think it over...

carlos canis technica?

2011-11-18T23:31:00.000-08:00

carlos has his own blog!

mostly he just wants his own miniature soccer ball, FOREVER, but i'll show him...

hurricane irene part boring

2011-08-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

well, it's still real windy...


still cowering in fear...of the cold

and there are several large downed branches on the street...

hurricane debris

and i did get a chance to finally clean behind...OMG BORING.

well, it is nice to walk down the street on a sunday morning w/ only minimal trash and vomit on the sidewalk. so thank you, hurricane irene, for keeping out 90% of the assholes this weekend. totally worth the prep time and soggy walks.

hurricane irene part 1

2011-08-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

hurricane fever has hit new york city and i have come down with a mild infection...

totally prepared

all the power cords are off the floor and against bloomberg's advice the air conditioners have been removed from the windows. i think i may tape the blinds over the windows to slow down the glass shards when the patio furniture on the abandoned deck across the courtyard starts flying into my bedroom window...

you'll be safe in the giant pot, power doodle....

screw you, bloomberg

it's now time for the dogs' last walk of the night. i hope my boots have dried out from earlier...i had to empty them on the streets 2 times before we made it back...

carlos

2010-06-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

carlos was picked up as a stray & taken to the manhattan ACC on march 31, 2010. by april 2nd he was on the euthanasia list. he was sick (kennel cough), and had snapped at the hand they use (think it's a fake hand/arm on a stick) to assess food aggression. he'd barely gotten a chance to settle in before he was already going to be disposed of, and that's just not right. so i brought him home to recover and then let him find his forever home. over time i noticed a few things about carlos. . .

he loves food. skinny as he is, it's no surprise. the first clear picture i ever got of him was when i had some tasty bread bits to tempt him with:

and here he is begging for frites (note the drool bubble):

and guess what - he's never shown any aggression when it comes to food. sure, he'll try and steal any food he can get his maw on, even if it means facing the ire of the original owner (my dog doesn't take kindly to unvoluntary sharing, and neither do i!) but i did find out how it was carlos bit the test 'hand' during his evaluation...

carlos loves to play - tug, keep-away, chase, doggy wrestling and running around the the park are just a few favorites:

and on and on and on. when he's excited and can't channel it into food or running outdoors, he starts to chase his tail. for the most part it's harmless. however, if you direct him away from something like chasing his tail, he can then decide he's going to play with you, and will run to an item (sometimes my shoe or BRA!) to put in his mouth in an attempt to get you to chase him. if the 'toy' is taken away before he's had his fun, he sometimes decides YOU are now the toy and he'll jump on you, mouthing legs, arms, and snapping at any limb in the way. he then starts to think this is an appropriate way to communicate with people in any situation. NOT GOOD!

this happens with dogs as well. at some point if a dog corrects carlos for being too pushy to play, carlos starts to bark at the dog's face, jumping around the animal in order to get it to keep playing. sigh.

it was like dealing with a child on too much sugar who won't listen to you (presuming he can hear you at all over his own screaming). carlos had to learn appropriate play, but i was finding it impossible to get him to stop mouthing when his brain had just simply turned OFF.

the solution was bitter. apple. seeing as any sort of 'physical' punishment (even just leading him away on leash) sometimes got him more worked up, i had to find a deterrent that didn't end up simply feeding into his state of mind. something that would have him snap out of 'crazed puppy mode.' armed with a spray bottle of this liquid, i was ready when he next started flipping out. i escalated my response in this way:

1. first the 'positive' command - carlos, easy.
2. next the 'negative' command - carlos, no!
3. and after continued mouthing of my hand - i squirted some bitter apple on my finger and then stuck it on the inside of his lips.

he immediately stopped what he was doing to contemplate the nasty flavor in his mouth. the displeasure of the taste had brought him back from psycho-puppy land and was once again able to hear me again.

