Sea Dog?

Sea Dog?

Dog Blog Post #2490

I wish the scarf was at least another foot longer. The sailor collar actually sits very nicely on Henry, but the shortness of the scarf pulls everything up.

Had I thought about it for a moment (instead of panicking at 9pm when I finally finished collar/scarf and still needed to get the picture) I would have just cut the scarf in two in back and used clips/ribbon to get some extra length.

On the bright side, the collar itself actually sits very nicely on Henry.

Once again, I didn't have a pattern, although I do have a pattern making text book that showed what such a collar would look like - for a human.

This is the now-standard curved V-collar, with a sailor collar added, once again created from flannel.

I spent... ~1.5 hours trying to figure out how to make a pattern for the collar. After 1.25 hours I finally cut out my best guess from fancy pattern-making interfacing.

When I laid it on Henry, I immediately realized it wasn't going to work. Thankfully it was also immediately obvious what I needed to do to fix it.

My second attempt (which looks shockingly close to what was in the text book!) was what I used for the final collar.

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 2399. "Honor"

Our Daily Challenge - May 26, 2018 - "Remembrance"

A stretch, I know, but my father, brothers, and various other relatives did serve in the Navy.

Pretty sure none of them looked this cute. :)

100x : 2018 - #45

Curvaceous Henry

Henry is always a bit unsettled when posed facing away from the camera. He is well aware of which way he should be facing, and this clearly isn't it.

Knowing his discomfort, I plopped the ramekin of Cookies between his front paws. He won't eat them (he's a good boy) but it does seem to make him feel better to have them nice and close.

After all, with the Cookies right in front of him what's the point of turning around?

At least, that's what I hope he's thinking.

I'm sitting to the right, smushed up against the cabinets, just out of sight of the camera.

There is a certain irony to him having a pile of Cookies between his paws and yet he's staring lovingly at the lone Cookie in my hand.

I've lowered the flash to about 18" off the ground and flipped the reflector around dark-side out to create some lovely shadows.

Daily Dog Challenge 2400. "Curves"

Henry is no cat, but with a bit of encouragement he can produce a satisfactory curve or two.

It's nearly impossible to manually move Henry's body parts into position due to his strong opposition reflex (aside from his paws) so this pose was created with some fancy hand waving on my part - literally, as his head follows my hand (with a Cookie) and his body follows his head.

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© 2018 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Newsdog?

Newsdog Henry

Dog Blog Post 2489

I made this Newsboy hat today, and I must say I'm thrilled with how it came out.

I didn't have a pattern, but was able to construct something with paper and compass from what I was gleaned from online.

This is black flannel. I ultimately want to make one from the remains from the denim collar, but I don't have much left and wasn't at all sure my handmade pattern was going to work out.

I guess the only change I would make is to use something heavier for the stiffener in the brim, although it does drape nicely over Henry's muzzle, so perhaps it's for the best.

At the moment, I have a piece of paper towel stuffed in the crown to puff it up a bit, but some black net would probably be safer. A fix for another day.

I sewed the denim collar a few weeks ago - a relative of the police collar - but with a modified shirt collar (I like this one better) and an opened front. Yes, I know, it needs buttons. I haven't had a chance to get to the fabric store!

The background fabric was a spur-of-the-moment choice, as my usual black velvet wasn't going to work with a black hat! I've used this fabric before, and it photographs well, but it is rather prone to creasing. :(

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 2398. "Blue"

118 Pictures in 2018 - #102. "Denim"

Henry: "I make this look good."

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Cookie Brigade

Henry the Hypnotist?

Dog Blog Post #2488

How does he get them to do that???

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 2388. "In a Row"

118 Pictures in 2018 - #37. Leading Lines

Henry: "I found it!"

Hubby started teaching Henry a new game.

"Find the Hedgehog"

This is a game we played with Beau when he was growing up as an Only Dog. The rules are simple. Henry stays. Hubby hides the Hedgehog. Henry is released to Find It! Lather, rise, repeat.

Apparently, Henry was enthusiastic about the Hedgehog itself - a new toy for him, but a bit hazy on the fact he needs to LOOK for it.

Don't worry, Henry is a quick learner and I'm sure he'll have it figured out in no time.

After the game was over, we look around for where to put the poor well-slimed critter. Beau's Hedgehog (long ago retired) lived in shoebox, with a hole cut on the end as a "door", high up in the bookcase - well out of reach.

Since the box was also long retired, I suggested we put Hedgehog on a sock (remember that "slimy" bit) up high while we considered our options.

Here's Henry, staring up lovingly at the little guy.

Looks like the start of a beautiful friendship.

Mr. Hedgehog

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© 2018 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Aubridge Ready 4 Action (3/12/2008 - 5/15/2018)

Mr. Zachary

Smart. Fun. A consummate retriever.

Easy to train, a pleasure to be around, and always the Golden Temperament for which the breed is so famous.

I've taken thousands of pictures of him, but the one above, taken just last month, seemed to sum him up the best.

I have no idea how many tricks he knew - a lot!

He could empty the dryer into a basket, pull a laundry basket, throw paper into a garbage can, "tap" the Easy Button, close cupboard doors, bring toys, "Find it!", spin, high-five (his favorite), bow, roll over, wave, shake (either paw), plus all the usuals... and that's just off the top of my head.

