Zeke's Relations

Although this looks like Zeke, this is actually his mother and brother in Monterey last weekend.



Remi (Zeke's mom) is on the right and Riley (Zeke's lookalike brother) is on the left. Ed (Remi and Riley's owner and breeder) says that Riley is well behaved but pretty vocal. Apparently, the shenanigan gene skipped him.

New Dog

My dad got a new dog.



Cooper is about 10 weeks old.

Dogs on the Roof

As you might have guessed by my sidebar or the general absence of posts, I am traveling again. With some new pages sewn into my passport and a shiny new Indian visa, I left last Sunday for Mumbai (through Zurich). I'm staying in the Land's End neighborhood of Mumbai (this being the end of the island that sticks out in the sea) which is pretty interesting. A case in point:

While not as scary as Snakes on a Plane, the dogs who live on the roof of my hotel are far more interesting. I have no idea how they get up there, but I do know that they love it. They sit on the edge of the roof and look out at the sea, bark at passing people and generally have a good time. They are just a few of the hoardes of stray dogs that inhabit Mumbai (even more than the number of stray cows). More interestingly, they all seem to be exactly the same mixed breed.

Also interesting in this picture is what you see in the background. The abdonded hotel that you see (SeaRock Hotel) was one of the sites hit during the terrorist bombings in 1993. In a strange coincidence, a Bollywood actor was sentenced to six years in prison for his part in that bombing this week.

Before I left for Kuala Lumpur today, I went out to the old fort next to the hotel.

Skull And Crossbones

So I know what it means when people ask you to Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. And I know what it means when you wake up with a horse's head in your bed. But what does it mean if you wake up and find a coyote's skull in your dog bed ?



I think Louie's may be pissing someone off.

Japan (Condensed Version)

Since I couldn't post effectively from Tokyo last week, I bundled up my thoughts from the four days in this one post:

1. I awaken after my first night in Tokyo at the obscene hour of 4:30 AM. I had forgotten to close my blinds and by some bizarre custom, the Japanese find it neat to have sunrise before 5 AM. However, as much as the sun in my eyes was annoying, I think it was actually the sounds of dogs barking that woke me up. Although it seemed normal at the time (since I have loud dogs at home), after actually getting up I was somewhat puzzled. Especially since I was 27 stories up in the middle of downtown Tokyo. A quick look out the window solved my mystery:
   Yeah, the Japanese have a dog park on the top of a building near mine. Of course.


2. It was a beautiful day and we wanted to get out of Tokyo, so I got dressed.
   This view is west away from Shibuya.


3. We took the train two hours out to see Mount Fuji (Fujiyoshida, Japan). It was incredible. A tour bus drove us around the lakes (there are five lakes around the mountain) and we got some good pictures.
   


4. Stopped by MOS burger. MOS burger is the In-N-Out Burger of Japan. Their teryaki burger is quite good.
   


5. After getting back from Mount Fuji, we got a few drinks up in the bar. This is the same view as earlier.
   

Forty Two

Happy 6th Birthday, Zekerdog.

DogCar

Sometimes you go riding around town with your brother looking for a coffeehouse and you see this:Dogs atop cars are definitely an under appreciated art form.

Snow Dogs

Since both Shelley and I were off work today, we decided to take a trip up the hill with the dogs. Unfortunately, the wind and snow was pretty fierce above the snow line (around Pollock Pines) so we stopped short of Lake Tahoe. We made it to Kyburz, where the snow was blowing but Zeke was super happy.

Zeker in the Snow, originally uploaded by /k.

Bad Dog

I saw this t-shirt design over on Threadless and thought of Louiedog. Unfortunately, sold out for men.

Xmas Card Photo Day

Today was Christmas card photo day for the dogs. Unfortunately, neither one of them were particularly in the mood for it (and since it was only 45F, I wasn't either). However, I did manage to grab a good shot of Zeke.

It almost rivals the Louie Sky picture that I posted in August.

Louie On The Mend

Sick Louie
Originally uploaded by /k.

Louie dog has had a rough few weeks. Two weeks ago, he fell ill late on a Friday night. Although he had been fine all day, around 11 pm, he got up off the couch, tried to walk out the dog door, puked his guts out and then fell into shock. I rushed him to the emergency veterinary clinic, but they couldn't really figure out what was wrong with him. After stabilizing him around 2 AM, we decided to operate and he had a emergency laprodectomy (I didn't spell this right) around 8 AM Saturday. Basically, they opened Louie up to check out his lower vital organs. They didn't find the perforated large intestine like they thought, but his kidneys were enlarged and inflamed. After two days of touch or go, Louie popped right out of his funk (probably due to the anti-biotic he was on) and was more or less fine.

Today, Louie finally got to trade in his cape and have his surgical staples removed. In another week or two, he should be back out chasing his tennis ball. The only lasting effects will be a large ugly scar down his abdomen, which should be covered once his tummy fur grows back.

Still don't have any idea what caused the kidney problems. His tests all came back negative (cancer, poison, infection, etc.), so they think he might have eaten something.

The picture above is Louie dog today after his staple removal.

Louie Year 3

Louie Sky
Originally uploaded by /k.

Happy 3rd (or 4th or 5th) Birthday, Louie dog.

Take Your Dog To Work Day

So last Friday was "Take Your Dog To Work Day". Unfortunately, I don't go to work. So I invited Zeke to spend the day in my den with me. Zeke declined, preferring the cool tile in the kitchen.

Lab Side Car

Lab Side Car
Originally uploaded by /k.

These may be the happiest Labrador Retrievers in the entire world.

Zeke is Five

Zeker 5
Originally uploaded by /k.

Happy Fifth Birthday, Zekerdog!