as with EVERY correction at this stage, there is a reward for complying. when he lets go of the leash he's yanking on, i then release him to grab for it on my terms and play tug for a bit before getting him to stop again. i will also resume play (tug, chase) or do some training exercises w/ treats to reward him for complying with a command. this time, after he made a yarking noise because of the bitter apple taste, then sat back down and looked at me, i put the bottle down and started petting him again. because i love it when he listens to my "please stop acting like you're mauling me" requests.

i just need to make sure it doesn't dampen his spirits by accidentally associating ALL play with the spray. just crazy-cracker-dog activity that can make it so difficult to place him with his own happy family.

anyway, solution well under way, i can focus on more of the cute things carlos does. like, on the rare occasion he DOES get enough of playing, he often crashes out in the typically contortionist doggy way:

he also likes to relax by simply throw himself down on the cool floors after a big day:

that lipstick mark was not staged! a woman at the run thought he was so sweet she bent down to give him a little kiss on the head. she had forgotten she'd put on lipstick and didn't even notice the mark until i pointed it out to her. he immediately was the center of attention on our walk back from the park. it's hard not to smile at a pup with hound-dog look and kiss mark right above those dark dark brown eyes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the email i initially got about him:

CARLOS – A852949 – 2 yr old male pittie/Lab mix – 44lbs – Stray, 3/30

Carlos is anice dog and was not tranq. the officers have no further info on this dog.

A Volunteer Wrote: Everything about Carlos is soft. The way he feels, the way he walks on the leash, perfectly by our side, the way he takes treats from our hands. It's safe to say this 2 year and 5 month old, 44 pound baby made his way to the soft spots of many of our hearts instantly. He is playful with other dogs, he is leash trained, he is housebroken, and he is ranked so very high on our dance cards as a partner we love taking a spin with. Please come meet him-just one pet and kiss will convince you love is in the air!

Look 2:Pulls out of the assessors cupped hands without settling during the three repetitions

Sensitivity 1 :Leans in to the assessor with soft body ,low tail and ears back

Tag 2 :Not fearful,but unresponsive to the assessor with soft body ,low tail and ears back

Squeeze 1 :Gently pulls paw away

Squeeze 2 1 :Gently pulls paw away

Food 5 :Lifts head to bite the assess a hand

Toy 1 :No interest

Rawhide 1 :No interest

Dog to dog 2 :Approaches the helper dog by rushing in with soft body ,low tail and ears back

SCAN NEGATIVE

BRIGHT, ALERT, RESPONSIVE, HYDRATED

PHYSICAL EXAM

Too nervous and tense

Mild tartar

Nosf

out on the town w/ pure & carlos

2010-04-11T22:08:00.001-07:00

carlos doesn't just drool, he bubbles
pure is wary of the camera when he's not fascinated by the person behind it

contact social tees to do what the vest says
http://socialtees.com/
212 614 9653

languor

2010-04-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

hott karl

2010-04-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

carlos from the manhattan ACC, fostered through social tees as well.

he's got the kennel cough and is on antibiotics; after he's gotten better he'll be neutered and ready for home. currently 44ish lbs, about 2yrs old, and seems very well socialized with humans and dogs. super easy to walk on the leash when not being overly stimulated by foster siblings either straggling behind or else gaining way on walks.

and again..

2010-03-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

this big boy is a new foster. he will be vetted and up for adoption shortly.
he's a solid one, in every sense of the word. the rescue contacts will be put up in a few..

poof!

2010-03-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

johnny got adopted within 2 weeks of his arrival downtown. this is what we'll miss the most:

bulldoggy

2010-03-12T21:37:00.001-08:00

little johnny came from the manhattan acc. he got kennel cough and got put in the sick ward which is often an accelerated course to euthanasia since there are too few kennels to house dogs that succumb to the stressful environment and get a cold that is endemic to the shelter. a woman named cheri and social tees pulled him from the pound, and eventually i picked him up last saturday to provide a place for him to recover. little john aka johnny rocket is one big adorable baby, and whines & cries like some crazed monkey dolphin lovechild. in reality he's just a very light tan and white dog that looks like a mix between an english bulldog & possibly a staffordshire bull terrier. or something. he's cute!

i can only take pictures when he's sleeping apparently. because...he's recovering.

