PUPSblog

R.I.P. 2

2011-08-08T23:56:00.002-04:00

So many amazing dogs have passed away recently.

Any viewer of this blog can see the evidence of all the time we've spent with "the Golden Girls", a group of four dogs. Sadly, in the past few weeks they've gone down to 2 dogs. Both Princess and Slim have died after fairly quick declines in their health.

Slim (or Bimmy) (or Bimmy-Slimmy-Slim-Slim) was rescued shortly after I started taking care of the "girls" a few years back- maybe 4 or 5 years ago? The girls and their dad found her tied to a tree at Bartram's Garden, emaciated and scared. Watching her progress over the next few months was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. At first she didn't understand what people were for, besides feeding, and of course she could never eat as much as she wanted, since her system was not used to food. Seeing her figure out how to be a pet by watching and getting to know the other 3 dogs was inspiring. Within a few weeks she grew to like human affection and learned how to play with the other dogs, and sometimes with toys. Eventually she gained so much weight that her name seemed like a joke, and she had to be put on a diet. This photo is from her more rotund days.Slimmy had one of the funniest barks I've ever heard, too. It's hard to describe the sound, but when she was excited or upset about being left, she'd run in circles with her head up in the air and her giant mouth constantly moving, so she looked like a shark! Thus her sometimes nickname of Shark-dog. I wish I had video of that!
Princess was the oldest of the bunch, around 12 by most estimates. She'd been pretty slow for a while now, but even when her vet said she had the worst case of arthritis they'd ever seen, she still seemed like a happy dog. She would still "run" towards the tennis ball, though she wouldn't be able to catch it. But she seemed to enjoy just going after it. I took her to her aquatic therapy at Whole Animal Gym in South Philly a few times in her last months, which really seemed to help her mobility. Out of respect, I did not take a picture of her "swimming outfit:" an orange life jacket and a diaper with cartoon monkeys on it. But it was really funny.

I'll just post this one picture of her, since I know there are already a ton of her (and Slim) on this blog!

Maggie was a sweet old German Shepherd that I met years ago in Clark Park. My old friend Mingus (my first client!) was quite fond of her. Rumor has it she was the queen of fetch in her youth, but when I knew her well, she was just a sweet, slow, kind dog with impressively large ears! I'm glad a friend hired me to draw her portrait this winter:

Here she is again. I know a lot of people who miss her a lot.

I think that's everyone. So many of my favorite dogs. I'm so so lucky to have known all these brilliant creatures. But my heart hurts right now.

Maggie, Princess, Slim, Bee Bee, and Alice: I love you forever. I meant it every time I said it.

R.I.P.

2011-08-08T22:14:00.005-04:00

Rest In Peace, friends.

Sadly, we have lost so many amazing dogs in the past few months. My heart breaks a little each time, and this past week I thought maybe I shouldn't even get to know dogs anymore- it hurts so bad when they die.

But I know I can't stop, so I need to honor each of these amazing dogs as best I can.

Bee Bee was a Pomeranian. When I first met him, I felt like he hated me. He bit me several times, but fortunately he was already so old that his bark really was worse than his bite! He had severe back problems, so his biting was probably an attempt to protect himself from pain. After maybe ten visits, he finally got used to me and allowed me to put his leash on without protective gloves! After a couple years, he warmed up to me to the point that he would let me pet him any time, and often he'd try to cuddle up to me when I sat on the floor. I grew to love him very much, though he was the slowest dog to walk!

What a sweetie:

Alice also passed away this summer. I'm so glad I had a chance to spend time with her a few weeks before she died. She and her little beagle sister Deedee were the closest friends I've ever seen. They would wrestle in bed for hours! Alice was very smart and loyal, and almost never needed a leash.

I'll miss her tons. So will my Maxxie, with whom she and Deedee spent many days running in the woods. Check out a close-up of Alice's amazing underbite!
One more of Alice, contemplating the wonders of nature:
R.I.P. 2 in my next post...

Awww...

2011-08-08T22:09:00.004-04:00

Sonrisa was kind enough to take some photos of me at Chester Ave. Dog Park with Radar and Jack last week. We needed some hi-res images of me looking like a professional dog walker for a story about me in my college's alumni magazine. (I'll be sure to link to it here when it's out!)

There's a few really good ones, two of which you can currently see over on Puppyuprising.com, and while this one is goofy and a little blurry, I love it. Look at Radar's sweet face!

Scully!

2011-06-21T10:41:00.000-04:00

Scully is a rad cat. Here she is being well-lit.

