Merry Christmas from Keith Sweat!

Doesn't Keith look dashing in his Christmas sweater?!

We like dogs named Bartleby.

This is Bartleby, Bonnie King-Taylor's sweetheart of a dog.  He waited patiently on his doggie bed throughout Bonnie's workshop, only getting up to politely greet his dog friends.  Perhaps a name is only that, but he actually reminds me a lot of another Bartleby (second row-second one in), another Houndstooth model who is a bullmastiff and a very fun and easy-going companion for a stroll through the city.  Is this just a coincidence or has anyone else known a cool dog named Bartleby?

Still looking for last minute gifts? I really love these thermal doggie pajamas and song bird dog collar from The Posh Pooch in Bethesda. Their adorable store in Bethesda is open from 11 am until 4 pm tomorrow. 

Put on your doggie yalkmulke...

Dog biscuits at Chateau Animaux.

Happy Chanukah from all of us at Houndstooth Photography!

His name was Renato.

Photo by Elizabeth Bergner

My roommate Liz asked to contribute this story about a baby goat and a little town called Chongoyape where she spent two years working as part of the Peace Corps. Chongayape is a tiny town that is tucked away between the coast and the mountains of Peru. Liz spent her days in Chongoyape basking in the sun and riding her bicycle along the dusty, unpaved roads. Although she never thought she'd have a pet while living there, she suddenly found herself falling in love with a tiny friend with curly black hair.

Liz writes:

Back in Chongoyape, I bought myself a baby goat, Renato. (Actually, a baby blackbelly, if you know the difference.) I was on this mini-bus coming back from work in a nearby town when a mysterious man boarded with a baby goat in his arms. When I commented on how adorable the goat was, he insisted on selling him to me. At first I said no. It wasn't very practical, considering my host family has no corral, but the man assured me that I could raise it in a house. For some reason, he insisted on selling me the goat, though the man next to him offered a reasonable price. But no, he inexplicably continued to insist that the senorita have the goat. It was an orphan, or so he told me. (Everyone else later told me he had surely stolen it.) After repeatedly insisting that I offer a price, I finally suggested 12 soles (about $4), thinking that he would never agree. He readily accepted.

I arrived at home with Renato in my arms like a newborn child. True to the man's promise, Renato began to adjust to a house-bound life. He was dearly loved by all, and used to follow me around baaahhing pathetically, hiding in corners, and sleeping in a box in my room. However, since he refused to drink his milk from a bottle, a concerned neighbor found a surrogate mama goat to breastfeed him. Renato began to flourish, eating grass and looking forward to his daily visits to Mother Goat. His only care was the fear he apparently had of being brought there by bicycle in my backpack, with his head sticking out to catch the gust of dusty wind. At the end of each trip, I discovered a small pile of doo-pellets in the bottom of my pack.

Alas, about a week later the same well-meaning neighbor, who we had since named my baby goat's godfather, brought him some grass from a tobacco field. Unknown to any of us, it was chemically treated with insecticides. Renato happily munched away, but about half an hour later he could no longer stand up. His legs collapsed beneath him and his neck twisted back. I called my host mother in alarm, who immediately diagnosed his illness: "He's been evil-eyed! He's been cursed by too much loving and petting!" (That happens to babies there sometimes.) But my host father quickly gave a counter-diagnosis. He'd been poisoned.

Despite all our efforts to make him throw up, pouring oil and milk down my poor baby's throat, he died within a short while. Seeing an animal poisoned is heart-breaking. The body twists up, the innocent eyes glaze over, and his life escapes before your eyes. The next morning, Renato's body was stiff. I buried him early in the day in a friend's garden plot, beneath the arched shade of a couple flowers.

I still think of him sometimes, my darling Renato with his black curly hair. I wonder about the goat he might have been, if fate had been kinder to him. I was happy to know him for a week."

His skill is extraordinary!

Yappy Hour @ Chateau Animaux

Bonnie, tell us how to make our dogs behave like yours!

