Meet Buck!

When this 9 year old Appaloosa first joined our horses who live across the street from us, I liked him right away. He wasn't holding up to the vigorous riding his owner needed him for, so he was spending some time across the street to get healthy.

Well because I am really smart, and between dogs and hunting and fly fishing and kayaking and target shooting I can't find enough things to throw money at, I told my wife that I kinda want that Appaloosa across the street.

And because she's really smart, and for some reason the symmetry of three dogs, three snakes, three lizards and three horses was too, well, symmetrical, she said Absolutely. We got him checked out at the vet today, didn't find anything that would prevent him from being able to do some trail rides and stand there while I feed him cookies and apples, and that was that.

Oh, did I mention I don't ride? I've taken three lessons so far, and it's been pretty fun. But I have a long way to go before Buck and I will be hittin' the trails. Hopefully by spring. But for now, it's cool to see my very own horse across the street.

Photo Contest WINNER!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my Christmas photo contest! There were many fun, beautiful and festive photos to pick from. But in the end, I could not resist this inebriated Vizsla. Maybe it's because I enjoy staging alcohol-themed pictures of Winnie, maybe he's just a really cute pup. But this is the winner of the first annual Christmas photo contest!

His name is Linden’s Family Tradition, and he goes by "Hank."

Hank and his family will soon be receiving their prize of this really fun book from Ugly Dog Hunting. (By the way, I really like this company. Everything I've ordered from them has been good quality, at reasonable prices and their customer service is excellent too.) Here is a great excerpt from the book, as shown on Ugly Dog's web site:

Several cosmic truths construct the bird dog continuum: If it’s smelly, we roll in it. If it can be upchucked at 3 a.m., we eat it. Porcupines should be chomped, snakes should be tossed, and by all means, if there’s a hornet’s nest in a rock wall, we darn well need to excavate. ...Truck door inside handles are excellent dental floss. There’s no human bed too small to be shared, and, most important, with the proper conditioning, we can indeed learn to love the stimulation of a highly-tuned electronic training collar.

Thanks Rob, for entering Hank in the contest, and I hope you enjoy your prize! I don't have a prize for second place, but wanted to give honorable mention to Lani, a Deutsch Drahthaar from Vomorion Kennels, in Caldwell, Idaho. Ken sent in this picture of Lani and I just love it. Because as much as I enjoy dog owners who humiliate their dogs by posing them with props and costumes, I enjoy even more when the dog genuinely seems to resent it in the resulting photos.

And of course if for some reason throughout the year Hank is not able to fulfill the responsibilities of the first prize winner, Lani will have to step up and assume the title.


Thanks again to everyone who entered, I appreciate all who visit here and hope to keep things amusing enough for you to check back regularly.

Christmas Photo Contest!

I thought this Photobucket slideshow would be a neat place to put the photos as I get them, but it's cropping some of the images. So if you want to see all the pictures, click here to see the album on Photobucket. I'll add to the album and slideshow as I get more entries.

Merry Christmas! (Photo contest!)

"The ideal age for a boy to own a dog is between forty-five and fifty."

— Robert Benchley

Happy Holidays to all our friends out there. Thanks for stopping by here from time to time and sharing in Winnie's progress with me this year. I'd like to do something a little different here - when you're letting your dogs open presents, I know you're taking pictures. Send me a Christmas picture of your dogs and I'll post it right here. Our distinguished panel of seven judges (me and a six pack of Sam Adams Winter Lager) will select the best, or funniest, or most ridiculous, Christmas photo and send some sort of lame prize to be determined later when I think of one!

The only rules are, pictures have to be from this year and have to include your dog. Email pictures to me at ejfelker@verizon.net, and have a Merry Christmas!

The Boxer

Our dogwalker, who comes every day to spend a little playtime while we're at work, has a boxer puppy just a bit older than Winnie. Winnie is 5 months, I think he's a month older. He is SO handsome! I love boxers, I always have. And this one is a real sweetheart.

She brought him over tonight to meet everyone. Well, everyone but Scooter, who is not accepting canine visitors because he is a cranky old bastard. But the boxer got along great with Winnie and Gromit! The picture above is misleading, he is almost exactly the same size as Winnie. He's stockier, but he's a hair taller.

The photo on the left shows in detail the Jack Russell new dog greeting method. A rare moment in nature seldom caught on film.