be interesting to see how the year pans out. 

Week Two's theme was "Black and White"

 

The other week, before dawn had even hit the snooze button for the first time, Engineer Boyfriend, Sawyer and I piled into a rented van provided by  C.A.R.E  and headed from Denver to Hays, KS to both drop off a gorgeous Dane boy who was going to his new home and to pick up a load of dogs that were going to be going to various rescues around Colorado to await their new homes. The Dane was too big to fit into any of the crates we already had loaded, so he rode loose. Once he accepted that Sawyer was NOT a pillow for his comfort, all was well and he spent most of the ride asleep.

Apparently I am a pillow for his comfort.

We made it to Hays just fine, forgot about the time change just long enough to order food from Applebee's, scrambled to get it To Go instead of sitting down for the leisurely lunch we had planned and hit up the rendezvous point to get the dog. It took about an hour to get everyone pottied and loaded (with some bits of french fry bribery) and headed back to Denver with 21 dogs and 5 cats. I wasn't able to get any pictures of the dogs because we were on such a tight schedule. Just imagine a whole lot of Goldens/mixes, some lab puppies, two bostons, a cocker spaniel, two akitas and two Newfie puppies.

Sawyer kept a close eye on the kitties when we stopped for fuel. They were pissed about having to ride with 21 dogs.

Surprisingly, the ride west remained much quieter than I would have thought, as long as we kept the speed up. Jake the Golden would bark his head off anytime we dropped below 65 mph, but that was about it. Kansas tends to get a bad rap about being boring, what with the whole "no mountains" thing going for it (ostentatious, much, Colorado?), but I will submit the follow photo for your consideration. 

Exhibit A--just outside of Colby, KS

Kansas does know how to do sunsets. This is SOOC. I have the whole slew of these on my Flickr if you want to see just how colorful the Plains can get.

So remember that shark Sawyer got from his Secret Santa for Christmas? The love affair hasn't ended, nay, it's gotten stronger. 

Dun DUN...dun DUN...dunDUNdunDUNdundundun (psst, that's the "Jaws" theme)...

SNOW SHARK!!

"Dude, are you ok?"

 "I don't think he's ok."

 "Put me down! Auuuuugh!"

"Now I know how the surfers feel..."

"Fish are friends, not food! Fish are FRIENDS, NOT FOOD!"

 

Sharky is a little melodramatic at times. I think it's because he's resentful of being landlocked and an amputee. 

Ok, to apologize for my earlier crack on Colorado, I offer up this photo for your viewing pleasure.

Exhibit B--Buena Vista, CO

 

 Depending on where you want to go, you can hit up some good inner mountain action in about an hour. We decided to go the scenic route for about 2 1/2 hours to get to one of EB's friend's grandparent's cabin. Enough possessives for you? Anyway, tourists and natives alike love this state because Colorado has ostentatious stunning scenery, schizophrenic weather and lots of roaming wildlife. Except for Hank. Hank's roaming days are long gone. 

 "Heyyy you guuuuuuys!"

We were there for about two hours before Sawyer looked up and had a very classic WTF moment. 

"Wha..where's the rest of you??"

"Are you a zombie?"

"OMG it's a zombie! Alert! Alert!"

He eventually calmed down, mostly because he figured that if we were literally on the ground because we were laughing so hard, the zombie elk couldn't be too dangerous. He did keep looking up suspiciously for about another hour afterwards though, then Teva got him to wrestle with her and he forgot all about Hank.

Oh yeah, Sawyer has a girlfriend now. Teva the Golden. Teva is the stereotypical blonde--super sweet, not all there in the craniological department. 

"Yay! I haz a stick! It's my favorite!"

 

 Sawyer has attempted to come up with ways to enlighten Teva to the joys of higher thinking.

 

"Hmm, that didn't work."

H

 

 "And I go car-ay-zeeeee!"

 Teva's obliviousness doesn't extend to inappropriate biting.

 "Vogue."

There was a rather full moon, no clouds and enough snow on the ground for good reflective light, so I decided to drag along my tripod and play around with some long exposures.

 

 I'm rather happy with the results. 

Can you pick out Orion?

 

 I can't wait to play around a little more with this, especially when there isn't as much moonlight. The Milky Way is nearly tangible up this high and gets even better a few thousand feet up. So stay tuned!