Lara and I went to the second Saturday "Yappy Hour" at Chateau Animaux in Capitol Hill on Saturday. This is a space where dog owners can chat openly, pets can sniff freely, and delicious treats abound for all. The highlights of the events were:

1. Seeing the biggest dog of my life--a st. bernard that looked just like Falkor in the "NeverEnding Story" (more photos to follow)

2. Meeting pet coach Bonnie King-Taylor, aka the Doggy Lama, and her ridiculously well-trained dog Bartleby, a dalmatian/hound dog mix. She talked about keeping our pets happy during the holidays by controlling our own stress levels and buying them giant candy canes filled with cat nap. As Lara and I just purchased a cat nip-filled banana for our cat photography sessions, we felt we were on the right track.

3. As mentioned above, yet I feel I must repeat, they gave out really delicious treats for humans and dogs! The Chateau provides a classy spread of wine, cheese, and cookies (all I am going to say is chocolate chip rugula), as well as a platter of gourmet dog biscuits made in-house. My only other comment on this is that the dog biscuits were so delicious-looking and so strategically placed right next to the human cookie platter, that it made me wonder if good-humored store owner, Dennis Bourgault, wasn't plotting a holiday practical joke on attendees. If true, he would be immediately welcomed into my family for having the right kind of humor. Regardless, the Hannaukah dog biscuits with their little sugar-free icing yarmulkes were freaking adorable.

4. Finally, we got to meet Cocoa, a beautiful chocolate lab who was rescued by K9 Lifesavers and needs good home. K9 Lifesavers were holding a raffle to raise money for an operation on her torn ACL, which will cost more than $1,000. Adopt her! Or contact K9 or us for more information on how to contribute.


Lara and Cocoa agree that it feels good to make new friends.

Many thanks to la Chateau for inviting us to attend. If our calculations are correct, the next Yappy Hour will be held on January 10, 2009. Hope to see you there!

Birthday sisters

Liz looking lovely at my desk yesterday.

Happy Birthday to Liz! Most of my family have mid-December birthdays, so its only fitting that my roommate and close friend Liz should share a birthday (although she is slightly older and wiser).

Also, for anyone out there that likes astrology, my yoga teacher just told me that Obama's cabinet is highly Sagittarius--she said it was as high as 12 out of 15 appointees thus far. Obama is a Leo and Leos and Sagittariuses are supposed to get along incredibly well because Leos respect that fact that Sagittariuses are incapable of telling lies (and anyone who knows me will tell you this is true in my case). We also are very open-minded, idealistic, witty, and enterprising, and can be overly blunt without meaning to be.

Yea for 4 years of truthful, free spirits who say what they mean in the White House!

Gracy
www.houndstoothphotography.com

How about a little adorable to go with your Sunday?

Mary Wright (Bath, Ohio): Beagle Violinist
Copyright ©2001 The American Photography Museum, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Menagerie reader Jay Resnick forwarded me this online gallery from The American Museum of Photography. The pictures, which date as far back as the 1850's, show that our interest in photographing animals is not a current trend.

I was particularly taken by these bizzare and highly creative photo collages by Mary Wright from the 1950's made with antique calling cards. This next passage is taken from the website:

"Mary Wright was a breeder of Boston Terriers, but she had another keen interest as well: photocollage. In the 1940s and 1950s, she gathered old photographs and carefully replaced the heads of the human subjects with dog's heads. Because the new heads are halftones, we can safely presume they were cut from magazines or dog show programs. Wright's collages are highly exacting-- the heads match the figures in position and scale, and also seem to have just the right expressions. They offer a wry twist to the old claim that people and their dogs tend to look alike."

Maybe we'll have to give this technique a try. Any volunteers?

A sense of things to come

Peruvian Sheep.

I was listening to Metro Connection on NPR.org today while I was making lunch and was fascinated by the show they were doing on how many animals survive during the winter. Naturalist Mark Garland talked about how local aquatic frogs will spend the season in a state of near death as they float about in frigid water. They can only survive because their metabolism has slowed down enough that they can survive off of stored body mass and the oxygen expelled from the muddy floor.  When it gets warm again they need to act quickly to find food sources and restore their energy. Unfortunately, many frogs don't survive this impressive hibernation, yet year after year enough do emerge from Winter that the population continues. 

