Dog Funnies

Don't worry, Friday is coming!

Adopt Senior Animals

Kitty IQ Gone to the Dogs

This cool photo found on Rants and Giggles on Facebook

Don't Fret - Our Animals Stay With Us

Because Love is the greatest power in heaven or on earth.

One of my subscribers who is also a good friend of mine from our days at the Zoo AND a fellow blogger (please visit her cool blog A Life of Whimsey) wrote this on her Facebook page and I was struck by it... and thought I needed to share it here. I asked her to send a picture of what prompted it and she sent me the below.

 Being human seems to be the most wonderful with a dog sleeping in your lap.

Waaw....

Animal Holiday Cheer - Times Ten!

Well, if you want to grin, and have that grow bigger and BIGGER into a huge SMILE, showing ALL your teeth, then turn into a chuckle to boot, press PLAY. This is sure to cheer you up. The fish, parrot, turtles, the ferret, the shark and a few of the dogs and cats -- their voices, the little pranks that creep into this will make anyone who is the least bit stressed or blue cheer up INSTANTLY!!!

PRESS PLAY - AND SHARE THIS LINK ON YOUR WALL to pass all that goodness along.



***There is a second of a squirrel***

Seeing Dalmation Spots

I have no words... Even the SOCKS match!

Heartwarming video

I wish I could embed this for you but it's from the National Geographic site. It's the story of some folks who are animal keepers of some kind in some far off land, because they have an elephant and an orangutan around... a hungry dog wanders in and becomes best friends with the orang, who shares her food with the dog and hugs him and holds onto him. This is one to share with kids or to watch if you need a heartwarming lift. I'd put this in the category of MUST SEE so please click!

http://5thworld.com/Paradigm/Postings/!Wisdom/OrangutanAndHound.html

PS: I want these people's lives!

Joy

Well, I can't seem to embed this video but it's a must see. A black lab playing with a young deer. Watched it twice myself. Here's the link at least:

http://www.wimp.com/oneball/

It reminds me of another video I put up on a prior post of an elk playing in the middle of the forest in a little pond probably made by a recent rain. This one splashed and danced around, took a break and did it again. It is just the most magical moment that someone (I assume with a camera mounted on a tree) happened to catch. Please check it out if you have a moment.

Love and protect ALL animals, please.

More Dogs

Picture of the Day

I was going in to the grocery store the other day and saw this utterly sweet doggie dozing outside. It had the most peaceful, lovely face. I only had my iPhone with me (no zoom) and I didn't want to get too much closer to get the shot for fear of him or her moving, so I snapped what I could. If you click on it, maybe it will enlarge enough to see what I mean. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Dogs are just such special beings. They wait for you, they are so patient, they love love love you and no matter what, that tail will start wagging.
Anybody know what kind of dog this is?

Good Doggie!

I walked out of the Kroger the other night and as I approached my car, I saw this:

I think dogs can be hilarious in so many ways. But this one was rather unique in that in waiting for his master....

he took a chill pill.

Yeah!
It would have been no surprise to me if Jazz music was playing from the radio and there was a thin line of cigarette smoke rising out of his nostrils.
Dogs are so great.

Prepare to Melt

Or should I have titled this "Prepare to Replay"?

Because that is what you are going to want to do with this video. It beings new meaning to the term short, but oh so very very sweet.

Early in November, someone found a young, little white dog wandering around terribly matted and very very pregnant. It was brought to the SPCA but one of the soft-hearted women who runs The Center spotted her and decided to bring her over where we are. Since it's slow season (baby squirrel time was just about over and baby opossum and bird time is a long way off), we could keep an eye on her -- while giving her tons of love and affection, which I have to say she soaked right up without hesitation.

The dog was cleaned and all that horrible fur was cut away. She seemed so grateful to be somewhere warm and safe, with plenty of food and love. She looked at everyone with huge saucer eyes -- a candidate for those collectible figurines you find in the back of magazines.

We thought she was going to have those puppies day one, but two weeks later she was still trotting around, quite content, demanding our constant attention. Just around Thanksgiving she put forth her own bounty in the form of 5 tiny puppies... most were all white and either one or two had a little caramel coloring. When I came in today they were nursing and had their eyes open. I had to scrape myself off the floor. I'd lost consciousness due to cuteness overload.

After doing some work I came back to where the little play pen with the babies were. I heard a little lapping --quite distinct from nursing sounds -- and spotted the caramel one tentatively licking at some real food. I whipped out my camera and caught a moment of it.



OMaGeeeeee! LOOK AT THAT FACE!!!

You replayed it, right?

Lil' Sweetie's Chinny Chin Chin

One of the few squirrels I actually named was a female Gray. You don't want to think of the wildlife you are rehabbing as pets, or get too attached as you are returning them to the wild as soon as you can get them well and big enough.