Photoshoots were one of the highlights of the day. New props, new poses, and most of... Cookies!

Cookies, Bitey-Face, walks... the usual doggie things... were high on list of things to do, and were all tackled with much enthusiasm.

We chose Zachary because we felt he would have enough energy to keep up with Beau yet still get along.

We chose well.

Dog Blog Post #2487

We lost Zachary on Tuesday. Hemangeosarcoma. We had no idea.

With luck we will get a puppy for Henry this summer - something we had already been planning for some time. Of course, there are no guarantees.

We can only cross our fingers and hope our breeder's girls have a boy puppy just right for us.

A vet I never met sent the following to me after we lost Beau:

"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle; easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we would still live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan."

-- Irvin Townsend

I loved it so much I added it the bottom of this blog at the time.

I think it's good to remind ourselves at times like this that the alternative to the pain of losing them is never having had the joying of knowing them at all.

Photography Assignment

One Last Round of Bitey-Face

Safe journey sweet boy. Give Beau our love.

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© 2018 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Safety First

Zachary: "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go."
Henry: "He he he"

Dog Blog Post #2486

"You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!"

Or my Studio (kitchen).

Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 2381. "Twilight Zone"

Our Daily Challenge - May 11, 2018 - "Red, Orange, Yellow"

118 Pictures in 2018 - #60. "Construction"

My, what a happy pair of Construction workers!

Their collars are Constructions of my own, assembled from orange fleece, yellow seam binding, and genuine reflective ribbon.

This might possibly be my most successful sewn collar yet, as compared to the real deal.

It is my original straight-V collar pattern, cut wide, with one end curved for the overlap up front and all raw edges covered in seam binding.

For the reflective ribbon, I first sewed seam binding to be sides, then stitched the combination to the plain collar, then finally added seam binding around the outside edges.

I find seam binding rather boring to sew on, and therefore tend to avoid it, but I think it really makes the collar here.

It did mean I could leave the fleece unlined, which made my sewing machine happy.

What's in the bag? A pop-up cube for kids to play in - kind of like a non-reflective reflector that's square, with a hole in the middle, sewn at the edges with five others just like it. Unfortunately, it's too big for my Studio (kitchen) in its reconstituted form unless the dog is on the inside.

And if you thought it was hard to collapse your reflector back into its bag, this thing is five times worse! You have to get the right edges aligned and collapse the right way, and twist just so...

I feel like Snoopy battling a lawn chair (google it!) every time I put it away.

100x : 2018 - #42

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Busted

Henry: "I'm innocent, I tell you!"

Dog Blog Post #2484

Henry should know better than to try and steal Zachary's Lacrosse Ball.

Although I'm not quite sure the punishment fits the crime.

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 2378. "Pleased"

Well, Zachary's clearly pleased with himself for catching the culprit!

Those who have been playing along at home know I've spent many months (and yards of fabric) trying to come up with a good collar pattern for the boys.

From the first square of felt, binder-clipped to a dog collar (Jul 23 2011 - "On the Rocks") through a long line of cross-stitched "V" collars using plastic canvas, to the transition to the same collar in wide ribbon and then fabric (a ~34"x4" rectangular strip) to the sparkly purple curved-V collar with a black shawl collar of last month.

(In between were simple collars that look like I cut them from dress-shirts (I didn't), elaborate "waistcoats" (including a lovely blue brocade), and various full vests from fleece that never fit right.)

That sparkly purple curved-V collar was a combination of the plain "V" collar and a men's vest pattern. The purple collar didn't fit quite right, but with a few critical changes to the join in front (and yet another pattern generated) I ended up with something that I finally liked.

Since then, I've made it "plain", with a hood, with a mandarin collar (none photographed yet) and this - Zachary's police uniform.

This collar (shirt?) is a bit different from the other recent three, being cut higher at the neck to accommodate the afore mentioned shirt-collar pattern - both pattern's recut, of course, as nothing is ever that easy.

I might not make this variant again, but it worked perfectly here.

"And the seamstress looked upon her work, and she was (finally) pleased."

(Well, I suppose the collar could be a bit smaller. And I probably should have have a placket in front, and...)

Our Daily Challenge - May 7, 2018 - "It was a Gift"

I typically pick up fabric from the remnant bin at the local fabric store (end of bolts, so a yard or less) at 50% off current bolt price, and most importantly - I don't have to wait for it to be cut.

There are exceptions, however, and last week there was a big sale on flannel. Flannel is awesome fabric for my needs, so I picked up a veritable rainbow of colors including this handsome blue.

And I use a Gift Card from my mom to pay for my purchase. :)

Thanks Mom!

(All four recent collars were cut from my new "stash" - with plenty of fabric left to go)

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Luke Skybarker and Yodawg

"May the force be with you!"

Dog Blog Post #2483

Luke Skybarker and Yodawg wish you a very happy Star Wars Day!

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 2375. "May the Fourth Be With You"

118 Pictures in 2018 - #35 Ugly is the New Cute

I've been staring at this one for months, but when I was looking at pictures of Yoda before making the ears it occurred to me that he just might fit that description.

And the obligatory Yoda quotes:

"Do or do not. There is no try."

"You fail because you don't believe."

"If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are, a different game you should play."

Although I don't remember that last one, I saw it on several sites and I like it!

100x : 2018 - #39

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