I hate being cold and usually feel a bit down as soon as it starts getting dark before 5 pm. However, this year it's helping me to learn more about our life cycles. The more I learn, the more I think that it's really important to have this time when most of the world slows off and dies down. Nature is forcing us all to take a break and save up our energy reserves for the coming Spring.  It's like, universal permission to sleep-in. 

This also makes sense when I start thinking about the economy.  In the United States we are used to continued growth all the time, even if it means pushing ourselves past our limits of health and safety. As scary as this economic turn is, it seems really natural to me that our economic cycles would follow an up and down pattern. Of course, this is more "down" than than anyone would want, but maybe if we can utilize this time to slow down and relearn about the how to enjoy a simplier life, the next cycle won't be so extreme. Or at least we will find the faith in ourselves that we can weather a hard time and still emerge to start a new season. 

Gracy

www.houndstoothphotography.com

Chickens!

Stuff we love

Have you all fallen in love with Google's new personalized themes? My favorite one is the Tea House which features an adorable fox who lives in a quaint tea house with surrounding peach tree-filled Japanese garden. He particularly inspires me with his industrious habits that he performs on a hourly basis, such as trimming his bonsai tree, feeding his ducks, practicing his calligraph on a scroll, and fishing in the nearby pond.  Occasionally he will even invite his monkey friend over to have a tiny cup of tea, which is a charming scene to say the least. One night while working late, I discovered that even while our little fox sleeps, you can watch the ghost foxes play board games outside. The scene changes according to the current time of day complete with sunsets (and possibly sunrises, although I have never been up early enough to check). 

At first, I was reluctant to choose a cartoon-based theme, however,  as I spend a good deal of time on email, the fox has won me over with his lovely world and calm demeanor.  As our world becomes increasingly virtual, it's nice to have a cozy background to my daily work.

Lara

www.houndstoothphotography.com 

Should we be scared?

I've never been one to be nervous around animals, but this article in New York magazine about a cat attacking a mall Santa Claus made me a little nervous.  Also, these pictures of cats on a leash made me laugh at first, but then I clicked between pictures 3 and 4 and I understood why they not be allowed to roam freely. 

Even this picture of an adorable red panda seemed more aggressive than normal.

Are animals feeling our collective stress right now or are we just putting them in environments where they don't belong? Most people I know don't like going to malls during the holidays, which makes me think maybe we should spare our animals. 

Lucky for us, we get to photograph sweet cats like Mr. Moochie (pictured above). He was excited to show off his tarantula costume and then eager to get back to his my friend Catherine's room with all his cat toys. So much for ferocious. 

Mesmerizing

Look at this site to see people who take dog grooming to another level. My favorites are the camel and the ninja turtle.

Eight cats a leaping...

Gracie jumps!

Our session today with a this 12 week-old kitten named Gracie raises our collection of animals named "Gracie" featured on this site to a grand total of three (four if we include human animals who spell their names with a "y"). Like the others, this Gracie comes from a rescue background--she was discovered in a storm drain when she was 3 weeks-old--and now spends her day enjoying treats, naps, and the occasional patch of sunlight. However, this Gracie distinguishes herself by her unparalleled leaping and jumping skills, as well as her overall endurance to play throughout the entire photo shoot without resting once. Feline Olympics look out!

Gracie with her lovely and resourceful owners, Krista and Matt.

The other side of the camera

Gracy (left) with Mongo, Lara, and China (on the grass)

The very talented DC wedding photographer Michael Bonfigli took these pictures of Lara and I (with sweet Mongo and China) the other day at Meridian Hill/Malcolm X park. He did such a great job of capturing both us and the animals that we are now officially considering him competition (just kidding Michael--we would be so lucky). Check out his website and be prepared to drool over some great documentary wedding photography.

Song of the lyre bird

Check out this YouTube clip of a lyre bird imitating camera shutters and chainsaws, in addition to his bird neighbors. David Attenborough is a pretty neat animal to watch as well. Nature, when are you going to quit amazing us?

Beagle-mania!

Oliver (left) and Gracie.

It was a happy assignment for Lara and I to photograph Gracie and Oliver, two seasoned and adorable beagles. We had a bit of frolic at Rock Creed Park with their owners, Katie and Damon, and got to hear a bit more about Oliver's astonishing history.

