A Photo a Day by Bill Heller

Animal Photos
 
Thursday, December 6, 2007

Mission Nativity

 By request! This is actually a little older shot, I still have not seen if they are doing the nativity this year. I'll have to go check it out. This is one of my favorite Christmas attractions in Santa Barbara too.

 
Friday, February 23, 2007

I Can FLY!

 I took several shots of this dog, but the thing I like about this one in particular is the fact that none of his feet are touching the ground. He was running far ahead of his friend, the guy to the left. Then he would run all the way back. Apparently the pace of the walk was not quite as fast as he would like.

In my case, it could be me making multiple trips back and forth waiting for The Hound. Not because she is lazy, but because when she really gets into her walk she likes to inspect every inch along the way. I experience our walks with my eyes and camera. She is all about her nose. I don't think she even pays attention to her eyes unless something out of the ordinary happens. As evidenced by the orange traffic cone that snuck up on her tonight and made her jump straight up in the air when she realized it was there.

 
Monday, December 4, 2006

Moosh Face

 When you have a subject that is not as cooperative as you might like, sometimes bribery works.

Depending upon the subject, bribing them with a large meal of leftover Thanksgiving turkey has the added benefit of rendering the subject unconscious for hours on the sofa where, even the click of the camera inches from her face elicits no response whatsoever.

 
Sunday, November 5, 2006

Basset Tongue

 Every once in a while Zoe likes to chime in with her two cents. This is her comment when I aim the camera at her. She caught the flash in her eyes a couple of times YEARS ago now she has a deep dislike of any camera. Usually I just get a dirty look out of her but today was something special!

 
Monday, August 28, 2006

Great Bounding Beach Bassets!

 Bassets are quite possibly the cutest creatures on the planet IMO. This guy was just having a good old time following his nose cruising along, falling behind. Then his owner (food-slave in proper Basset terms) called him. He looked so happy bounding along to catch up. There's nothin' quite like a sixty pound dog running on 4" legs.

 
Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Hiding in Plain Sight

 It was a strange day today. Our electricity went out at 2:00 am and was out until the afternoon. Apparently a TV antenna fell on some power lines. So, it was hard to work, but a great day for taking pictures!

We went to Island View Nursery in Carpinteria. It is always an amazing place, but as soon as we got there we saw some strange movement in these plants right by the parking lot. There were small frogs climbing through the leaves trying to discretely move away from us. As we got closer, some of them decided to depend upon the camouflage. Which was very fortunate for me. This guy is only about an inch long.

When I am a little more conscious I will try to identify him, but it is late now, and time for bed!

 
Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Cat-Dog

 So this is an example of our cat impression. Not so much the laying on the back, but the cleaning of the face with the paws.

Zoe is a good friend, and who would think that those nails and a leather sofa would go together? She's a good girl!

 
Monday, June 12, 2006

FROGGY!

 Stupid photographers! They keep pushing that silly button on my exhibit that turns the light on... no wonder I have red eyes!! Don't they know I am nocturnal?!

We went to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History today. They usually have a live butterfly exhibit this time of year, but they did something a little different this year. Although it was not as big as we had expected, there were some pretty cool things to see and hear.

My wife is still hoping for a turtle exhibit sometime in the future. That would be cool, but I think they would need a lot more room. Fortunately there is a turtle rescue in town! We'll have to go visit them. Maybe I can even talk her into SCUBA diving too if I find some place we can see sea turtles. Well, maybe at least snorkeling. :-D

 
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Basset in Repose

 When I spin around in my chair when I am working at my computer in the evenings, this is what I usually see. My goal is to learn to be about half as relaxed as her. After-all she is a professional, I don't think I can ever aspire to a full level of basset relaxation. In fact, in humans, I think that's called a coma.

 
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Happy Beach Hound

 This guy was having a really good time! 'Course who wouldn't have a good time running on the beach in Santa Barbara at sunset?

 
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Birthday Hound

 Today is Zoe's birthday! She is two years old!

Actually, since she doesn't really like to talk about her old life before we rescued her so we all agreed to celebrate her birthday on the anniversary of the day she came to live with us.

The birthday girl is enjoying a present sent from my Mom and Dad which arrived today, perfect timing! She also enjoyed a long walk in the rain (Which, under normal circumstances would result in an automatic bath, but not today!) and sitting on the floor eating Carrot cake and Hawaiian Pizza with us.

I can't believe it has been two years, but in some ways I feel like we have known each other forever. And, I sure can't imagine our lives without her!

It was a really good day!

 
Sunday, January 15, 2006

Doctor Zoe

 This is Doctor Zoe.

You see, today her mom had an ear-ache, looks like the start of a nasty cold. But the good doctor here stayed by her side on the sofa most of the day.

This is the "What do you want? I'm taking care of Mom!" look.

She has good bed side manner, but she did get in trouble on more than one occasion for taking up more of the patient's bed than she left for the patient!

 
Wednesday, January 4, 2006

Basset Bassinet

 Well, I was delayed in posting photos for the beginning of this month. But it was for a good reason! We were on our honeymoon! And, it was way too short!

Wouldn't want you to think we don't take good care of the hound when we are traveling. This was her spot in the room. She is used to flopping on the sofa or a big chair in our livingroom. So she was a little lost when we first got to the hotel. There was a rather large space under the door, and it was not exactly warm in Monterey this time of year so we did not really want her on the floor anyway.

