Monday, January 11, 2016
Walking on the Beach

The rain was amazing last week, but it left our beaches a little less soft and sandy. Still, an amazing place to spend the evening. Fortunately it won't be long before the sand finds it's way back to the beach, and the beautiful hills in the background will be much greener and more alive.

Thursday, February 27, 2014
Sunset Dog Run

Dogs always know how to have the most fun, especially at the beach. These guys were racing up and down the beach at Shoreline Park with seemingly infinite energy. Their people, like my wife and I, were more content to just take in the amazing beauty around us.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Puppy Teething on a Photography Backdrop

Mmmmff - what do you mean backdrop?

This is my new toy!Someone said I could have it!

Basset Hound Puppy saved with her family by Daphneyland in Acton, California

Sunday, January 13, 2013
Bridgette the Beautiful Basset

This weekend we had the pleasure of visiting the hounds of Daphneyland out in Acton. This is Bridgette one of the senior girls at the ranch and she is absolutely adorable.

Monday, July 30, 2012
Penelope the Basset

Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity to cheauffer this lovely lady out to Daphneyland in Acton. She was found in Lompoc, so it was quite a trip for her. She was very scared, but once we got close she was a real sweetie.

Thursday, September 15, 2011
Pet Photography Tip Number One

Give the puppy something to focus her attention, perhaps a chew toy. The photographer's hand works nicely.

Saturday, August 6, 2011
Sleeping Basset puppy

A couple of weekends ago we had the great pleasure of escorting this little girl, her four siblings, mom and aunt to the Daphneyland Ranch from the Camarillo shelter. It seems mom and two other bassets (auntie, and dad) came in as strays, and one day later the puppies showed up. The shelter is no place for such a sweet little thing. Fortunately the Basset Hound rescue knows just how to take care of them. It was a rough start, mom was not able to take care of the puppies at first, and aunt Zoe (named after our own wonderful hound) stepped in to nurse the pups for the first few days.

I'll be going back soon to get some updated photos of the pups.

Saturday, May 16, 2009
Cooper Cool

Today we went to the 12th Annual Basset Spring Games. The games are a fund raiser for the Basset Hound Rescue of Southern California. We do their newsletter, the Basseteer so we took the opportunity to get some nice photos for the next issue. But really I just wanted to go to play with the hounds!

This is Cooper, he was looking extremely cool just enjoying a nice day in the park. Aside from just being around a bunch of other hounds and the crazy hound people that love them. The dogs and their food slaves could compete in a number of fun competitions including drooling contests, synchronized swimming, kissing contests and Marathon Napping.

It's hard to take a bad picture of a Basset Hound, and I have about 18 gigabytes of photos to prove it. It was a really nice day!

Monday, March 23, 2009
Charlie the Hound

This is one of the reasons I have been a little behind lately. His name is Charlie. Through a really bad chain of events he ended up in the Ventura animal shelter with no hope of adoption. It was our job to go pick him up and take him to one of the Basset Hound Rescues that we volunteer at. As always happens on these trips I was totally attached to him by the time we got there.

They said he was five or six years old, but he played like a puppy. I work really hard at a lot of different things, but I can't help feeling that this is one of the few things I do on a regular basis that really matters.

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Absent Friend

"There (is) clearly nothing left to do but flop ... and howl."

Until we meet again, my friend.

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.

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!

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 19, 2005
Smiling Hound Dog

Some people say dogs can't smile.

I say they are not trying hard enough to give them a reason to.

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.