ev0lutionary: An unidentified species of Pipefish, off the coast of New Caledonia.
(photo by Autopsea)
Thursday’s Unidentified Species
7.18.12 A Glorious Afternoon
To sit with a dog on a hillside,
on a glorious afternoon,
is to be back in Eden,
where doing nothing was not boring-
it was peace.
– Milan Kundera.
Peanut made me this little picture and quote 3 summers ago, when Squash was in his last summer and Louise in her first. Squashy was totally blind by then and sat wherever I placed him (hence why he is backwards). He had his summer scissor cut. This is such a true statement. There seems to be no greater peace sometimes but to be out in nature, quiet, and serene.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tuesday’s Manta
A Manta Ray, Manta birostris, opens its mouth wide to engulf zooplankton and other tidbits in the water. The dark marks visible inside the mouth are its gill slits. Manta rays, which are filter feeders and have vestigial teeth, often appear to be curious about human divers. WHOI biologist Simon Thorrold photographed the ray while studying fish on and around coral reefs in the Red Sea in May, 2010, as part of WHOI’s research collaboration with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
(via: NSF Science 360)
(photo: Simon Thorrold, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
7.17.12 Nikki and Peanut
This was Nikki; my absolutely gorgeous buff Cocker Spaniel, after my daughter, who was about 7 years old at the time, did her hair. That dog would allow Peanut to do anything to her. Nikki (D&L’s Nikkolette) was actually my first child. She was the first dog that I raised from an 8 week old puppy to the good age of 18 years. In her puppy days I lived in an apartment and had to carry the little thing down 2 flights of stairs several times a night. I was younger then. Her crate was at the foot of my bed and the little thing would cry and wake me up, and half asleep, I would stumble down the stairs so that she could relieve herself. I worked really hard training Nikki. She and I went to many training classes and even had a private trainer. I did not have much understanding of what I was doing, or suppose to be doing, with a dog in those days, and she was so easy. Then, when she was about 3, I gave birth to Peanut. Nikki loved the baby so much. I remember introducing the animals (in those days it was Nikki dog and the cats, Alice and Gertrude) to the bassinet, even before I went to the hospital, and letting them sniff new smells before the baby came home. I love to watch the interaction between children and animals. Children and animals, for me, they are just perfect together.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
7.16.12 Can Dogs Skype?
I only just got home from the family vacation last weekend and Friday I have to hop a plane to Australia for 10 days which I think really impacts the animals . (I like going to Australia but I don’t think the family or the zoo likes me that far away (1/2 way around the world).) The dogs were crazy when they saw me after 6 days of them being at Sonya’s house (they do not have any concept of where I was except not with them and that they were not home, so explaining vacation would be futile). They are very used to being with me all day since I work from home. When I travel for work, they are still home, and all they know is that the alpha ‘feeder, walker, cuddler’ is not with them for X amount of cycles (day/night). They are stuck with the beta ‘feeder, go out in the yard, yell at us for barking to much’ humans when Mommy is gone. So in these 4 days before I leave again I better pack in lots of walks and cuddles and play time. This should hold me, but will it hold them? I wonder what the dogs or cats would think if they saw me over Skype? Could they even see that it was me without my smell? I think they would recognize the voice. Would it only frustrate them because they could not physically be near me? I know they respond to an occassional bark on the TV, but do they see the images? The cats definitely see the stuff on my computer monitor, because they swat at things that move and chase them,
Well after this trip they will get me for a whole 4 weeks before I leave again. I never worried much about this with other dogs, but Lulu and Sofie are very clingy (they are still babies – 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 years old). Maybe I will bring them back a Joey (baby kangaroo) that they can play with?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
7.15.12 Animal Addiction
When I am away from home, I miss my goofy furry companions. I travel often for business, but it is very rare that I take vacation, and even rarer that the animals are somewhere other than their home. I set it up so that they are all well taken care of, but when I am not with them, it is as if I am missing something. Now I know that must sound crazy. I don’t miss them in the same way that I miss my humans, but I do miss them. I think about them and I talk about them. I think I am addicted to them. Is there such a thing?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Sunday’s Funny
PETA UK says … Happy Birthday, Paul. Thanks for loving us, not eating us!
DogDaz Zoo 