Five Reasons That Dogs Become Holiday Grinches
No doubt there are lots of dogs out there who love the holidays. New chew toys! Pieces of ham or turkey dropped onto the floor! But I guarantee you that many dogs are not a fan of holidays, especially Christmas. Here are five reasons why: I. The Dreaded Christmas Photograph. Posing for family photographs is about as fun for some dogs as it is for three-year old children. Don't believe me? Check out the photos scattered throughout this post from the commercial photography site, Big Stock. Between the closed mouths, turned heads and whale eyes, it's like a seminar on stress signals in dogs. (For an actual seminar on reading signs of stress in dogs, see my Facebook Live Seminar or Read More
Christmas for Dog Lovers
I love the Christmas holidays. However, like many others, I sometimes struggle to avoid them feeling like one long TO DO list from hell, instead of the celebration of love and light that they can be. The trick for me is to intentional every day. What makes me happy? What makes the people and other animals that I love happy? One of the things that makes me happy is giving gifts. I'm sure it's less altruistic than selfish--an excuse to buy cool things without feeling guilty--but it makes me happy. At the same time, I have no interest in spreading around stuff for the sake of stuff, and filling up the earth and water with yet more pollution. It makes me happy to find ways to give gifts in Read More
New Camera Lens, Oh Boy.
Well Merry Christmas to Jim and me! I just bought a new lens for my SLR camera body (Canon Rebel T4i). It is a Tamron 18-400 mm, and replaces my very average Promaster lenses that came with the Canon package when I bought it years ago. The Tamron was on sale at the Camera Company in Madison, WI, and we got a good deal ($90 for my Promasters, free $150 polarizing filter, sale price on lens itself). I've taken some nice photos with the Promaster lenses, but wanted better resolution and faster focus. Of course, what I'd really like is a lens that costs thousands of dollars, but that's just not going to happen. The one we bought is a good value for the money, and until I win the lottery, I'm Read More