Do What You Love

I've been following Pacing the Panic Room for awhile, just in awe of his style and editing capabilities. His "Walk To 40 Weeks" series just brings a smile to my face each time I go back to look at it; the emotions just pour through the lens in a way not everyone can honestly capture. I don't really photograph people much, though I started to branch out a bit this summer at the stables. Something about cowboy hats automatically turns most photos into something a lot more interesting. Anyway, he's been doing a rather inspiring series lately called "Do What You Love". That, combined with (finally) finding and reading the entire webcomic series of Jeph Jaques' Questionable Content, who is constantly thanking his readers for allowing him to be a full-time artist, working on something he loves, it's gotten me to thinking. How many people out there are truly doing what they love?

I consider myself pretty lucky to be doing what I love. Being a consultant for Passion Parties (R) has been probably the most unexpectedly rewarding things I've found myself involved with yet. I'm not just a "sex toy" lady, as the stereotype goes. Instead, I've gotten involved with a company and product line that addresses a few rather basic, and key, areas of essentially everyone's life: sex and money. The most common reason relationships (married or otherwise) tend to devolve isn't due to a lack of love in many (most) cases, it's boredom. I give tips and tricks on how to bring that spark back, even if it's just on how to restart the conversations between you and your partner. With every party that I do, with every product that I sell, I'm helping that person in at least one way. You'd be amazed at what regular satisfaction can do for a person's psyche, self-esteem, health, etc. There's also the money aspect of it for those who have chosen to become a part of the team, whether it's mine or someone elses. In these times, even just a little bit of extra cash can go a long ways towards keeping down the stress levels. And hey, there's nothing wrong with being able to honestly write off a trip to Vegas as a business expense, right? Right. Viva Conventions!

Yes, that was as shameless business promotion. Lawl.

Not to mention, being a consultant has given me the scheduling flexibility I need to really get involved with what I love: Dogs. Rescue. Photography. A combination of all three. I've been doing some fundraising photoshoots over the last few weeks in addition to helping out with transports where I can. I've been learning a lot as far as some technical stuff goes, such as "work with familiar lenses and never try to shoot in an art gallery that strives for a warm feeling." Having wood floors that are the same hue as the walls and a black ceiling wreaks utter havoc on lighting and dogs don't hold still long enough to be able to work with a low shutter speed. I also don't have a fancy enough camera at the moment to be able to jack up the ISO to compensate without introducing some noise, but I managed ok. I very much prefer to work outside.

 There were a few rouge Brussels Griffon in attendance as well, both loving owned and those hoping for a new home.

The end result is good, however: about $700 was raised for Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue and Front Range German Shepherd Rescue !

Yesterday I was the resident photographer for the joint meetup between the Littleton Pug and Boston Terrier groups; Mid America Boston Terrier Rescue and Colorado Pug Rescue were also there with some of their kids needing homes.

Like this adorable gal...

Dozer and his chariot of fire

CPR tied little ribbons around their dogs, so they were rather easy to spot. MABTR was a little more difficult to pick out who was there with their foster parent and who was there just to tear it up. One thing about Bostons, they make the most excellent derp faces.

"Herp derp!"

I just like how the guy on the left is like "C'mon, really, dude?"

And of course, there was a random smattering of other random small dogs. Like the ever adorable French Bulldog, Beignet, and her fellow posse. You may recognize Beignet if you've seen my portfolio.

Most of these guys were born deaf and usually amble around wearing a little cowbell so their owner can keep track of them. She had the most adorable addition this time, another little Frenchie pup, whom she took back from a Boston Terrier show breeder after the lady complained that the Frenchie "didn't act like her Bostons."

I'll give you a second to let that sink in, or the screams die down, which ever.

People like that make me want to commit some sort of criminal offense for a number of reasons. A) There are enough dogs in rescue for stupid, preventable reasons ("I just got this 50lb dog two days ago and found out that my landlord only allows dogs up to 25lbs. And I'm moving.").

B) It's getting hard enough for the good, legit, responsible breeders--and they DO exist--to continue doing what they love and pour their heart, soul and savings account into, without help from jerkoffs like the above.

C) Is it really so hard to do a little research before getting a new dog? I mean, REALLY? Just because a breed is in the same weight range and has a similar body type, doesn't mean the personalities are going to be alike.

In general, just do some legwork before getting a dog. Herding dogs are going to run around and bark. Retrievers are going to chew and shed. Danes are going to grow to be the size of small ponies. Five seconds of Googling could save everyone a lot of time, trouble and money.

Ok, rant over paused. I could go on for quite some time about the utterly stupid things I've seen and heard and I'm not even on the hardcore front lines of rescue/shelter work. So instead, because it is 1am and I have a rather business-y day ahead of me tomorrow (hooray for creating customer mailing lists!), I will leave you with the picture of a very happy Aussie and his early Christmas haul, courtesy of a very special--and not so secret--Santa type person.

 He's already demolished half a bully stick and has decided the shark is his new favorite.