Dog Report IV

Pepper can be periodically seen in this fenced yard, playing with half a ball - and any passersby who might take notice.  She (or he) will run up and down along the fence in a pretend game of chase.  Until I walked up to the fence and looked at her tag, Boyfriend had taken to calling her Bolt.

This dog was getting some gas - and enjoying the process entirely too much.

Whiskey "Dolla Dolla Billz" Burkle may not technically be a dog - but she did used to enjoy playing fetch!  She likes to spend sunny days under our tiny Japanese Maple tree, pouncing on any dog silly enough to trot by.

Dog Report III : My Backyard

Churchill likes to bark at my chickens and my cat. They don't really pay him any mind, and it makes him feel important.

Zelda, his mother, sometimes plays along. She's a little more realistic about it though.

Both of them move a little too quickly for my camera.

Dog Report II : Kenton Street Fair

Crayon and I went to the Kenton Street Fair today!  I had a delicious Pear, Brie, Mint and Marmalade sandwich with a Hazelnut Italian Soda from Posies, and Crayon met a few dogs.

Xena was slightly more interested in my chips than in meeting Crayon.

Bonita was a little shy. She's still a puppy, and had been recently manhandled by a labrador. Crayon was a perfect gentleman - and I hope he restored her faith in men.

Dog Report I

A new on-going feature:  Dogs I meet around Portland.

First Report

Crayon "Cash Money" Cortez peed on this tree for 20 minutes.  True story.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day likes to eat whatever she finds on the ground.

I once found Bodhi a few blocks away and had to walk him back to his home whilst holding his collar and walking Sunshine and Crayon home too.  I think Bodhi weighs more than I do.  Luckily for me, he wanted to go home.

Sage (who lives with Bodhi) just follows me home on her own, for kicks.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

We adopted Sunny!

Since she apparently never had a name before coming to the Oregon Humane Society, we decided to change her name up a bit - to Sunshine on a Cloudy Day. Sunny for short. Rapper name: Sunny D.

The first night we brought her home, she spent the whole evening pacing. And eating our blinds. All of them.

So I made some drapes.

She then proceeded to spend the next week hiding under Crayon's mini staircase. Coming out only occasionally to pace worriedly.

It's been nearly 3 weeks now, and she's made a lot of progress. She still cringes every time we look in her direction, but she has fallen madly in love with Crayon, and takes his lead on everything. So walks are a great deal less chaotic. And the cute factor in the house has risen exponentially.

This Dog.

I can't stop staring at this dog.

Please, someone give her a home! Poor Sunny was apparently held captive in a puppy mill her entire life. She needs someone to show her what it's like to be a pampered snuggle-monkey!

I'm strongly considering taking her home myself (I'm a sucker for a dog with a hard-luck story), and I'm already sponsoring her, but I really just want to see her in a cozy home with plenty of laps as soon as possible! Preferably close to my neighborhood, so I can continue staring at that face.

UPDATE: 3/05/2011

We adopted her! She and Crayon seem to get a long fine, but other than that she is very scared and anxious. And quite the climber!

Crayon Takes a Bath

Crayon hates baths. I think he partially likes being smelly, but it's mostly that he hates being wet and cold. And for such a tiny dog he takes an amazing amount of time to get dry. This is why, in the winter, Crayon doesn't get many baths.

But recently, Crayon has become increasingly pungent. So today, despite the low temperatures and lack of sunshine, Crayon got the full spa treatment.

You can't tell how smelly he is in the above picture, but trust me, it's pretty gnar. His beard is also matted and his mane is showing serious signs of bed-body.

The first step was to brush and comb his mop. Since I estimate his surface area to be 1 square foot, this took all of 3 minutes. And already what a difference!

Step two involved a hair cut. This, he did not enjoy. He kept wriggling and sneezing and trying to make me pet him instead. He helped a little, though. Every time he wriggled loose he shook off all the excess hair clippings, which made it easier for me to get to the rest of him.

And the result: A very handsome dog.

As a reward we went for a walk, before I had to begin the soapy water torture.

