July 12, 2005
many wonderful objects to create beautiful art with
Via Obscure Store, I found this awesome blog called PostSecret, where people send the author postcards with their secrets on them, and the author posts them anonymously. Brilliant, hilarious, moving mail art. The site's one flaw is its relative paucity of dog-related content. Any dog-owning artists out there, please take up the slack here!
Since that link is insufficiently gross, let me quote, in its entirety, a post from the latest Best of Craiglist:
I have created a beautiful collage from my dogs toe nails and some seeds from my garden. God has blessed us with many wonderful objects to create beautiful art with.
Good thing it was the toenails she used, and not any of the other doggy bits I can think of. . . .
posted by miranda at 07:56 PM
July 11, 2005
dogging the trends
32MollyCookie
Originally uploaded by wintermans..
Slate had a fascinating article on trends in dog breed popularity, and how Labs came to replace poodles as the #1 most popular dog in America. It's really worth reading the whole thing, but here is a sample:
. . . the Labrador's increasing popularity may be tied to the advent of exurbs and McMansions. . . . . In Manhattan, meanwhile, where space is at a premium, tiny dachshunds are the most popular breed.
The poodle, meanwhile, which used to be seen as an intelligent, energetic companion, now comes off as a high-maintenance priss.
In a side note: Yukino sends a link to a study finding that Cats can alter your personality. Phooey on cats!
posted by miranda at 08:21 PM
Savage Doggy Mufti
The Centers for Disease Control published a report on Dog Bite-Related Fatalities [PDF], broken down by breed. Unsurprisingly, there are no Maltese bite-related fatalities on the relatively short list, which is entirely comprised of:
- "Pit Bull"
- Rottweiler
- German shepherd
- "Husky"
- Alaskan malamute
- Doberman Pinscher
- Chow Chow
- Great Dane
- St. Bernard
- Akita
(I believe this link was via something on MeFi.) Anyway, if you are an owner of one of these breeds, what can you do? I suggest investing in:
"Invisible Breed" brand Disguise Kits! Including step-by-step photos of a Doberman being swathed in artificial fur until he looks like a poodle. Humiliating for him; hilarious for us. That is, until the faux-poodle takes a bite out of us and we float up to the great CDC statistics table in the sky.
posted by miranda at 01:11 AM
July 07, 2005
just say yes, i mean no
The L.A. Times ran an alarming article yesterday: When it's pot versus pet, there's a bad trip in store. It led with this description of a dog who'd eaten "marijuana cookies":
He sat trembling, his front legs stuck out at an awkward angle, his dilated eyes fixed on a distant point. A check of the heart revealed a coma-like 32 beats per minute, far below normal.
And the Pet Professor corroborates: marijuana is poisonous to dogs. However, the folks on Ask MeFi tell a very different story:
I have seen a small dog eat a good ounce and a half of weed and butter mixture. It was unconscious for a ten hours or so and then recovered to normal. It was a old dog too. . . .
He came out fine. The cool part was he was not a insanely nervous, yappy dog for the first time in his life.
And of course, with a grain of salt:
I feed my chihuahua cigarette butts, bourbon, and angel-dust and he's fine.
So, I have no idea. Is scaremongering keeping us from the long-lost remedy for neurotic pup behavior? Or are the people of Ask MeFi guilty of reckless pup endangerment?
Either way, how could you say "just say no" to this cutie? (thanks Jim Flanagan).
Supermodel
Originally uploaded by Angela Martini.
posted by miranda at 09:27 PM
July 06, 2005
a minuscle poodle
Big paws, little paws
Originally uploaded by Ray Byrne..
Puptastic apologizes in advance for what you are about to see next.
posted by miranda at 11:13 PM
technically, an insect not a dog
An insect, not a dog. An insect, not a dog. Keep saying that to yourself, and you can probably make it through this entry:
Six-legged dog [backstory here] has been dubbed "Ong Fatt" (Lucky One). Yeah, that should keep him from getting teased on the playground . . . Sorry. I struggled for over a week about whether to post this one or not. But I ultimately could not stop myself. I will try to make it up to you with extra cuteness in the surrounding posts.
posted by miranda at 11:01 PM
hello, duke
Duke has his own fence hole
Originally uploaded by Matt Haughey.
Aww. Puptastic brings you this adorable photo as an apology for the previous entry.
posted by miranda at 10:52 PM
July 05, 2005
gae-ttong-nyue
"Korean Netizens Attack Dog-Shit Girl," said the headline from Don Park's Daily Habit, and the synopsis is: fashionable young woman refuses to "curb" her pooch, mobloggers post photographic evidence, and an internet-based lynch mob tracks her down and harasses her. This story was, supposedly, all over the Korean blogverse a few days ago.
The reaction from Americans seems to be mostly privacy-oriented (apparently the subway cars in internet-savvy Korea are overflowing with mobloggers), but seriously. You know what's much more appalling than trying to pick up dog diarrhea? Making an old person have to stoop on a moving subway car to clean up a mess that isn't even their fault. And you know what's more important than snapping a photo of someone who refused to pick up their dog's diarrhea? Helping clean it up so the old person doesn't have to.
posted by miranda at 11:50 PM
July 04, 2005
doggy face-lifts, doggy boob jobs...
It makes me a little sad to think of pup-plastic surgery in Brazil. If you love your pet, why expose them to the dangers that come with putting them under the knife? To wit:
[Brazilian vet Edgado Brito] can make protruding ears droop and uses Metacril to straighten bent ears. He uses Botox to fix inverted eyelashes. He has even tightened the mammillae of a couple of female dogs, whose owners wanted to show them after they had given birth.
But maybe I am biased because Tiberius is the most adorable little guy ever. Even if he has a face only a non-plastic-surgeon would love.
posted by miranda at 11:19 AM
July 03, 2005
Dear Whomever: I Have Adopted Your Dog, and He is Safe
If you want to cry and cry and smile through your tears, this beautiful sappy story from Craigslist is perfect:
. . . I had dreamed of a dog the previous night, and (I know this sounds strange) my son and I went looking for him. The Rescue Group had done a good job on his coat, and he was fed and reasonably warm...but still, when I met him, his eyes and spirit were dull like someone who doesn't dare to hope. He rose on his back legs and put his paws on my waist, and looked, and looked. And I was smitten. In my heart he became my dog that day . . .
I know the shelter adoption process can be grueling and sometimes impossible to navigate. But to anyone who has successfully adopted a shelter dog: Puptastic thanks you.
posted by miranda at 11:45 AM
July 02, 2005
karate chop
karate chop
Originally uploaded by Colleen S..
puptastic brings you this sneak preview of the all-canine kung fu movie you've been waiting for!
posted by ranjit at 12:17 AM
July 01, 2005
Ugliest dog I've ever seen
Thanks to Yukino for this delightful treat. [Backstory here]
posted by miranda at 08:32 PM
The Dog
With one of the least Google-able names for a marketing phenomenon ever, the adorable, distended pup photographs sold under the name of "The Dog" still managed to spawn a bizarre and diverse variety of product spin-offs including body glitter, dog-shaped backpacks, a special dog-branded Monopoly set, Pez dispensers, and cake decorating kit.
I like the pride in their description of their "highly expressIVE close-range images (using a wide-angle photographical lens), round eyes, and protruding muzzle." And their ingenuous motto - "Love dog - love people - love life."
Also I think it's hilarious that the "The Dog" Pomeranian looks pretty much like, well, a regular Pomeranian. (List of dogs here.)
posted by miranda at 09:01 AM