City Dog - 26-27/52

For all of her issues, Iris is actually really good about walking in a city.  Back when I was doing a lot of night photography in Boston for the virtual tour company, Iris and I did a lot of city walking.  She relaxed about negotiating crowds and not at all phased by city sounds and smells.  She greeted everyone she met very politely (something about her seems to attract attention.  Maybe because she's a merle?  Everyone asks to pet her).  The only trick is that I do have to cross the street to avoid sharing the sidewalk with another dog.  Because I was photographing storefronts, even that wasn't too much of an issue.  We really only encountered a few other dogs when passing through more residential areas.  Other than that, she handles cities like a champ.

Repetition - 26/52

I thought it would be fun to take Iris into downtown Lowell for some photos.  She loves getting to explore new places.  She was in her element, and she even got to stop and visit with a group of elderly women sitting on a park bench.  I think Iris made their day and Iris, of course, was thrilled to be the center of attention.

City Slicker - 27/52

She was less excited about having her photo taken.  Definitely not as much fun as walking!  You can tell because she started making funny faces at the camera.  Just to make her point.

The Fort - 25/52

Iris loves to lay underneath things.  Under the dining room table, under the computer desk, under the coffee table...  Iris doesn't actually fit under the coffee table.

 The Fort - 25/52

Back when I first brought Iris home, I had a coffee table that she could crawl under, and she loved it.  It was her "safe spot," her fort.  She pretty much lived under the coffee table for those first few days because she was so stressed.  When we moved, I ended up with a lower coffee table, so she can't quite crawl all the way under it.  I bought her a fluffy dog bed thinking that I could convince her to sleep there instead of under the coffee table.  Nope!  She still loves to lay with just her head under the coffee table.  Sometimes she's just weird.

Updates - 22-24/52

I just realized that it's been months since I've posted anything here.  I suppose you're due for an Iris update!

Iris is doing well.  Still having seizures once every four weeks.  Sigh.  At least I've gotten used to it.  She's had some allergy problems over the summer, but seems to be doing a lot better now with the cooler weather!  Other than that, she's been pretty healthy.  I've been so busy with job hunting and working on the photography business, we haven't really gotten out of the house much this summer.  Lucky for me as Iris has gotten older, she's gotten less demanding about physical and mental exercise.  She seems pretty happy to act as my foot warmer while I work on the computer.  I was hoping to get her out for a hike this afternoon, but I think we're supposed to get some thunder showers.  Maybe we'll have to put that off until tomorrow.

I'm also way overdue for a photo update!  If you follow my photography blog, you've probably seen a lot of these already.  I really want to keep track all the Iris photos in one place so that at the end of the year I can print them all in one album.  Hopefully I won't bore anyone too much with repeats!  Here's a 52 weeks update...

 

Bling - 22/52

Iris' fancy dog tag, because even though she's not particularly "girly," a girl still needs her bling!  Not only does her tag have my contact info on it, it also says "EPILEPSY - NEEDS MEDICATION."  Hopefully if she ever does get lost, whoever finds her will make the extra effort to get her back to me quickly.  At the very least, it would give a veterinarian a starting point for treating her.

 

Show Time - 23/52

Yeah, she's the princess alright. Also, she's a bossy bitch.  I'm pretty sure that if she could control the remote, she would!  Actually, she's being a REALLY good dog in that photo.  That bag is actually full of popcorn.  I told her to "leave it" so she not looking at it (it's like she knows if she looks at it, she won't be able to control herself.  Too cute!)  Yes, she did get a few pieces of popcorn for being so good!

 
Polka Dots - 24/52

 The focus isn't perfect in the polka dots photo, but I just love the look on her face.  I swear she's thinking "Oh, this again..."  Sometimes she's less than thrilled about having her photo taken.  Actually, she trained me pretty well.  If i try to take her photo without any treats as a bribe, she gives he the most tortured expression.  You'd swear I was trying to steal her soul with my little back box.  If I grab my camera and some treats, she turn into Iris the supermodel.  She's all, "make sure you get my good.  Maybe you'd like me to tilt my head a bit?  Is that better?"  Ready to work, loves her photoshoots.  But she does not work for free.  Diva?  Maybe a bit.

I still have a few more photos to add.  Hopefully later this weekend!

Supervising - 21/52

This is what Iris looks like when she's trying to see over my shoulder to supervise everything that's going on in the condo complex (leash edited out...)  She's not actually looking at the camera, and she's definitely not happy that I'm blocking her view!

Supervising - 21/52

Also, she's started ignoring me when I say her name.  That might be my fault.  I talk to her all the time and use her name a lot when I don't actually care if she's paying attention or not.  Maybe it's time to train a new word that means "look at me."

Vintage Pup - 20/52

My poor red dog is really not happy with all of the heat we've been getting.  Neither are the crested geckos for that matter.  We've got the AC on low and ice packs on tanks for the geckos (they're reptiles that don't make sense...  they like it fairly cool), which means we need heat lamps for the beaded dragon and the ball python.

Poor Iris says "What about me?"  Climate control for the herps and not the Aussie?  I think she'd prefer the AC on high.  If you look close, you can see the drool on her chin.

Vintage Dog - 20/52

I love the look of old black and white photos.  Since I don't have a darkroom, this one was done in Photoshop.

The Clock - 19/52

I debated about whether or not to include this photo, but it didn't seem right to skip over this aspect of life with Iris.

The Clock - 19/52

Every eight hours, I pick up the pill bottles.  That's the clock that our lives run on.

Iris comes running every time she hears me pick up the bottles.  I hide her pills inside a little bit of peanut butter.  Or canned food.  Either way, she comes running whenever she hears anyone in the house pick up any bottle of pills.  We joke that she has a drug seeking problem.  Although I'm pretty sure she just can't understand why humans don't hide their pills in peanut butter.

Life's Details - 18/52

Having a dog really does change all the details in your life. The first thing I do in the morning is take Iris out. Then she gets her pills and I make her breakfast. All this before I do anything resembling taking care of myself. Vacation? Planned around whether I can bring the dog. Day trips? Iris is included. Grocery shopping generally includes buying more meat than you would ever expect a vegetarian to purchase. Even the furniture in the house is arranged to better accommodate crates and dog beds. Yup, dogs really do change all the details. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Details - 18/52

I knew I wanted to do a photo with Iris' paw and my hand, so I ended up taking about 40 shots, all somewhat different variations.  Iris was really not impressed with sitting through that many photos.  After all that, of course I ended up using the second photo I shot (don't tell Iris!)  Someday I'll learn to trust myself.