doesn't he have a HUGE head?

taking a break

2009-11-16T17:08:00.000-08:00

bear timeshare - she's with john until jan/feb and boy do i miss her. i was stoic when the plan was being cooked up, but then i saw the last pictures i took of bear and buddy playing around during the summer on my "bed" leaving unfortunate stains (i'll blame spay incontinence). here, let me show you them:

holy craps, how cute are these fuckers...three more months and i get bear back to torture with my camera. i'd like to stop the torture at that point in the photo taking and process those pictures better. but just like with bear - three more months to wait. if i don't graduate at the end of this year i am running away and joining the (rescue) circus.

ARGH!!!!!!

how star found his family

2009-09-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

after 4 months with star we reached the crisis point. was leaving the country for at least 2 weeks and the rescue had nowhere to keep our poor boy. luckily, strangely, a family with a baby was looking to adopt a pitbull and while they asked after only females, the rescue somehow convinced them to try things out with a male that needed at least 2 weeks of care and shelter. no, he wasn't tested with cats, and no, he wasn't entirely housetrained due to various dietary problems combined with a 5th floor walkup, but i did know he was great with kids and would never seriously attack another animal (chase, yes - absolutely)...

anyway, after many frustrated emails between continents, a lot of trail and error with the family's resident cat, and finally enough crate training and diet control to keep the accidents from recurring - star was officially adopted. the best part was that during that whole foster-to-adopt process i got to dog sit star twice, for a week at a time. so bear got her playmate back and i got to parade star around the dog park and announce his good fortune. the family is off on another unexpected trip in a few weeks but this time i can't watch star; i'm devastated!! as much work as it is to take care of 2 dogs in the city in the middle of school, work, and other typical life drama, i love every time star shoves his way into our lives and proceeds to give people his full body hug, which start with a big skull nuzzle to the neck and end with him flopping down on his side right on your chest, all the while legs flailing and tail wagging, snorting at you in between administering kisses. it's such good therapy after having to clean up a mess of poop in a crate because you accidentally gave him some bit of food too rich for his delicate guts. . .

to our little buddy, aka ghost face killah to the men who play chess, and star to his forever family, thanks for persevering long enough to find your home. the joy you show when you hear their voices over the intercom every time they come back for you is the best indication i know that you are really really finally home. just promise you'll still visit sometimes ok!?

rufus wainwright will believe in love and all that it's supposed to be ...

2009-04-16T19:13:00.001-07:00

little buddy - you always stand just outside the kitchen with your muzzle pressed up against the bars of the baby gate i use to keep you away from the burning stove. the bars cover your eyes, i can't see anything but your nose and the giant skull looming behind it. you sit there impatiently, somehow still staring intently even with your vision barred. bear sits behind you and groans, her suffering so audibly intense. you butt slips away on the wood floors, so you constantly shift to keep as close as possible to the delicious smells.

you are still skinny, but you shit better than ever, hooray for low-residue iams. it stinks of fish, and it makes you fart, but it's an improvement.

you're still urchiny, but so much better than when you first got to us, i hope it doesn't worry people that your bones stick out and the scabs on your ankles and elbows aren't totally gone. at least running around in the sand and pebbles of the park have scrapped off most of that nasty fungus growing on your claws. haha, did i mention you still look like a refugee? i guess you still are..

i love taking you to the dog run and watching you play with the small sweet dogs, or run full speed to chase me. at night, when you gaze up in the branches looking for rodents or stars or something i almost feel you're mine. but - you soak up love and affection w/o prejudice. you love everyone, you love anyone. so it's up to a family to decide you'll be theirs forever; you'll be a sweet boy wherever you go, someone just has to claim you once and for all. in a few days we'll see if the first family in line to meet you is going to be the one you finally go home to...

going to the dogs

2009-02-17T07:31:00.000-08:00

bear's new little buddy is our foster named star. little bud is not the aggressive type. he is a little pushy so he does get told off by the offended party quite a bit...but all he does in retaliation is whine in this nasal high pitched way. it sounds like he's repeatedly saying "suey" - kindof what you'd hear from the dude who didn't even qualify to participate in the hog call competition and now has constant and vivid but very quiet nightmares about this failure.

