Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

Gratuitous dog promotion

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Maybe even slightly pointless dog promotion, because Axe is currently on “summer vacation” and won’t be back strutting his stuff and playing the showdog game until fall. So I will be promoting him again right before he goes out on the road.

For now, though, I am still going to make you look at my wonderful dog’s latest advertisement which will be running in Issue 2 of The Total Rottweiler Magazine, due out sometime in July. Behold the beauty that is Axe!

axel_trm_issue2_09

click image for full-sized PDF version

I said last week that I would have more to say on show dogs and handlers, after the awful incident in which seven show dogs died due to what I would consider criminally negligent actions on the part of their handler.

Axel’s handler, Julia Foster, is a total professional. Axel adores her and thinks she is family, not “just” someone who is paid to show him (please do not let him read this and spoil his illusions). I trust her with not only his career, but his life. I could not imagine her ever putting client dogs in an awful situation like the one we talked about last week.

I would love to be able to show my own dog, but this is not an area in which I have any talent or skills. I have almost tripped over my own dog in the obedience ring. God knows what would happen in the conformation ring where I’d have to actually run with a dog. Competition in Rottweilers is serious enough that even a good and deserving dog won’t win with a clueless person like myself on the other end of the lead.

So in the fall, Axel will be heading back out to the shows with Julia, and hopefully he will come back quickly as an American champion. Yes, it was a big decision to send him out with a handler, and yes, I still believe it is the right one for us.

(NaBloPoMo | June ’09: 29 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 156 of 274)

Where were you when…

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During the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death last week by the mainstream and “new” media and around the blogosphere (you know, I really don’t like that word), there were more than a few instances where people said “I will always remember where I was when I heard the news of Michael Jackson’s passing.”

For me personally, it was not a “where were you when…” moment. I always thought those should be reserved for, well, more historical moments than the passing of an entertainer, no matter how significant. But then again, who am I to say what should be important to you?

The events in my lifetime that I would consider my “where were you when…” moments include President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 (five years old, home from school, adults all in shock, all of us glued to television or radio), astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon in 1969 (another glued to the television moment), the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 (working midnights, in a bar after work that morning, watching the news, then dead silence and someone dropped a glass and it seemed to shatter forever) and 9-11-2001. There are many other historical or personally significant moments that occurred between 1960 and now, but those are the few I consider most significant.

There were also a number of comparisons between Elvis Presley’s death and Michael Jackson’s death. August 1977 was the summer after my freshman year in college. That is a long time ago, and I don’t really consider it a “where were you when…” moment, but I do remember it well enough to marvel at how the internet and social media has really changed how many of us get our news.

I first heard of Elvis’ death in the car on the radio, and got more of the story later on television and from the newspaper. I first heard of Michael Jackson’s death on Twitter, and maybe it was just the old people like me who were also tweeting that we were waiting to hear it confirmed by some “real” media, which apparently means someone other than TMZ. I was leaving work, so my “real” media confirmation came from the CBS affiliate radio station WBBM rather than any of the usual online sources.

Hmmmm. So maybe things haven’t changed as much as I thought. But it is still fascinating how many of us got our initial report on Twitter, and went to other online sources first to get more information. We did turn on the television at work, but most of our hunt for news was done online.

(NaBloPoMo | June ’09: 28 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 155 of 274)

Terabytes!

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I just added a Seagate FreeAgent 1.5 TB, as in one and a half terabytes, or 1,536 gigabytes, external hard drive to our home setup. The plan is to finally organize our glut of digital “stuff”: photos, music, fonts, documents. There are also many non-digital photos that I’d like to scan and save. I wonder how long it will take us to fill up this drive?

Something that is probably amazing only to those of us who have been around a while (translate: old) is that this amount of storage cost less than $150. If you are old enough to remember a 20 MB (not a typo, I do mean MB as in megabyte) drive costing twice that, an inexpensive 1.5 TB drive is amazing indeed.

(NaBloPoMo | June 09: 27 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 154 of 274)

Killer heat: don’t let it get you and yours

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Once again, we didn’t ease into summer here in Chicago. We went from still needing sweaters or jackets in late May straight to some dangerously humid and hot 90-plus degree days. When the extreme heat arrives, so do some unfortunate incidents where babies, the elderly and pets succumb to the heat. Sadly, at least some of these incidents were completely preventable.

The saddest stories are those of children or animals locked in cars, windows cracked or not, and left enclosed long enough to cause heat-related illnesses, often followed by death. We are not even at the hottest part of the summer yet, and already there have been several stories that made the national news. Two such items happened earlier this week.