But this one got a name kind of by accident.

She was so delicate and feminine. Instead of the usual rambunctious scrambling that happens when it's feeding time with squirrels, she'd settle into my hand to eat. When I needed to refill the syringe with milk, instead of the usual panic that food seems to be going away and the frantic hunting all around as I try to reintroduce the nipple that's standard behavior, she'd stay in my palm and calmly accept the next course. The little pumping motion they make with their paws was extra cute because she pushed very gently with the pads of her paws, her long, thin little fingers held up like a little lady with a new manicure. I found myself calling her Lil' Sweetie and it stuck.

Here she is as a weenie little babe.

THAT is a lil sweetie if I've ever seen one... don't you agree?

There was something else that was special about her. If I scratched her on her neck, she'd pull her shoulder back and lift her chin at an angle to get the most out of it. It is too hard to get movies of much of the adorable things baby squirrels do. I have only two hands and they are very active... and when they are sleeping, you have to snap quick, since they jump in their sleep and move 360 degrees at the slightest sound. Not to mention shooting through the glass of their tank, etc.... so I figured I'd never record this phenomenon.

But this was so much a part of Lil' Sweetie that to my surprise she even did it when deeply asleep. Here I was just filming her and went to give her a little love and... well, see for yourself.

BTW, squirrels jump and startle in their sleep like she did when I petted her paw whether you are touching them or not. I have no idea how they get any rest. They must have wired up little nervous systems that later account for the antics that amuse us when we watch them scurrying around trees or leaping from branch to branch.

I've since had a few who like their chins scratched... though it usually sets into motion an automatic scratching motion with their back leg. Don't dogs do that?

One last picture of her sleeping. I just love their little paws. When they put them on your hands, it feels just like a human hand... cat paws are more fur than skin and dogs paw pads can be a little rough, so when a squirrel puts it's little hand on you, it is always a big of a shock to feel the soft and warm skin against yours.

Stop back for more of Lil' Sweetie... !

Getting Your Omega-3's

There we were on Martha's Vineyard, sauntering around the docks in Edgartown. It was near dusk. Private boats were coming in from the day out, and we saw a guy gutting the daily catch off the back end. I'd never seen such a thing, but then I don't fish much. And in New England, I'm quite sure it's quite common.

I'm not sure if it's official, but certainly the mascot dog of the island is the black lab, made famous by the Black Dog cafes and shops that dot the tiny map. So it was no surprise to see this one standing dutifully beside these guys, having a good dog day. To me, any day in the Vineyard is a good one, dog or otherwise.

What caught my imagination was how, little by little, the dog grew more intent on the guy cutting the fish. He edged closer -- and closer still -- while all the people were distracted by the knife and this guy's technique.

The process was mesmerizing. One after another, said guy pulled out what I could only guess were cod, catfish and bass and deftly sliced each's belly. Within a few strokes, and no apparent show of blood, he'd have filleted the entire thing, tossing some goo into the water in between. Scales were gone, bones were lifted clean from the flesh and voila! someone had their succulent dinner ready to dress and grill. I could barely see it happen --the entire process took less than a minute. But SOMEBODY certainly saw it all .... Click on this pic (to enlarge it) and take a good look at that dog's face!

I guess that black dog knew somethin' I didn't because he got tossed some nice juicy chunks, wolfed it down and was lazer-fixated on "more" the way only a dog can. My camera never quite captured the exact moment of the snatch. But I got something here... think he's mid-gulp.

Here's a closer crop, but it might not be close enough to see on Blogger, unless you click the picture to enlarge it.

Dogs. Love 'em!

The Great White One

When I lived in Greenwich Village in New York City, there was a great big white dog that I would see on a side street, maybe 4th and 11th, sitting on the top stair of a brownstone, on a leash that was connected to the doorknob INSIDE.

There he could enjoy the breeze and watch the people go by, but would not get away. A good solution for a large and gentle dog. Apartments are small for the most part in the village, and it can be hard on large dogs. And backyards are few, so here he was. And he became a mascot in my mind.

So on my last visit in June, I was sitting in Le Pain Quotidien on Hudson and I saw him! I leapt out of my seat and ran out to get a picture for my own sake. He's got to be seen to be appreciated. A happy face, no? And somehow he manages to stay snow white in this city. A very special dog indeed (possibly a very special groomer too).


And a second snap of him in all his largeness (pls. Click on the pic to enlarge). He's just about the size of those bicycles behind him, but this angle doesn't do his stature justice.

It was cool this day, but I remember seeing him on sweltering days and thought, "How does he handle the heat with all that hair?"And so, it was time to say so long to my very furry friend, for now at least. I'm so glad I caught him on film... otherwise he'd just be a memory. .

I have no idea as to his breed and have been looking on the internet to no avail. It's probably just easier to ask you -- do you know what he is?