Bo's lead

I am glad to report Bo has a normal collar and a normal lead. A patriotic stars and stripes lead in fact.  I do hope the Obama family does not succomb to the dog bandana craze.


PS: congratulations are in order.  This is my 300th post.

Papillon names

Winchester Whisperer might be interested to know that Christina Aguilera, the pop singer, has two Papillon dogs called Chewy and Stinky.  Jon Lajoie, a Canadian internet celebrity ( what? ) has a Papillon named Scruffy. 
Why can't these dogs have normal names?

A little showbiz history

Glenn Close writes a blog called Lively Licks which is linked to Fetch Dog, a website selling dog merchandise. She was asked to write an introduction on Lauren Bacall whom she went to visit in her New York apartment. Ms Close came face to face with Bacall’s Papillon named Sophie, a though cookie.

This is the first question Glenn Close asked:
GC: When and how did you become a dog lover?

LB: I was always a dog yearner. I didn't have a dog growing up in the city with a working mother. As an only child, I yearned for someone to talk to. When I was sixteen, we got a champagne-coloured Cocker Spaniel and named him "Droopy". He was very male. From the first moment, he was very possessive of me. All my dogs have been possessive of me. We eventually mated Droopy and kept one of his girl puppies---Puddle. I went to Los Angeles for a screen test when I was eighteen years old. My mother followed me out later. The dogs came, too.

In LA, Droopy was killed by a hit-and-run driver. There was a place in the valley where a nutty woman had a funeral parlour for dogs. I went to pay my last respects to Droopy. All the dogs were there in open caskets. Droopy was resting his head and paws on a pillow. It was terrible.

Bogey and I had Boxers. We were married on Louis Bromfield's farm in Ohio. Louis had Boxers that would fight under the table at dinner. He gave us a week old Boxer puppy for a wedding present. We named him Harvey, after the invisible rabbit. Harvey was really smart. He knew he wasn't allowed to get on the furniture so he would only put two paws on at a time. He would sit between us if we had a fight. Harvey died six months after Bogey. I went to see him at the vet's when he was very ill and said goodbye. Five minutes after I got home, I was told that after I left, Harvey had eaten his dinner and died.

No more crying babies

If only I had known....

Interpret your dreams

• To dream of a vicious dog, denotes enemies and unalterable misfortune. To dream that a dog fondles you, indicates great gain and constant friends.
• To dream of owning a dog with fine qualities, denotes that you will be possessed of solid wealth.

• To dream that a blood-hound is tracking you, you are likely to fall into some temptation, in which there is much danger of your downfall.
• To dream of small dogs, indicates that your thoughts and chief pleasures are of a frivolous order.
• To dream of dogs biting you, foretells for you a quarrelsome companion either in marriage or business.
• Lean, filthy dogs, indicate failure in business, also sickness among children.
• To dream of a dog-show, is indicative of many and varied favors from fortune.
• To hear the barking of dogs, foretells news of a depressing nature. Difficulties are more than likely to follow. To see dogs on the chase of foxes, and other large game, denotes an unusual briskness in all affairs.
• To see fancy pet dogs, signifies a love of show, and that the owner is selfish and narrow. For a young woman, this dream foretells a fop for a sweetheart.
• To feel much fright upon seeing a large mastiff, denotes that you will experience inconvenience because of efforts to rise above mediocrity. If a woman dreams this, she will marry a wise and humane man.
• To hear the growling and snarling of dogs, indicates that you are at the mercy of designing people, and you will be afflicted with unpleasant home surroundings.
• To hear the lonely baying of a dog, foretells a death or a long separation from friends.
• To hear dogs growling and fighting, portends that you will be overcome by your enemies, and your life will be filled with depression.
• To see dogs and cats seemingly on friendly terms, and suddenly turning on each other, showing their teeth and a general fight ensuing, you will meet with disaster in love and worldly pursuits, unless you succeed in quelling the row.
• If you dream of a friendly white dog approaching you, it portends for you a victorious engagement whether in business or love. For a woman, this is an omen of an early marriage.
• To dream of a many-headed dog, you are trying to maintain too many branches of business at one time. Success always comes with concentration of energies. A man who wishes to succeed in anything should be warned by this dream.
• To dream of a mad dog, your most strenuous efforts will not bring desired results, and fatal disease may be clutching at your vitals. If a mad dog succeeds in biting you, it is a sign that you or some loved one is on the verge of insanity, and a deplorable tragedy may occur.
• To dream of traveling alone, with a dog following you, foretells stanch friends and successful undertakings.
• To dream of dogs swimming, indicates for you an easy stretch to happiness and fortune.
• To dream that a dog kills a cat in your presence, is significant of profitable dealings and some unexpected pleasure.
• For a dog to kill a snake in your presence, is an omen of good luck

Dogs in dreams

I found the following text on an American website whilst researching the life of Freud’s dog Lün ( more about that later).
“Dogs in dreams could symbolize a large variety of ideas and concepts, but mostly they are symbolic of the dreamer's defensive structure and may represent personal boundary issues. Carefully consider all of the details and the mood in your dream. First, if you have a dog, it may be natural to dream about him. We become emotionally attached to our dogs and we dream about them just as we dream about anything else that is important to us. Otherwise, dogs could symbolize loyalty and hard work. If someone calls you a dog, it is a negative reflection on your personality. If you are being treated like a dog, you are most likely being abused in some way. On the metaphysical level, dogs are consider to be the guardians of the underworld. Finally, dogs could represent the more basic or "animal" parts of our nature and some think that they specifically represent male energy”.
In my next post when I have done some more research, I shall try to give some concrete examples of dogs in dreams. Watch this space…

The caption in the cartoon says: " ... and then I found out my Mother was a bitch..."

No inspiration

My muse(s) has(have) deserted me.

The kiss

She is pregnant, he had just saved her from a fire in her house, rescuing her by carrying her out of the house into her front yard,
while he continued to fight the fire.
When he finally got done putting the fire out, he sat down to catch his breath and rest.
A photographer from the Charlotte Observer, North Carolina, noticed her in the distance looking at the fireman.
He saw her walking straight toward the fireman and wondered what she was going to do.
As he raised his camera, she came up to the tired man who had saved her life and the lives of her babies and kissed him just as the photographer snapped this photograph.

The fire took place in Charlotte in July 1999. The firefighter is called Jeff Clark, the photographer Patrick Schneider and the dog Cinnamon.

Food

It would appear, judging by a study carried out by the College of Veterinary Medicine at the A&M University of Texas that dogs decide what food they like by the smell. Liver and chicken ranked highest over fruit, vegetables, biscuits, even hamburgers. Further tests showed dogs preferred canned and cooked meat over raw and warm and moist to cold and dry.

Homeless in Brussels.

I came across this photograph of these dogs belonging to one of the many homeless here in Brussels.
The photographs are part of a portfolio of superb photographs of Brussels taken by someone I do not know but who is obviously very talented. Have a look at this link:
http://monnikonetmoi.skynetblogs.be/