Rogier van Bakel coincidentally posted on the Dogs in Danger site the same day I did. Seems the site’s founder was recently profiled in People. Predictably, the site’s success has angered the self-appointed gatekeepers of dog adoption standards, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Apparently, it’s “crueler” to allow a dog to go home with a loving, if imperfect-by-SPCA-standards, family than to have the dog euthanized by SPCA.

I’ve been meaning to blog this for months, but Michael D.’s post at Balloon Juice about volunteering at the Humane Society is a nice reminder.

If you’re thinking about getting a dog, you might check the Dogs in Danger website first. It gets notices from adoption shelters across the country about dogs who are nearing their date to be put down. Search for a shelter near you, browse the dogs available, and if you see one you like, go in for a visit.

If you rescue a dog via the site, drop me an email with a photo. I’ll be happy to post it.

Lil’ Brudder’s got nothing on him…

That seems to be the CW as Westminster this year. A beagle has never won, but this weekend a tri-color named Uno won the hound group for the first time in 70 years, and now seems to be the crowd favorite.I’m a sucker for the Old English Sheepdog, like these guys.

Meant to put these up Sunday, but I ran out of time.

Pics from a trip to the dog park last weekend. Hit play to see slide show.

Admit it. This is the cutest damned thing you’ve ever seen.

When we do it with Milkbones, they catch the treats in the air. Unfortunately, we only had biscuits tonight.

Cheap fun.

So we’re going to have to split the dogs up for my trip to South America. Harper’s already in Indiana with my parents, and Isabel will be staying with some friends here in the D.C. area. So first, a few pictures of Harper and Isabel before Harper left. Then some pics of Isabel this afternoon. She was very anxious and nervous. She’s never really been away from Harper since we first brought her home as a puppy (Harper, I suspect, is enjoying her freedom). She hasn’t quite known what to do with herself the last couple of days. So I took her to the park earlier today for some socializing. More photos after the break.

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Here’s the Isadevil. She’s huge now — 43 pounds at last weigh-in.

This is Sanlee (yes, after the comic book dude). He was only visiting. Beagle, rottweiler, and probably a few other things thrown in.

Stanlee again. That’s a sliver of the new digs in the background.

Check this one with the pic below to see how fast the little Isabrat has grown.

More here.

The big news is that Isabel has become a woman. Or, rather, a bitch. A couple of months ago, she as outside playing when Courtney got my attention.

“What…”

She was stammering.

“Yes?”

“What’s wrong with….what’s the matter with Isabel’s…litte… puppy vagina?”

Now I’m laughing hysterically.

“Did you just say ‘puppy vagina?’”

Blushing. “Well….I didn’t know what to call it.”

So we took her to the vet. Which is where I had another embarassing conversation. The vet, a woman, said that, yes, our little Isabel was in heat. She told me to keep her far, far away from any uncut male dogs. A horny male dog could smell her from about away, she said. No fence, wall, or door will stop them.

At this point, I was wondering what exactly we were supposed to expect in terms of, um, volume. So I rather clumsily asked the vet, “So how does all this work?”

At which point the vet shot me a smug look. “Ask your girlfriend,” she said. “She’ll explain it all to you.”

Everybody’s a smartass.

Long story short, about six weeks later, Isabel’s no longer in heat. But we have to wait about a month more before we can get her fixed. And she killed two comforters. She also has abnormally well-defined teats. They could put an eye out. I’m hoping those will go away. Makes it hard to pet her without feeling dirty. Or as if you’re reading braille.

Let me start by saying that when it comes to the clothes-on-dogs debate, my feet are firmly planted in the “anti” camp. But come on. “Pug in a raincoat” is pretty damned funny. His name is Bugsy. He’s the neighbors’ obese pleasantly plump, pumpkin-eating pooch.

And here’s a recent shot of the Isa-devil. She’s chewing now. And digging holes in the carpet. And still occasionally peeing on the floor. And mercilessly agitating Harper. Other than that, she’s very well behaved.

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Friends watched the pups last weekend while I visited Indiana. Turned into a four, sometimes five-dog K-9-a-rama.

More here.

Brooke was kind enough to photograph the Agipooches last week, who were staying at her place while I was West Coasting.

Something more pleasant to look at than the TV news.

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