But it was all worth it! Because now he smells of lavender and his beard is once again well manicured. In 8 hours when he finally dries off, he'll be the handsomest dog on the block.

Yep. He's a real Ladies' Man.

Crayon: Famouser and Famouser!

Hello My Name Is… Crayon

A Pillow with a View

Crayon Been Blogged!

By someone other than me! Finally, world-wide stardom is within his grasp.





A fellow librarian just started this blog, starring animals in sweaters (because when you take regular animals and add sweaters, you increase their natural cute levels by a factor of OMG).

Murray at his Finest

Murray Von Staunch was very brave and he would never, NEVER, give up until he was absolutely SURE the threat was completely annihilated.

Make sure all small dogs are out of the room before playing.

The Murray Song

Today is officially Murray's first Death Day.

Listen to the song that I (and Jesse Rimler from Kapowski) wrote about my dog, circa 2002.

And enjoy these photos:

The Chronicles of Super-Muddy

If you've ever wondered how I survived Public High School in California without losing all of my brain cells from utter boredom, well, Murray saved me. Repeatedly.

Murray vs. The Squirrel

In addition to Chicken Chasing, one of Murray's favourite activities in his youth was Squirrel Barking.

I personally found this adorable and encouraged him in his scholarly squirrel pursuits. I read somewhere that dogs need to feel like they have a purpose, a job to perform. Since we didn't have any tiny sheep for my tiny Sheltie to herd, I figured, why not let him think he was our Great Protector from the Ravenous Squirrely hordes?

The rest of my family, however, thought that his vigilance was obnoxious.

One afternoon, as Murray was persistently telling a squirrel loitering in our walnut tree to Get Out And Stay Out, my dad decided to help him out. He found a suitably sized rock and, with amazingly good aim, my dad knocked that squirrel out of the tree and right in front of Murray's schnoz.

For a full second Murray stared down his arch nemesis, frozen in uncertainty. The squirrel stared back, frozen in terror. Then...

Then nothing. The squirrel got its heart out of its throat and scampered across the yard and over the fence. Murray recovered a split second later and gave chase, yelling "Yea, you BETTER run!"

While Murray failed to taste squirrel blood that day, I can only assume that this particular squirrel never dared come back.

Murray "Millionaire" Von Staunch

One day, in 1994, my parents gave me and my sister a choice: a new dog or a trampoline. That Christmas we got a tiny sheltie-shaped ball of fur with an attitude. I wanted to name him Billie Joe (I was really into Green Day at the time), but my dad insisted on naming him Murray Von Staunch.

Shelties are very loyal dogs, usually to one person in particular. Murray quickly latched on to me. I brought him to school with me, even though it was against the rules. But no one minded - he had magical Cute Powers. He even acted alongside me in our highschool production of You Can't Take it With You and was featured in our yearbook.



I missed two years of his life when I moved to Southern California for college, but after that Murray moved with me everywhere: from San Diego, back to the Bay Area, to Los Angeles, and finally to Portland. He was always my right hand dog. I had planned to get a place with a yard for chickens, so that Murray could once again engage in his most favourite activity: Chicken chasing.

Murray may have been the smallest Sheltie ever, at 10lbs. I had planned to enter him into the Smallest Sheltie contest during Sheltie Daze. Murray and I had met a previous winner, while on a walk, and Murray was much smaller than her.



On a sunny day in the summer of 2009, Murray had a seizure. Worried, Boyfriend and I took him to the vet, who recommended a neurologist, who recommended a cardiologist, who told us that Murray had an incurable infection in his heart. He gave us antibiotics and painkillers to help extend Murray's life as long as we could.

I couldn't fool Murray into taking his pills (not even cheese or peanut butter worked). I couldn't force Murray to take his pills. Eventually I had to give up, because it had gotten to the point where Murray wouldn't even eat his food, convinced there were pills hiding inside his kibbles.

On Thursday September 10, 2009, Murray succumbed to heart failure. He was nearly 15 years old. It was the end of an era. He and I had been together since I was in the 7th grade. Sometimes I still expect to see him staring at me whenever I open a bag of chips.