The story goes like this. Oliver was picked up as a stray when he was two years old. They think he was a hunting dog who wandered away from the pack or was left because of his shy nature (he remains terrified of of all loud noises, and intelligently groups balloons and some toddlers into that category). When the shelter picked him up, he had been surviving alone in the woods for at least a few months and was so underweight that his spine and hip bones protruded through his sandy fur. When Katie and Damon found Oliver on petfinder.org, he was already past due for euthanization date. They immediately hopped in the car and drove two hours to pick him up. Once home, it took three baths before they found out that his fur was really white in places, and another week before he could keep down solid food.


Katie and Damon with Gracie (left) and Oliver.

Now weighing in at a lean 37 lbs, the only reminder of Oliver's past are the fine scars on his face, which I think he wears with a quiet dignity. And he's an awesome pet, Katie attests.

She writes:

We've had Oliver for six years now, and he is the sweetest dog I have ever known. He sleeps under the covers with us every night, sometimes waking us up with his loud snoring. He loves to roll around on his back on the carpet or drag his belly across the carpet to scratch an itch. Gracie likes to groom him and Oliver will patiently sit while she licks his face and ears. Unfortunately he has the typical beagle food-obsession and curiosity; some of the things I've caught him eating include socks, a battery, a dollar bill, a lightbulb, several pairs of shoes, 2 lbs of Oreo cookies, and countless amounts of cheese and crackers he's stolen off the table at parties. He fiercely protects our house and bravely attacks the mail as it comes through the mail slot.

Hearing Oliver's heroic tale further confirmed our idea of beagles as the ultimate underdogs, as demonstrated by Uno's victory at Westminster and the great beagle escape. Beagles teach us that tenacity and weathering hard times is more important than fancy tricks when it comes to really succeeding. They are the role model that we all need to have right now, and if only they didn't have all that dander, I'd say a beagle would be the perfect first dog.

Sasha then and now.

I found this old picture of Sasha taken 3 1/2 years ago and it made me go "awww." Currently weighing in at 115 lbs, she's grown just a tad since then.

Today I am grateful for:

-The love and support of all my loved ones (both the human and animal variety)

-Doing work that I love and believe in

-How adaptable our country is to change and innovation

-The Johnny Cash and June Carter duets playing from my iTunes right now

-The abundance of food that is available to us (I'm most excited for the pies today)

-Houndstooth Photography--that the dream has finally become a reality!

I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

What the Dog Perhaps Hears

What the Dog Perhaps Hears

If an inaudible whistle
blown between our lips
can send him home to us,
then silence is perhaps
the sound of spiders breathing
and roots mining the earth;
it may be asparagus heaving,
headfirst, into the light
and the long brown sound
of cracked cups, when it happens.

We would like to ask the dog
if there is a continuous whir
because the child in the house
keeps growing, if the snake
really stretches full length
without a click and the sun
breaks through clouds without
a decibel of effort,
whether in autumn, when the trees
dry up their wells, there isn't a shudder
too high for us to hear.

What is it like up there
above the shut-off level
of our simple ears?

For us there was no birth cry,
the newborn bird is suddenly here,
the egg broken, the nest alive,
and we heard nothing when the world changed

--by Lisel Mueller


***

Check out the pregnant seahorse on this site--amazing photo.

My Grandmother's Furniture

One thing I've always had going for me is good timing. My move last year into a 100 year-old row house in LeDroit Park coincided perfectly with my grandmothers transfer into a smaller apartment in her retirement home. A generous woman with impeccable taste, she offered me two roomfulls of beautifully-preserved antiques. As a dedicated Navy wife, my grandmother lovingly moved this furniture all over the United States and Guam without so much as a scratch on her oak clawed foot end tables. The day of the move, she explained to me once more how hard my great-grandmother had worked to hand-embroidered the cushions of the dining room chairs. I saw her nervousness at giving her free-spirited granddaughter these family relics, and although I have never been much of a housekeeper, I vowed that I would care for her gift. 