New Greyhound friends!

2011-06-21T10:27:00.002-04:00

Our newest doggy friends, Cairo and Lhasa! Greyhounds are SO COOL.

Milo!

2011-04-23T23:57:00.000-04:00

Nemo

2011-04-23T23:53:00.000-04:00

Look at that tongue!

Soldier!

2011-04-23T23:52:00.000-04:00

Tonka!

2011-04-23T01:12:00.001-04:00

Sasha, Sid, and Princess

2011-04-23T01:05:00.003-04:00

Princess

2011-04-23T01:03:00.001-04:00

I know, I know, I take a LOT of pictures of these dogs!

Chewy!

2011-04-23T00:55:00.003-04:00

Fun with Hipstamatic!

Springtime with Mabel!

2011-04-23T00:51:00.000-04:00

And Sharon.

Slim and Princess

2011-04-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

They kill me. Too cute.

Radar!

2011-04-21T09:58:00.000-04:00

Radar at Chester Avenue Dog Park, relaxing in the shade on a beautiful spring day!

Neila in the sunshine!

2011-04-21T09:56:00.002-04:00

Happy Spring!

Neila is a sweet sweet pitty mix who loves to hug, and play! She was super psyched to find a tennis ball in a field last week!

Mike, Zoe, Delilah, and Maxxie.

2010-12-26T21:51:00.001-05:00

Mike with Triple Trouble

2010-12-26T21:45:00.002-05:00

And last but not least, I wish a hearty farewell to my friends Zoe the lab and Delilah the Catahoula Leopard Dog. They frequently visited Clark Park with Mike and Maxx and me. Zoe moved to New Mexico in September, and Delilah moved elsewhere in Philly. I hope I'll be able to still see her sometimes.

Goodbye and good luck to you both, Zoe and Delilah!

Annie

2010-12-26T20:27:00.001-05:00

Annie the French bulldog is a beautiful little girl, who looked particularly good in this sunbeam!

Paulie

2010-12-26T20:24:00.002-05:00

Paulie is so damn cute! He's a new client of ours who lives with Annie, who I'll show you next. They are so sweet and we are really glad to meet them and spend time with them. Paulie has a funny haircut but it just makes him cuter.

Timmy of the Trees!

2010-12-26T20:22:00.001-05:00

Remember that crazy storm we had in West Philly in March? It knocked down so many trees! Timmy here really lived up to his formal name that day- TIMBER!

Ted Turner

2010-12-26T20:19:00.002-05:00

Ted Turner is a super cool cat who lives with a dog named Mama, who hates to be photographed, and a couple other super cool cats.

Jack and a tiny puppy!

2010-12-26T20:13:00.002-05:00

Oh man, speaking of the summer, we had a great day at an event in Clark Park this past June. While waiting for Jack to compete in a weight-pulling contest, we (Greg and Maggie and Mike and Nicole and Jarf and I) made friends with an adorable little pittie puppy! I forget his name, but they were from up in North Philly somewhere. Man, that puppy was sweet! Jack obviously liked him too!

Sasha and Princess

2010-12-26T20:09:00.002-05:00

Sasha and Princess are part of the group of dogs we call the Golden Girls. Here they are this past summer holding hands!

Molly

2010-12-26T20:08:00.000-05:00

This is from the first time I walked Molly!

Luna matches my shoes

2010-12-26T20:07:00.000-05:00

Erik at the dog prty

2010-12-26T20:05:00.001-05:00

Another pic from the fun we had at Chester Ave Dog Park- Erik would throw two balls at once, and all the dogs would run!

Dog party!

2010-12-26T19:58:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, we had a great morning at the dog park. Erik brought Jack and Griffin, and I brought Radar and Bunny, and we all had a great time running around.

The P.U.P.S. office holiday party!

2010-12-26T19:55:00.002-05:00

This is pretty much the only good photo from our holiday party at my house last week. Griffin was a special guest- he and Maxxie wore holiday bowties!

Griffin, hipstamatized.

2010-12-26T19:51:00.002-05:00

This picture of Griffin, one of our favorite fetchers and longest-running clients, was taken with an iPhone app called Hipstamatic. (I hate the name but the pictures are really cool.) The one of Dawg was also taken with it.

Dawgie Dawg!

2010-12-26T19:49:00.001-05:00

Dawg, a.k.a. Randy, is one of our newest clients, and she's soooo sweet. She's a red heeler. She's retired from a career in herding out in the southwest!

Clair

2010-12-26T19:48:00.001-05:00

Clairbear, chilling on her porch in the summer.