that whine is his go-to response to just about everything, the poor dude is perpetually on the verge of a nervous breakdown caused by fear, anxiety, excitement, and a crazy resident that alternately snarks at him for any perceived transgression and flies over him repeatedly in her attempts to play as she bounds from one piece of furniture to another....to another, to another....and sometimes the dog makes him nervous too.

the only thing worse than his sad little whine is his constant barking when he feels abandoned or trapped. worse because if we lose our apartment because of noise complaints, i'll have to change my mailing address again.

the day after his arrival, he was put in a room with a door we used for safely introducing animals - it has a panel cut out but gated over, and it should be enough of a portal to the rest of the apartment so an anxious dog doesn't need to freak out. but freak out he did. this is how i found the door when i got back 4hrs later, during lunch:

he'd been too busy tearing apart hollowcore doors to bark the whole time i was away that day, just the ENTIRE 20minutes i was walking the other dog.

but then we spent 3 blissful days together over the holiday weekend, where the separation and the barking was minimal. today's the first day back at work, and it's almost lunchtime...

foster cat update (bon voyage!)

2009-01-05T13:51:00.001-08:00

little kendra and bob were adopted, and sally's home alone (with us) for a few months now. i've put up flyers and posted ads on craigslist but not a single person has shown interest. there has to be all sorts of people that are looking for a sweet adult cat companion, but i can't seem to find a single one...

so now sally is going to live with another foster family..and hopefully she'll find her for-all-the-time family very soon after.

no gypsy psychics need apply

2008-08-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

if you think psychic readings are a reasonable substitute for medical care, you may not be a right fit for these cats.

sally cat

2008-07-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

sally is a white, dark grey/black, and tiger striped 2yr, 2month old cat currently being fostered with her kittens. sally was rated "no concern" at the city shelter, and as soon as i got her home for foster, it proved very true - she was friendly with everyone she met, always open to affection and even let us all handle her week-old kittens as we got them all settled in. she is very protective nonetheless, and when she feels threatened (pretty much only when any dog is around) she'll hiss to keep any danger away from her babies.

so sally is generally a mellow cat...and i think she rolls over for affection even more than my dog. she's happy to sit next to you when you're in the room, or at your feet, whether your acquiesce to her chin rub demands or not, although when she wants to be particularly close she will climb into your lap.

otherwise she's content to lie in a cool place and groom herself, and grab onto any kitten that happens by and groom them too. when there's a lull in the day, and her kittens are asleep, she'll sit by a window and watch all the outdoor action for hours.

as you can see in the picture(s), sally's coloring is one big jackpot of white, tiger, & black (or is that dark grey?). although she's mostly white, she has plotches of tiger on her head, ears, nose, tail & back, and a stripe of grey/black & white shoots down her spine as well. her light green eyes are gorgeous and big, but you can definitely get distracted from staring into them when she takes on a particular pose or if you find her mid-lick.

[reminiscent of jaba the hut?]

sally was picked up as a stray, and was very emaciated when i got her home - her shoulders and hip bones stuck out far too much. in the past few months she's gotten over an upper respiratory infection, been de-wormed, and gained plenty of weight (reference the reclining pose above). it's clear that her maternal instinct is quite strong, and whether sickly & thin or healthy and well-fed, her main concern has been that the kittens are fed, clean, and out of harm's way. i think currently they're all she has to focus on, and so she is quite attached, but perhaps she's ready to find a home where she no longer has to protect and defend, and can focus on being the baby of the family.

sally wants your chin rubs dammit, and she'll lock you up in chains and put you in a bikini if you don't comply!

bob kitten

2008-07-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

bob is an 11week old kitten that's being fostered with kendra and their mother. they're all now ready for adoption.

