I stumbled upon this great animal pop artist, Dean Russo, on Facebook. Not only is his work incredible but the messages that he adds are just so on the mark. This piece, ” In a perfect world every dog has a home,” is such a wonderful battle cry. When I contacted DeanRussoArt, Megan told me that “amongst other ways he contributes to animal charities, Dean has a program of Affiliate Rescues that he closely works with and contributes to on a monthly basis since he has way too many requests to take on all of them.” Check out his colorful creativity and brilliant imagination.
Did you know that according to Angie’s List (Baltimore Edition August 2012), “5 million companion animals enter animal control facilities nationwide every year, and more than 60 percent die there.” At times, it seems like such an overwhelming problem, but I know that so many people and organizations are doing such good work to try and stop the tidal wave.
What do we do about the homeless, the abandoned, the abused? What can we do about the millions of dogs that are not properly taken care of, both pure breed and inter breed, that end up without someone loving them? This breaks my heart.
I guess you can see why the DogDaz zoo has 5 cats and 2 dogs currently (down from our high of 11 animals). I want to thank all the animal rescue organizations out there, all you tireless protectors, and voices for the voiceless. Thank you MJ’s Sanctuary for Louise, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue for Sofie, Last Chance Animals Rescue through the PetSmart Charities for Noel, Constance Kitty, Nine, and Stella, and thank you to the Anne Arundel County SPCA for The Muffin Man.
I wish I could snap my fingers and give every animal a home (actually I wish I could do that for humans too) Please remember that even $1 makes a difference. Really, it does. Ok, I will get off my soup box now. See what a picture like that can do to me.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: adoption, Animal, animal awareness, Animal rights, Animal welfare, Dean Russo Art, dog, DogDaz, Pet, pets, postaday, Rescues and Shelters, shelter dog
It has been so hot here in the Mid-Atlantic. The truth is it is not so much the heat as the humidity. The dogs and I try to go for a walk early in the day so as not to be out in the worst part of the heat, but that is not always possible because of my work schedule. 
We were lucky enough to be passing Louise’s bff Amy’s house around noon and she invited us to jump in her dog pool. Aren’t we lucky dogs! Sofie absolutely loves to lie in the water all the way to her head. She is like an alligator. Louise won’t lie down in it much but she sure likes to splash. They had a super time and it really helped them cool off.
My only trouble was when the three of them start to rough-house. I think I have told you before that Louise has been chewing on Amy’s ears since they were puppy’s together (they met when they were 5/6 months). I am not sure what that is about, but she always goes for her ears, like she is going to pierce them for her. Sofie tries to join in and it kind of seems like a gang up, but it is not. So the three of them come running to the pool at full speed and smash right into my knee, at which point, I hear it go….. ‘poop!’ I am Ok, but it knocked the wind out of me for a few minutes and I limped home. Nothing like 180 lbs of dog ( 70 lb (Amy) + 60 lb (Lulu) + 50 lb (Sofie)) sideswiping me at the same time. I wish Amy had a hot-tub instead of a dog pool. Wouldn’t that feel nice on a sore knee? (Well, maybe not in the summer heat.) Oh, and an added bonus was that Amy’s Mother rinsed them off with the hose before we left, so they were partially dry by the time we got home and didn’t smell terribly like ‘wet-dog.’ How wonderful is that!
