A real scare

toby-in-grass, originally uploaded by phaird.

We've had a real scare the past few days. On Wednesday, Toby threw up 5 times and then wouldn't eat. We let him rest through the night but when he got up the next morning he still didn't want to eat. I tried every treat we had and even some rice and chicken and he still wouldn't eat.

We got really scared and brought him to our vet. They was put on IV to keep him hydrated and they ran a bunch of test but they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him and he wasn't getting any better.

They couldn't keep a watch of him over night so we brought him to Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital. They were able to keep an eye on him overnight. When we dropped him off, he could barely walk and looked completely out of it.

After a night of sleep and keeping hydrated, he slowly started to feel better. They fed him small amounts of food through out the day and slowly perked up. By 8pm Friday I was able to take him home but with no real understanding of what happened.

Toby isn't a dog that will just eat anything. His one weakness is that he likes to eat grass. Normally I don't mind but I think because so many people have been putting all those chemicals on their lawns that Toby got really sick.

It was a real scare for our family but Toby is finally starting to perk back up. The idea that to get a great looking lawn requires to create a toxic environment really seems like a contradiction to me. Be very aware of those yellow signs on peoples lawns. They are really mean it when they so politely say keep off.

How to get a good pic of your dog-part 1

terrier, originally uploaded by phaird.

I haven't had a chance to get out to the park in the past few weeks and both Toby and I have been really missing it.

I wanted to keep it up though and while talking to others at the park, people often ask how to get good pictures of their dog. I thought I'd try to give a few pointers.

One thing that I always suggest is to get the camera on the dogs level. If the camera is at your dogs face or body level and keep the camera level, you will be able to show your dog in a very positive position and a more unique photo. The hard part with that is your dog will think you want to play and want to come see you. You can either just stay there and let them play or just hold the camera at your knees and try to get your dog to look at the camera instead of your face. Either way, take a few shots all at once. The more you shoot, the better your chances to get just the right expression. Asking your dog to say "Cheese" means something very different to a dog.

Looking at this photo of the terrier, I shot it with a wide angle lens with the camera around my ankle level. That way I don't have to look through the lens and I'm flexible with the space around the pooch.

Happy shooting.

side tracked

blix1, originally uploaded by phaird.

I didn't make it to the park today but I did get to photograph my friends dog, Blix, a beautiful German Shepard. He has no clue how big he is though. He will run and play and jump on you any chance he gets. He's so funny because every time he sees me he goes crazy. Our friends were having a moving party and when I got there, Blix insisted that I take him outside to toss the ball around for him. He jumped and barked and was going crazy before I even got to set down the stuff I was caring, he made me take him out.

Don't get the wrong idea about blix. At this party there were 5 kids from 8 months to 3 years and blix was perfect with everyone of them. Blix knows the difference between a child and an adult and knows his boundaries. We love Blix and will miss having him near by.

Poor weather doesn't matter

Another weekend at the park but after a long week of great weather, the rain kept a few people away. I almost didn't go myself because it wasn't good for my camera.

Toby doesn't care about that though so we went and saw the regulars as well as a few new faces. Most dogs are happy to get outside no matter what the weather. Rain, snow or sun, they want to get out and run. With the lake freshly melted they were even in the pond. The ground has gotten hard so the mud isn't so bad anymore and everyone really enjoys the time out but it's the dogs who really get the best of it all.

A Golden day

golden3, originally uploaded by phaird.

Another great spring day. Lots of people were out and about and the dogs were all having a great day. There was a large number of Golden Retrievers out and having fun. Golden's love the attention and with everyone out, they went up to everyone to get some attention.

Golden's can be hard to photograph. Being such people friendly dogs, every time I went down on a knee to take a picture, they would run up to me to get some attention. I got a few pictures of noses because of that but didn't post it on my flickr page. Don't need to bore you. I hope to get some more photos of them next week.

First interview for book

Amber with rudi and dad, originally uploaded by phaird.

last Friday I did my first interview for the book. To be fair, this is my second attempt but the first didn't work out so I have to redo that one.

I've been spending lots of time with Rudy, Amber and Dusty, and getting to know their owner so we decided to sit down and talk about the dog park and his dogs.

I found out that we have a lot in common. We both have that west coast personality and both lived in San Francisco before moving east.

I think it went okay. It was great to sit and get to know Amber and Dusty's dad and finding out about all of them. The hard part is putting it into an interesting story.

Spring?

layers-of-dogs_blurry, originally uploaded by phaird.

Spring is here but only in name. The past few weekends have been cold but that hasn't stopped everyone from coming out. I'm looking forward to leaves on the trees and color on the ground. Spring can be so short here in New England and after a long winter, to be able to bask in the warmth of spring again will be a great feeling.