Bolivar on his bed

2010-12-26T19:47:00.000-05:00

Dora in the winter!

2010-12-26T19:46:00.000-05:00

Charlie and Molly

2010-12-26T19:37:00.002-05:00

These are going to go up in pretty random order- this one is from just a couple weeks ago. Molly, a pittie mix, and Charlie, a golden mutt, make a LOT of noise when they play together, but they have become great friends!

Willie in the sun

2010-12-26T19:34:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody! Happy holidays and a happy new year! My gift to the world is finally updating the blog!

4th Annual PAWS Mutt Strut

2010-10-19T10:39:00.000-04:00

We are doing the Mutt Strut! Please donate if you can!4th Annual PAWS Mutt Strut

Happy Slimmy!

2010-05-10T11:22:00.003-04:00

Oh man, Slim had a great day last week when Mike came over to her yard and pet her head for a really long time. That face kills me.

Buddy!

2010-05-04T22:59:00.002-04:00

One of multiple "Buddies" we know, actually. I stayed at his house last night and he was sooo excited but then all the excitement of entertaining made him sleepy.

Bobbo and Claire

2010-05-03T20:26:00.001-04:00

Claire is a very shy, scaredy dog, but her brother Bobbo is the opposite! Bobbo is one of the few things besides food that Claire shows obvious interest in, so I was totally excited to snap this photo of them together!

My weekend with Alice and Dee Dee (and Maxx and Mike)

2010-05-03T00:04:00.010-04:00

This weekend a very kind client let me take her dogs up to her cabin in the Poconos, and she let Mike and Maxx (my partner and his dog, who are the loves of my life) accompany us. It was an AMAZING weekend, especially since it was so hot, but it's always a bit cooler in the woods! We hiked down to a waterfall and then spent some time by a big lake- both days! I've known Alice and Dee Dee forever, and though they are both getting up there in years, they are still so full of fun and love! It took some time for me to earn Dee Dee's trust, so it was extra nice to be able to have her off leash for most of the weekend. It means we are finally totally comfortable together. Maxx loves to fetch sticks in the water, and Alice loves to bark at her when she does that, so they have a great friendship too!

EDIT: Mike says Maxx was offended that I didn't include any pictures of her swimming, since she's so proud of her recently discovered skill! He's right. How thoughtless of me. Here is Maxx after her first experience with geese! (Not the best photo, but the best I got...)

Alice by the waterfall.

Maxx on the trail.

Mike and Maxx and little Dee Dee heading towards the lake.

Dee Dee chilling out by the waterfall.

Alice loves to swim in the lake! If you can, try and zoom in on her face. She has the BEST underbite.

OMG I love my job!!!!!
sharon

Dora!

2010-05-02T23:57:00.002-04:00

From Friday! It was so hot out, all the dogs were panting all day!

Griffin and his ball

2010-04-29T18:53:00.000-04:00

I just found this one. I think Greg took it?

Willie and Tank

2010-04-29T18:47:00.002-04:00

Aaaaaargh cute friends!

Boo

2010-04-27T02:08:00.003-04:00

Boo is one of our newer clients, and she is SO MUCH FUN! Her family really lucked out with such a super sweet dog. They had thought they'd try not to get a pit bull, but then they met her, and like so many before them, they learned not to believe the hype!

Sid loves Springtime!

2010-04-27T02:05:00.003-04:00

Sid is one of the kitties that lives with the 4 dogs we like to call the Golden Girls. Last week he was all about the sunshine!

Maxx and Delilah

2010-04-27T01:55:00.001-04:00

Car friends on the way back from Clark Park!

Sharon, Jack, and Dora

2010-04-27T01:49:00.003-04:00

A few months ago I was excited when the all but two dogs were canceled one day- MLK day maybe? One of those holidays that's on a Monday...but anyway the two dogs remaining were Dora and Jack, who live too far away from each other to walk together usually, but since I had extra time, I thought it would be cute to introduce them, since they look so much alike! I'm not sure if Dora is a mini-Jack or jack is a giant Dora! They had a lot of fun playing together that day!

Greg's date with Boris

2010-04-27T01:47:00.005-04:00

It's a long story, but check out that bow tie on Boris! I love this picture!

Erik and Tank in the Rain!

2010-04-27T01:41:00.003-04:00

4/26/10- Matching!!!!

Hello!

2010-04-27T01:21:00.001-04:00

Hello world! Welcome to the P.U.P.S. blog, where we will post photos and musings from our West Philly wanderings! Enjoy!