A fun time was had by all – even me. They really do love when they see Amy. And I love when they spend 30 minutes in hard dog play and then sleep well for the rest of the hot day.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animals, dog, dog pools, DogDaz, Pet, pets, postaday
Have you ever sat there and looked at your child, or your lover, and just had this kind of stare that is just made up of pure love. You know that look; the one that says, no matter what happens at any other point in time, this point is perfect, and you are just the being that I want to be near. This is the look that I have for my daughter when she is just looking a certain way or doing something, that makes me feel warm and fuzzy and mommyish inside. That unconditional, no matter what, love and adoration. Well, that is how Louise and Sofie have been looking at me since I got home. I can not go anywhere without them of course attached to my side. But the looks… the I must be in your presence, you are the center of my being, kind of looks. Now, I really do not feel that I deserve this undying devotion. Come on, dogs, I just left you for 10 days, why aren’t you mad at me or something? Instead, they just want to kiss me and snuggle, and rub deep against me. There is so much that is said in a look. I think that is why the virtual world craves pictures so much. People really want to ‘look’ at things. They want to see the form and the movement. Even though we may be disconnected in space and time, beings want to look at each other. Ok, I know that people that do not have sight may not have this concept, but I bet (I don’t have anyone I can ask so I am guessing), that they have, in their own unsighted way, ‘the look’ that I am talking about. Come to think of it, Squash E Bear, when totally blind, used to tilt his head to me in that kind of ‘I love you and will follow you anywhere forever’ look. Look back at this picture of me, Lulu, and Squash and see if you don’t agree? I find it incredible that the animals can sit and stare at me that way. Noel does it too, but not Muffy, Kitty, or the others. Is it love? Is it obedience? Do animals look at each other that way? Do they stare at their young the way that I do mine? Sometimes, I guess I stare at the animals that way too. Like when I took this picture of Louise yesterday. She is watching Sofie on the other side of the deck with a rope toy. I was struck by her musculature, her calmness, and her beauty. I probably had ‘the look’ in my eyes when I took the shot. I guess maybe next time I will turn the camera around and see.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animal awareness, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, looks, love, nature, Pet, pets, postaday
Noel In Charge
The trouble with leaving Noel in charge of the zoo while I was gone, is that she actually took it very seriously. Here you see her taking over the dog bed in my office and forcing poor Louise to sleep on the floor. That is the trouble with animals of different species. They seem to boss each other around in funny ways. What I found really cute is that Louise actually listened to her and vacated the bed. Maybe it is an age before beauty thing; Lulu being the younger animal of course. I think that in my absence Noel was forced to deal with situations that she did not prefer; like having to be with people other than Mommy and actually being with the rest of the herd/pride. I noticed that she has been out more the last couple of days since I have been home. She was investigating ‘Syd,’ the platypus that I brought home from the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, for Peanut. Funny what happens to certain animals when you give then a sense of responsibility.
Maybe Noel will start being more social with the other animals now that she has been in the leadership role. I doubt it though. I do find it interesting that the dogs allowed Noel to be in their bed when they do not allow any other cats to even come close. They are really possessive about their spots usually. I have seen Sofie get extremely upset at Nine for trying to enter her kennel (she probably was protecting her lovey, Beaver, who was sleeping inside). The dynamics of my pack/pride are very interesting. When you change one thing, take out a member or add a member, even for a short time, the relationships seem to shift. Sometimes they come back to where they started, and sometimes, they don’t. I really hope the dogs don’t start standing on my desk and sleeping in Noel’s bed under the window. I don’t think I could deal with that.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animal awareness, animals, australia, Cat, Cat People, cats, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, nature, Pet, pets, postaday, Sydney, Taronga Zoo
It appears that some of my humans were upset by my closing remarks on the MommyLag blog piece yesterday, where I commented about how long it would be before they take me for granted. Now, you know that is not what I meant. I was talking about how quickly things get back to normal with the humans after you return from being away. Coming home to the humans gives you like 15 minutes of fame. You come home and you go out to dinner to celebrate your return and then it is, “Hi, we missed you… now can we get back to our normal routine.” What I was trying to say is that with the dogs, I think that takes longer. It is not that I think my family takes me for granted, that is not what I was meaning to say. But now that it has been brought to my attention, I guess it was a bad choice of words on my part. My apologies family. You did a great job while I was gone with taking care of yourselves and the zoo. Thank you. It is never my intention in my blog, or in my life, to offend or hurt anyone in any way, especially my family. I write the blog because I feel that it helps me look deeper into my life, spirit, and motivations and gives me a chance to better understand myself in relation to my world, especially my world with my animals. I have many blog followers and have made many new virtual friends in the 9 months that I have been blogging and for that I am very grateful. I try to speak from my heart and write honestly and carefully, but I know that sometimes, things I might say may offend or otherwise displease someone. If I do, I am sorry. Thank you for reading and for following me and the zoo: I do not and never will take that for granted. – DogDaz
Tags: choice of words, DogDaz, MommyLag, postaday
Here is a sequence of Sofie and Nine watching me drive away. (How sad is that?) You can see the reflection of the car in the front door glass. This was the image I was left with on my way to the airport. Two of my goofballs snuggling and watching me go. Notice how Sofie is straining to see me over Nine in the last shot. It is so wonderful how close the animals are. Sofie had no idea that Mommy would be gone a long time. She just knew that I was leaving the house and getting into the moving thing without her. I have talked about separation before, but this trip was a really hard one for me and for the animals and humans. Probably because of the length of time (10 days). For me, my animals are a calming and life enhancing force. I miss my humans very much too, don’t get me wrong. I need my humans as a constant sustainable energy of love and comfort, but the animals, my need for their presence is different. They give me a sense of peace. They are my home. They are the earth force that seems to remind me to eat and take walks during the day. Having so many animals, there is always someone near by wanting something; pet me, feed me, let me out, walk me, play with me, scratch my head, hold me …. I adore my zoo. I find great comfort in the company of animals. So, this is what leaving looks like at the zoo. What’s it like at your house?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animals, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, leaving, Pet, pets, postaday
Welcome Home Mom Attack
Lulu won’t let anyone near me! “My Mommy!” she growls.