A year later, I still am trying hard to protect my family heirlooms. I am proud of my signature move of sliding a coaster under a dripping glass so quickly that my guests don't even notice.   Still, much to my horror, I sometimes listen as my mothers voice escapes from my lips and asks a good friend to take her feet off the couch. Yep, with my grandmother's gift comes the knowledge of how time is laughing at me for thinking I would be different than my parents. Yet, as the only professional artist in my family history, I think that I am starting something new. Which is probably why I recently began to fantasize about  using the lovely pink silk chair in my bedroom for a Houndstooth's portrait.  Upon waking this summer, I'd lovingly stare at it, and then promptly imagine the disappointment in my grandmother's eyes.  

Then came a brisk Sunday morning with perfect sunlight was streaming in through the windows. I had woken up feeling brave and was just finishing a photo session outside with joyful Vidalia and her very sweet owner, Amy, when it the thought occurred to me that we could just try a few test shots.  I glanced at Vidialia, a pit-bull mix, who in her rather dignified way had kept her paws quite clean.  This was going to work. I took a deep breath, spread the thin blue scarf out over the smooth cushion, and asked a silent pardon from my generations past. With Amy's help, Vidalia hopped right up and started posing for the camera. As you can see in the picture, she definitely has an inner supermodel that was waiting to come out. 

I'm starting to understand that the true value of all material objects lies in the memories they evoke for us--and those memories are tied back to the people and animals that share our lives. When one undertakes the understanding that a life well lived is one in which furniture sometimes gets ripped or stained or finally just withers away with use of time, then the most practical thing to do is make a piece of art, which can last for a great deal longer.  An art lover herself, I think my grandmother would actually agree with me, and if not, I find comfort in the fact that she has never quite taken to using the internet. 

P.S.--Congratulations to Amy, who recently got engaged in a very romantic, tropical location!

Rolling in the grass.

Sasha is not worrying about much of anything. 

Welcome to the Menagerie! Lara and I are starting this blog to go further into the lives of our customers and tell hilarious and inspiring stories about sharing our lives with our pets.  Please send stories, pet events, and photographs that you would like featured to houndstoothphotography@gmail.com.

I'll go first. A couple of weeks ago, I went to visit my father's house in Virginia during the last licks of summer.  Leaving the city always makes life seem a little simpler and it helps to satisfy my persistent craving to spend more time in nature. There is a very pretty lake close to their suburban neighborhood, so I leashed up my father's exuberant pair of Greater Swiss Mountain dogs, Cat and Sasha, for a much-needed walk around Huntsman Lake--just five minutes from the house I grew up in.  

Allow me to clarify, I used to say that I was just giving them much-needed exercise, but I've lately come to realize that the walk is just as therapeutic for me.  Walking around Huntsman Lake doesn't solve my problems, but it does soften my attitude and strengthen my faith that things tend to work out in life, if I give them some space and expect the best. 

I walked around this lake so many times growing up, with a number of beloved dogs, but Sasha is by far my favorite exuberant companion. She's a lover with boundless energy and an impressive stride. She takes off optimistically after every squirrel through the verdant foliage, forgetting that she has never caught one, not even once.  Despite my cries of protest, she runs directly into the lake and undoes all of my father's wife's efforts to keep her bathed.  It's impossible for her not to have fun.

On this particular day, a day when the economy of our country look like it was tumbling down without the safety net we had always been promised, Sasha, in her typical fashion, wouldn't have any of my worry. I'd fall back worrying about what would happen if my parents lost their jobs, and Sasha would turn back to bark at me.  It was like she was saying, "Hey, catch up! Where is your head? Don't you know where you are? Have you forgotten how unbelievably fun it is to run and bark and drink water when you get thirsty?"

Seeing her frolic with such abandon helped me to start paying attention. It was a beautiful afternoon that was slowly fading to dusk, with slips of warm sunlight falling through the cracks in the treetops.  There was clean air to breathe and roasted squash with blue cheese and pine nuts waiting for me back at the house. I was healthy and surrounded by the friends, family, and animals that I loved.  Money might be a concern in the future but it wasn't in that moment. In that moment everything was okay and it was my choice of whether I was going to enjoy it or miss out by worrying. I returned back to the house clearer and calmer, and throughly enjoyed my cozy evening with my family.

Sasha may drool an awful lot, but she is a great teacher and consistent friend.

Wishing you all many warm and grateful evenings with your loved ones in this autumn season!

Gracy