when they all came home with me, the kittens were just a week old and i couldn't keep track of which was which - they were all tiny, ears not fully developed, were hardly able to move on their own and getting increasingly sick. they were easy to tell apart because they were all different colors and patterns, but who was it that last sneezed? did kendra start biting on bob or was that karen? who just had breakfast? who should i make sure gets some food next?

while they all shared the same symptoms at first, one morning i noticed one of bob's eyes would not open. it was a little encrusted and bob was meowing miserably. that's when bob and i started to get to know each other very well and i never again had problem tracking his progress....

every morning, every afternoon, everytime i noticed his eye (left) sealing shut, i had to get a clean towel under warm water and use it to loosen open that sucker, and wipe away any of the gunk that was there. and because he was sick bob wouldn't eat - so each time i opened his eye up, i'd have to sit there with kitten formula and a syringe or bottle for at least 20 minutes before he'd keep down a few milliliters of the stuff.

while none of the kittens liked being hand-fed, they all ate even as they angrily chewed on the syringe ends. bob, on the other hand, would put up a real struggle to escape. then he'd stay stock still, offering no resistance at all. but feeding success would not come easily even then...bob would decide not to react at all - not even to swallow! so food would go in, and then dribble right back out of his little mouth. eventually, bob would accidentally eat some food and i could stop the torture a few hours.

i started to think that bob was a very, very irritating kitten who did not AT ALL appreciate the things i was doing for him! and bob in turn, did not appreciate it when the daily routine had to be stepped up; i had to start opening up BOTH of his crusted over eyes AND give him eye drops several times a day on top of everything else. but his pouting was so ridiculous and cute, i found myself looking forward to these appointments with my little emo bob...the little dark grey smudges on his nose, the grey chin contrasting against his mostly white face, it was like tears had smeared his mascara and chalky face paint. robert smith momentarily re-incarnated as a tiny, whiskered, stray.

his eye infection started clearing up after a couple of weeks (!), but the originally infected eye was healing very slowly...it was still sealing shut every once in a while, and when it was not crusted over, it was barely open and inside his eye was irritated and cloudy. what if this eye had been damaged beyond repair? would his vision be impared? would he have to get surgery and lose an eye!? being so young, and still sick, i'd have to wait until he was much better before any further treatments could even be considered.

happily, bob's eye began clearing up and at 7 weeks, both his eyes were crystal clear

[the black lipstick is still there tho]

bob happily left his days of illness behind him and is enjoying his kittenhood. he likes to say hello when you come into the room, then meow to himself a bit longer as he gets back to his exploring. when he gets a bit of extra energy in him he's ferocious with his toys, and will leap onto you, hang on and then start sniffing. little bob is a about 3.5 lbs, a little over 2 months old, and although he likes to respond to your close approach like it is a tactical attack, he'll purr like a madman when you rebuff his defenses and rub his neck and chin and belly.

don't worry, he hasn't lost his edge, bob still likes to show just how terribly he's "suffering"

kendra kitten

2008-07-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

kendra is a 11week old white and dark grey kitten - she is currently fostered with her brother and mom, and she is ready to find her permanent home.

this little family has been through a lot in a very short time - after they were found as strays when the kittens were just a few days old, they all fought off upper respiratory infections, took antibiotics to keep bacterial infections at bay, and have had to endure a lot of strangeness all around (vet visits, train rides, adoption vans, crate & litter training, and a constant stream of new people taking care of them).

throughout it all kendra has been most resilient - there's not much that can stop her from being a playful & curious little cat. she's been an avid wrestler since she was 6 days old, and always full of energy. nonetheless she's not at all a spaz; she runs, climbs, and plays at top speed, but she is always in control. still - she'll climb amazing heights to hang off the side of a door and play with something sticking out of the hinges, so it's always fun to see what precarious situation she'll end up in next.

kendra is also the easiest to handle, which says a lot because they all are very easy to pick up and pet, or play with. still, it's kendra that's most amenable to almost anything you've got going, even an ear cleaning is too fascinating to pull away from. and you can wrestle with her a bit and all she'll do is pretend to take a nibble of your finger in order to get in an exploratory lick (maybe there's cat food on there). the best part about it is that she's this way with everyone she meets, she's never run away from any new person coming by to say hello, and is happy to play with whatever you offer her.

