Recently in Pets Category

I finally broke down and purchased a digital camera. I’ve wanted to take up photography for a few years now and I decided that a camera would be a nice birthday present to myself.

So, I bought a Sony A350 DSLR. It isn’t a top-of-the-line camera. However, it seems very easy to use and it came with a couple of lenses.

Like everyone who gets a new camera, I started by taking some pictures of my dog. Here’s Dante in front of the backdoor (he likes to sit there to block us from coming and going).

Here’s another one of Dante taken from above. I like this goofy perspective.

Dante is such a big boy now. It is hard to believe that he’s only six months old. He must weigh over 50 pounds already.

Here’s the fish pond. I tried to get a few shots of the koi, but the water is too murky right now. I should be able to get some in a few days after the ultraviolet lights have killed the algae. 

 Aw! Here’s my little buddy again. He’s chewing on a piece of bark. What a good boy! 

I swear I’m not going to turn into one of those people who think their pets are the cutest things in the world. But, who couldn’t love this pup? He likes to use the garden hose as a pillow.

I also tried the macro setting and took some close up shots of flowers in the garden. About five minutes after I took this photo, Dante ate the flower. He just walked up a gobbled it down.

Okay, I won’t bore you further with my first digital photos. Tomorrow, I’m going to walk around Old Monterey and play tourist. There’s a gang of sea lions down at Fisherman’s Wharf. And, there’s some kind of motorcycle show going on at Cannery Row.

One of the worst things I can imagine about being a dog would be not being able to communicate about being in pain or a health issue to your human.

I am the co-owner of a cute 6-month-old Golden Retriever named Dante. Dante doesn’t live with me. He lives with my friend Tom. But, I help feed him and take care of him. I see him almost every day.

Yesterday, Tom called me to say that Dante wasn’t eating. This is unusual because he’s growing very fast and eats like he can’t get enough. I asked Tom if Dante had any other symptoms that could indicate a problem. He said no.

Today, I went over to see Dante and he was acting pretty frisky. Tom said he still wasn’t eating, though. I looked him over and didn’t see anything wrong. I checked inside his mouth and felt his little belly. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong.

I little while later, I took Dante into the backyard to play fetch with a tennis ball. Dante ran after the ball as usual. However, when he went to pick up the ball, he started choking. He did this several times. Then, he sat down and began scratching wildly at his collar.

I always check Dante’s collar to see if it is too tight when he gets his bath. The last bath was just a few days ago. I wondered if he could have grown quickly enough to outgrow his collar in such a short amount of time.

I put my fingers under Dante’s collar to see if it was too snug and was shocked to find a large plastic ring under it!

The ring was very tight and the exact same width as Dante’s collar. The collar was covering it completely and there was no way I could have seen it without moving the collar.

The ring was hard, brittle plastic and it broke under a little pressure from my fingers and fell off. Obviously, the ring was choking Dante and making him unable to eat.

We have no idea where this ring came from. It is dark gray plastic and smooth on the outside with a groove running down the center on the inside. How could a dog manage to get something like that stuck on his neck? It had to have taken some force to get it over his head and ears. It was much tighter than his collar and that doesn’t slip off his head.

Anyway, if your dog is choking, it could be a good idea to check under the collar as well as inside the mouth and throat.