This past Tuesday afternoon in North Fort Worth, TX, a 21-year-old mother left her 2-month-old daughter locked inside her car while she shopped at Wal-Mart. Thanks to a woman who noticed the baby in the car, and her father who called 911 and broke out the back window to get the baby to safety, this story had a mostly happy ending.

The other story did not have a happy ending at all. Eight show dogs were left in a cargo van overnight by the professional handler who had shown them last weekend. The handler claimed to have set up electric fans, left the van doors open and checked on the dogs during the night. Unlikely. On Monday morning, the dogs were in severe distress. Seven of the dogs died of heat stroke, and the eighth, as of this writing, is still in critical condition.

EDITED: to add update links from the St. Louis paper:
6/25 update to story
6/26 update to story
6/28 update to story
7/3 update to story
7/6 update to story

to add links from The Dog Press:
7/24: Mary Wild Kills 8 Dogs
7/27: Dog Handler Charged

to add contact information for Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office from Kinship Circle:
7/4/09: Seven Dogs Perish, Trapped Inside Hot Van

I am horrified at any incident where a baby or child is put in danger in a hot, locked car. I am mystified at one of Oprah’s shows this week, where the main guest was a woman who “forgot” her baby in the car for eight hours, and the theme was not “baby killer” but more like “stressed out moms who make mistakes.” Since I am not a mother myself, I guess I should not say more than that.

But I am a showdog mom, and the story of the “professional” handler who put her clients’ dogs in harm’s way hits me hard because I can actually imagine being one of the dog owners who got that awful call. Or in this case, the courtesy of a call wasn’t even given to some of the dog owners, who had to find out via the news media that their beloved dogs were dead.

I’ll probably have more to say on show dogs and handlers later. But right now, since temperatures are still in the red zone, stay cool and stay safe with some tips from The Weather Channel and the American Kennel Club.

For humans, The Weather Channel has a number of summer safety and health articles. Extreme Heat Health Emergency tells us what to do for these heat-related ailments:
Heat cramps: Rest in a cool place, drink cool water (or juice or a sports drink), and avoid strenuous activity for a few hours.
Heat exhaustion: Rest in a cool place, loosen clothing and apply cool damp cloths (or take a cool shower), and drink cool beverages. Seek medical attention if nausea occurs.
Heat stroke: CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT GIVE LIQUIDS. Cool the victim as swiftly as possible in a cool bath or shower, or with a garden hose.

The Weather Channel also has some pet related health and safety article, as does the American Kennel Club’s website. Check out their Summer Safety Tips, particularly on how to recognize the signs of heat stroke:

Early stages: Heavy panting, rapid breathing, excessive drooling, bright red gums and tongue, standing 4-square, posting or spreading out in an attempt to maintain balance.
Advanced stages: White or blue gums, lethargy, unwillingness to move, uncontrollable urination or defecation, labored, noisy breathing, shock.

Get the dog to a vet immediately, and in the meantime, cool it down:
– Apply rubbing alcohol to the dog’s paw pads.
– Apply ice packs to the groin area.
– Hose down with water.
– Allow the dog to lick ice chips or drink a small amount of water.
– Offer Pedialyte to restore electrolytes.

(NaBloPoMo | June ’09: 26 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 153 of 274)

Another bit of my youth is gone

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Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away today, and with them went another little bit of my youth.

Farrah’s passing was expected. We all watched her fight against cancer, and her work at educating the public about colorectal cancer and its prevention, and we are still hugely saddened at the inevitable outcome. Even more so for the many of us whose family and friends have also faced and beaten, or not beaten, cancer. And at age 62, she was far too young to have to leave this world.

We knew her first from “that” poster. Not too many guys around my age didn’t have that poster back then. I was totally blown away by something from an interview in Time magazine with poster photographer Bruce McBroom. He said “Farrah didn’t like the way she looked in a bikini.” Wow. Farrah. Slender, athletic, beautiful, and *she* didn’t like how she looked in a bikini? Wow.

Michael’s passing was a complete and total shock. He was my age. My. Age. We listened to the Jackson 5 all through elementary and junior high school. Tiger Beat and 15 gave him equal heartthrob billing with Donny Osmond. I still love listening to the old stuff (“I’ll Be There” is my favorite, in case anyone was wondering).

The image of who he grew up to be is just so at odds with the image I prefer to keep in my memory: the young man fronting the Jackson 5, with a natural look and not who and what he surgically morphed into later. Michael Jackson was an extremely talented, but troubled and fragile individual who left this world far too soon.

(NaBloPoMo | June ’09: 25 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 152 of 274)