it's wonderful to see such a smart, strong, and gentle kitten flourish, and we want to do the best we can to ensure that the rest of her life will be a great one with her new family. you can visit kendra in greenwich village where she's being fostered, or else at one of the many upcoming anjellicle adoption events.

for more information go to anjelliclecats.com - there you can get info on upcoming events, updates on fostered cats, and learn all about the adoption process. kendra has been given medication against parasites (like heartworm), and every cat adopted through this rescue organization is tested for the Feline Leukemia and FIV virus, vaccinated and spayed or neutered, so she's ready whenever you are!

share your 'tude

2008-07-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

i want to let the world know what i'm feeling.

in a very specific single message trasmitted from lilypad arduino over bluetooth to a nokia n80 that will text a message to twitter using python for the symbian s60 platform fashion (i know, sorry).

the thing

the phone and snake

link to the twitter account
and the link to the class project page

and here it is on my canine

she's definitely got a lot to share...

kitten season

2008-06-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

7/18 UPDATE - karen went home to staten island this past week, to a couple and 1 older cat bro. it's great to know she's got a permanent home, especially because it's with people who are so enthusiastic about her (they couldn't wait to get her home and get playing). nice huh?

lock up your daughters, it's the available-for-adoption posse.

kendra is the quintessential cat - she moves gracefully and is a master at balancing precariously on high objects, climbing, and darting around at top speeds. she's also very observant, always the first to come up to you when you enter the room, watching every thing you do like it was a performance; she'll be completely fascinated each time the litter box is cleaned, by the amazing way you sit in a chair, or how your shoes are there, on your feet....she makes a very careful study of the odd creatures who bring her food and wave around toys on strings.

karen is absolutely brazen - she spends her days furiously chasing, pouncing, wiggling all over the place, whether or not there's anything around to rile her up. it's like shadow boxing but a lot more enthusiastic (and adorable). she's not as good as kendra at balancing on precarious objects, but she makes up for it by being fearless - climbing up and down anything even if she stumbles a bit along the way

bob is a sensitive boy - quieter than the others, often swatting at anything that moves or threatens to move a little less enthusiastically than the girls. he is also more cautious than the other two - he doesn't readily do what's asked of him; when he first needed to be hand-fed he would sit absolutely still after each "bite" with his eyes screwed shut, letting the delicious kitten mush drip out of the sides of his mouth in a sort of hunger strike protest. but once he figured out the delicious kitten mush was in fact delicious he was happy to eat it and began to trust that anything i would send his way was going to be tasty (can't blame a guy for being careful right?)

and finally, mom cat sally. when we first met we could tell she was a small cat, but at the time she was way too small, all skin and bones and hardly able to keep making milk for her kittens. now she's got all the tasty food she needs and a much nicer figure (to better match her personality). and while her health has changed over time, her personality has been steady - sally likes people as much as she likes the fact that they bring her food! she'll come running at the sign of a meal, but even after the grub is presented she sticks around and shows you some love before she eats. and she makes no secret of her requests for affection, dramatically flopping over on her back for belly rubs and chin scratches.

sally-mom is approximately 2years old and is easy to handle; on top of that she's been a very good mother, having equipped her babies with the skills to use the litter box and eat solid food on their own. they're also master groomers thanks to her (she never misses a chance at cleaning her little ones). the kittens are now about 9 weeks old and all four are ready to be adopted!

more pictures are being hosted on flickr:
http://flickr.com/photos/87392641@N00/sets/72157605926908068/

about the rescue organization:

anjelliclecats.com is a non-profit, no kill cat rescue and adoption organization housed out of the spoiled brats pet store on west 49th street. there is a required adoption donation of $125 ($225 for two cats).

from the website:

"All cats have been tested for the Feline Leukemia and FIV virus, vaccinated and spayed or neutered. We believe it is much kinder to adopt kittens with another kitten or cat unless there is already a cat in their new household."

p.s. go ahead and unlock those daughters now