Best Pal

Today is my sweet dog's "birthday." It's not her birthday, but her "birthday." And she's turning five-ish. We hit the lottery four years and two months ago when we picked up our sweet girl (from this amazing shelter here in Chicago), and she's been the best pal either of us could ask for! She was about 10 months old that day, so we counted back 10 months and called February 1 her "birthday" from then on. I know every dog owner says it, but seriously, there's not a better dog and furry companion to be found on the planet. We often joke that all of our luck went into our dog, and nothing else will ever work out as well for us in life, and that's okay. Our sweet Lanie (full name Penny Lane) is truly one of the coolest and greatest animals around, and she totally deserves the Dairy Queen delight she'll get in celebration of her "birthday" later this evening!

Do you celebrate your pets' birthdays? Do your pets have great names? I love pet names. There's a little puppy French bulldog in our 'hood named Gary. Every time I see him I crack up. Lanie is Lanie because she was "Bailey" in the shelter, and she was fairly well-trained by that name, so we wanted to keep the vowel sounds and syllables the same to ease her transition. How do you name your pets?

Happy Birthday, Best Dog Ever!

(now indulge me in a photographic tribute to the aforementioned best dog ever)

(still such a sweet pup after all this time! seriously, how cute is my girl?!)

Photo Challenge Day 6

From a low angle.

(sadly, a little fuzzy)


All 30-Day Photography Challenge posts here.

Be Good to the Animals

First of all, duh. Animals are the best. Especially my Lanie.

Yesterday there was an earthquake on the east coast, epicenter somewhere near Richmond, Virginia. We all heard about this. And if you didn't, check out this summative round-up of the damage it left behind. I don't mean to jest, I apologize.

But seriously, according to a press release sent out by the Communications Office at the National Zoo in Washington, some of the animals *knew* the quake (or something, anyway) was a-comin'! This is just one more reason you need to a) keep animals around you at all times, and b) give them proper care and attention so that you can get the Lassie-style memo before any danger abounds!

Anyway, animal care staff at the zoo noted changes in some of the animals' behavior... Here are a few examples:

(an orangutan at the National Zoo)

"About five to ten seconds before the quake, many of the apes, including Kyle (an orangutan) and Kojo (a Western lowland gorilla), abandoned their food and climbed to the top of the tree-like structure in the exhibit."

"The red ruffed lemurs sounded an alarm call about 15 minutes before the quake and then again just after it occurred."

"All the snakes began writhing during the quake (copperheads, cotton mouth, false water cobra, etc.). Normally, they remain inactive during the day... [and] Murphy, the Zoo’s Komodo dragon, sought shelter inside."

"Keepers were feeding the beavers and hooded mergansers (a species of duck) when the earthquake hit. The ducks immediately jumped into the pool. The beavers stopped eating, stood on their hind legs and looked around, then got into the water, too."

"The lion pride was outside. They all stood still and faced the building, which rattled during the quake."

"The Zoo has a flock of 64 flamingos. Just before the quake, the birds rushed about and grouped themselves together. They remained huddled during the quake."

"Immediately after the quake the female Eld's deer herd began alarm calling (a high staccato barking sound) until they were called by their keeper and subsequently all congregated in the corner of the pasture nearest the keeper for a short time."


(see the full press release here)

So all of this just to say that animals are amazing. And also usually adorable. But also amazing.

(via)