 
Monday, December 12, 2005

The Cow

 So I just woke up from a nap with the hound on the sofa to pick the photo of the day. And, it made me ponder this image of her and one of her favorite toys/pillows. What I'm wondering is do her eyes bug out like that when I use her for a pillow? I sure hope not!

 
Thursday, October 27, 2005

Vinnie

 Another shot of Vincent (see yesterday's post). He is an extremely happy creature, he was excited to be on an adventure with us and he wagged most of the way.

When we picked Vincent up at the shelter, he was the only dog up for adoption in his section. Since we had been there on Monday they had needed to make some room. And new animals had already moved into the surrounding kennels. This made the paperwork on his kennel stand out since his was the only one labeled "ready for adoption." In the notes section someone from the shelter had written "SWEET DOG!" I was relieved he was actually still there but I was sad for all the other sweet dogs that were not.

We were very glad to get him out of there!

After a long drive we arrived at the Rescue's veterinarian. Vincent got a quick exam, and four shots which he took like he did not even feel them, even the one the vet said would really hurt.

After a pretty clean bill of health, especially for a dog that was supposed to be a stray, we were off to the rescue. We did have to make one stop, however. On the way home from the same shelter with Zoe, about a year and a half ago, we made a stop at McDonalds and shared a box of Chicken McNuggets. With Vincent, we decided to make this a tradition.

Of course, when it came time to drop him off we could tell that he had already bonded with us (and we already knew we loved him). We found out yesterday that we would make terrible foster parents, if we were so attached after a few hours how would we be after years?

Vincent is now resting safely at the Basset Rescue Connection. If you are looking for a wonderful and loyal dog please contact them, or me and we will introduce you to a good friend of ours.

 
Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Vincent

 This week was an incredibly busy week. One of the more important things we did this week was meet Vincent.

Over the weekend we found a listing on the Ventura Animal Shelter for a male Basset Hound. My best friend and I watch the shelter for the Basset Rescues in the area and it looked like this guy might be falling through the cracks. After talking to the shelter we found out that they were packed and Monday was to be his last day. The last hound we found there in that much trouble is now named Zoe, and she lives with us.

So, knowing the breed and how wonderful they are, and the fact that an older dog had almost no chance in the shelter, we took off on Monday for the 45 mile drive to meet this hound. In typical Basset fashion he was extremely happy to meet us. We promised him and the shelter we would be back for him. So they said they would keep him for another day or two.

After my best friend made quite a few calls to everyone at the local rescues, we found that the Basset Rescue Connection would make room in their already full kennels for him. BRC is the rescue that covers this area and would normally be contacted when there is a hound in need. But, due to a change of employees at the shelter and some strange new laws in place thanks to our crazy state government that call had never been made. So, today we made the trek to the shelter and this is one of the first images of Vincent after he, quite happily, jumped into my Jeep.

 
Monday, October 17, 2005

Bounding Beach Vizsla

 Dogs are wonderful creatures. And, it's hard to take a bad picture of one of them. This is a Vizsla doing what they do best. They are a tracker, retriever, pointer kind of huntin' dog and they are extremely high energy.

Of course you would never see my hound dog doing something like this. She would explain that she is far too dignified for that. She would continue to explain that she is a scent hound. So once she leads you to where the tennis ball is, it is YOUR job to go and get it. Besides, she has not been excited about the water at the beach since she realized someone ruined the recipe with too much salt. We have been known to have some high energy romps on the beach though.

 
Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Paw-Print of Approval

 Well it's been a while since the muse appeared to give her paw print of approval. She says she particularly approves of the images she helped with. However, she is less fond of the ones that involve me leaving for the day to do this "work" thing.

This is her on a stone pedestal in a park in Monterey. She is about the coolest creature you could possibly imagine. I have never really had a dog of my own before, and I was not totally sure what to expect, but she is a real-life cartoon character in a Basset suit! She is truly a good friend, and you do not come by those very often.

I'm very thankful for Basset Hound and other rescues that save animals like Zoe. One of which was created and is run by my parents (which explains my love of animals).
 
Friday, February 18, 2005

I GOT IT!!

 I have been around a lot of dogs in my life. And yet, they never cease to amaze me with their capacity for all of the best traits we would love to see in each other. For a while I thought I had just had the incredible good fortune to have encountered a few outstanding individuals. I mean, I have seen my share of dogs that are "problem dogs," untrained and unpleasant to be around. But, the dogs that have been members of my family have had something about them. Something that made them seem like real beings capable of much more than a simple submissive role. They actually had something to contribute to the family, and they were given the opportunity to express themselves and become the true friends they wanted to be.

Now that I am finally owned by the Basset Hound I have dreamed of for 15 years I am starting to realize that perhaps there was not as much "special" about our dogs as I originally thought. Perhaps every dog has that spark of greatness in them, and it is up to us to nurture it... or to tie it out in the back yard and throw really bad kibble at it until even the greatest spirit would shrivel.

What are you still doing reading this, go hug your dog!!
(or better yet take them for a romp in the park!)

Don't have a dog!?

Perhaps I can help...

 
Thursday, January 20, 2005

Butterfly Beach Dog

 If you are wondering if this dog was having a good time you can actually see his tail wag if you look at the arc of drops of water coming off of his tail.

 
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