dogtionary

Dogtionary

I’ve got some pretty tech savvy friends. My best friend Rita, for instance, spends a lot of time at her person’s bookstore where she meets many interesting people and learns about many things.

Rita

Rita is the one who introduced me to something called Instagram. It’s an iPhone/iPod (or in my case iPawed) application that allows users to edit photos in creative ways and then share them online. A whole community of “Instagrammers” has erupted. I’ve been participating for about six months and I’ve enjoyed connecting with many clever and creative Instagrammers.

One follower of mine (and whom I follow - hi @hiker083, oh and hi @rosselion who started the dogtionary thingie) suggested I participate in a little Instagram game called dogtionary. The idea is to post a photo of a dog and add the identifier “A is for Aussie” or “B is for Border Collie” etc. Then write a description or definition for that dog. It’s a fun exercise. If you are a registered Instagram user, just search for #dogtionary to see all the entries.

Here is mine: P is for Podengo

easy chair

And here is what I wrote for the description:

Portuguese Podengo

this ancient breed
built to hunt
lightning speed.

Wire haired or smooth,
large, medium, or small
ears like a donkey's
alert to all.

Sharp of wit
but not of tongue
ages well
forever young.

Loving and silly
watchful and smart
independent yet loyal
an incredible heart.

Not one to argue
your reason nor rhyme
Portuguese Podengo
a character sublime.

Unfortunately I can’t seem to track down any way for non Instagrammers to see all the entries, but I’ve just put up a page (click on instagrams at the top of this blog) of some Instragram photos I’ve done over the past six months, so at least you can have a taste of what all the Instagram hype is about.  I will add more from time to time, so check back every now and then.

Tchao-wow!

sympathy equals affection

Before I get into the real reason for this post, I have to clarify something. Old-Man-Eyes chastized me for not using the name that her people gave her, which is Josephina. Old-Man-Eyes found out that her people might read this blog and see that I'm not calling her Josephina and she didn't want her people to get upset. So here's the clarification: Dogs call her Old-Man-Eyes and people call her Josephina. This sort of thing happens a lot. People give names to dogs not realizing that they already have a name so from now on if a dog has name that's different from the name people gave him or her, I'll try to use both names if I can remember to.

So, now I have an update on Tiky, my skinny friend from Restaurante Castelejo. I went there yesterday and was hanging out with Old-Man-Eyes (Josephina). She introduced me to a new member of her group.

Lola with one of her people trying (in vain) to get her to lie down

Lola is seven months old and she's a real goof. Sweet, but a goof. She's quite clumsy and floppy and she's so big already that she's knocking us off our feet when we play. It's all in good fun though. I did a sketch of her and when I showed it to her she drooled all over it so I decided to add some spashes of colour to try to cover up the drool stains.

Lola at Restaurante Castelejo

So while we were playing, who should show up but my skinny friend Tiky! She seemed fine, full of energy and wiggles. I asked her what was going on, where she had been. I said that I'd been worried about her, since the last time I'd seen her she had been looking so poorly. Well, what she told me next was pretty funny. She said that when I'd been there a couple of weeks ago  – when I thought she was sick – was all just a show. She was putting on an act for the dog-loving Canadian. Actually, she was just fine but she knows how to manipulate the tourists to get sympathy because sympathy equals affection and if there’s anything that Tiky loves it’s affection. She apologized for not giving me a sign to say she was faking. In order for that not to happen again we’ve devised a signal that she will use to let me know that she’s just toying with the tourists. I can't tell you what that signal is in case a tourist happens to read this. I don't want to jeopardize any future sympathy for Tiky.

Tiky gets a big welcome home. You can barely see her behind giant Lola!

So that clarified things but I still had to ask where she had been lately. She said that while she loves her people and the other 15 (oops, that’s 17 now) dogs she lives with, sometimes she just needs to be alone. She takes off for a couple of days at a time, goes sniffing around the countryside - sleeps under the stars, chases rabbits, basks in the sun - all in peace and quiet. She says it sort of clears her head and calms her down. By the time she returns to her people and the other dogs she's ready to appreciate all that they have to offer - companionship, games, food, conversation and of course AFFECTION. She insists that she would never stay away for very long. She needs her affection. Well, she's getting it now from all sides. I think part of the reason she goes away is because when she gets back she gets even more affection than usual because everyone has missed her so much. Smart girl! I could learn a thing or two from her.

Tchao-wow,

Ruca 

a little help for our friends

my skinny friend Tiky and the dog-loving Canadian

I went out to the west coast last week. I wanted to check on a friend of mine I'd seen a couple of weeks ago. She wasn't looking very well when I saw her then. The photo above shows her lapping up some affection from a dog-loving woman from Canada. I think the woman was worried about her too.

My friend's situation is this: She belongs to a woman who spends a lot of time at Restaurante Castelejo. This woman has 16 dogs. They aren't completely free dogs, nor are they collared dogs. They're free to come and go but they choose to stay with the restaurante woman. And she cares for them more or less. Anyway, I went out again last week to see if I could do anything for my skinny friend but she wasn't there. Three of the other dogs were, but they didn't know where my friend was. One of the three there that day was Old-Man-Eyes, a dog I'd met a few years ago. She was pretty skinny then as you can see in these old pictures, and she had a couple of scabs from where ticks had been picked off, so she was looking a little worse for wear.

Old-Man-Eyes, 2008

Old-Man-Eyes, 2008

You can really see why she's called Old-Man-Eyes. She looks old and worn out by worry, but really she's only about six years old, and she doesn't do that much worrying. Her eyes grabbed me so much that I had to do a painting of her.

Old-Man-Eyes,acrylic on canvas, 20cm x 20cm

When I saw her last week she was actually looking quite healthy. She was even a little chubby.

Old-Man-Eyes looking good, 2011

She told me that life has been treating her well these days. I hope the same can be said for my other friend. Maybe I can get the dog-loving Canadian to help me check up on her. I'll be sure to post any updates on the situation.

Tchao-wow,
ruca