My understanding is that both the humans and the animals were losing their minds by the 5th day I was gone. The animals were being so annoying they just wanted someone, anyone, to pay attention to them. I heard that Sofie actually started hitting Louise in the head to get her to play. While I was gone my daughter took some pictures, so I will have to see them to understand some of the antics. I did Skype with Muffin and Nine but they were not very talkative; the dogs were at daycare, so I missed them on the call. The report was that the dogs actually did sleep until like 8 AM which never happens when I am home (very interesting). Like JetLag (which takes a major toll on your circadian rhythm especially when you were 14 hours ahead and now you have to come back), MommyLag is similar. It takes time for everything to return to ‘normal.’ Right now both humans and animals want to be near me a lot more than usual. Sofie won’t let me out of her sight. Lulu wants to crawl inside me and keeps one paw on me at all times. I’ve read that JetLag takes one day for every hour you need to readjust, I wonder how much time it takes for MommyLag? I am sure the humans will be back to taking me for granted way before the furballs do. Nice to be home.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: animal awareness, animals, Circadian rhythm, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, JetLag, Pet, pets, postaday
Tags: Animal, animals, Cat, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, funny dogs, Pet, pets, postaday, Puppies
Many times I wonder what the animals are really doing while I am gone. I have thought about installing one of those spy cameras, like the kind you use to check up on your human child’s babysitter to see if they are really taking them out to the park or letting them sit in front of the ‘idiot box’ TV all day. But, then I realize that might be, well, a little obsessive. Basically, I think that Louise sleeps for most of the time. Sofie, on the other hand, may try to sleep, but the cats tend to set her up to get in trouble. For example, the cats get on my desk and throw stick pens down to Sofie. Of course Sofie can not help herself and chews through the plastic until it is unrecognizable. This kind of trouble is not only dangerous for Sofie but is messy. One time, about 23 years ago, I had left Nikki dog (who was about 3) and the then kittens, Alice and Gertrude, alone all day while I was at work. I had obviously lost my mind because I left a full try of just baked brownies on the counter to cool and went to work outside the house all day. Well, when I got home, not only were the brownies and the glass baking dish on the floor, but there was one very crazy puppy running circles around the house. Now I know the only way that a little Cocker Spaniel got that heavy baking dish was with the creative pushing of it off the counter by 2 little kitties. It was not funny at the time. On second thought, maybe I should install that camera…..
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animal awareness, Animal welfare, animals, Cocker Spaniel, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, Dogs, Pet, pets, postaday
I stumbled upon this great animal pop artist, Dean Russo, on Facebook. Not only is his work incredible but the messages that he adds are just so on the mark. This piece, ” In a perfect world every dog has a home,” is such a wonderful battle cry. When I contacted DeanRussoArt, Megan told me that “amongst other ways he contributes to animal charities, Dean has a program of Affiliate Rescues that he closely works with and contributes to on a monthly basis since he has way too many requests to take on all of them.” Check out his colorful creativity and brilliant imagination.
DogDaz Zoo 