In the Box...

I call this one "In the Box" for obvious reasons. This is Gumbo at the end of the day. He's ready to go home.

I never get tired of taking photos of animals (even if it is hot, sweaty and buggy). Pictured here are Gumbo, Gator, and Heather. Below is the portrait of Heather. I have her story completed and am waiting for final approval from her owner before I post it.

Lady Heather -Labrador Watercolor Painting

This is a commission piece. I will be adding the story and hand-print it on a mat prior to framing. This is another lovely dog from Wildrose Kennels, Oxford, MS owned by Sandra Summers and Franz Schneider. Here is Heather's story:

Heather

Wildrose Lady Heather Bracken of Oxford is the name scribed on her AKC registration papers. Born on April 2, 2006, she is the last female in lineage from one of the most well-known dogs in the UK, Pocklea Remus, and the only female in the last litter of her mother, Astraglen Sprint. She was a prize pup of Wildrose Kennel and its owner Mike Stewart.

Sandra Summers had been explaining how she came to have this small lab in her home. Heather is one of three black labs belonging to Sandra and her husband, Franz, and Sandra’s obvious favorite. “I first saw Heather when she was about 6 weeks old. Franz and I had returned to Wildrose to bring our male lab, Gumbo, for training. Gumbo was about a year old and we were regularly traveling from our home in Santa Fe to Oxford, Mississippi for visits during his training.”

“On one of those visits, I started walking Heather on a puppy lead. Everyone at Wildrose had been calling her Bracken but it just didn’t seem to fit and I started calling her Heather. I knew that heather is one of Scotland's most beautiful plants and that she is of Scottish ancestry. It didn’t take long before everyone was calling her by her new name.”

“When she was about 5 months old, we had really been missing Gumbo. So, with Mike’s permission, I rented a car and took Heather back to New Mexico with us.”

“We kept Heather for a while and I started her training ‘the Wildrose way’. I worked her every day in empty lots, in scrub, on roads, and in ditches. We worked with hand signals and on socialization skills. I took her on a ski-lift up Santa Fe Mountain and we walked all the way down in the first snow of the season.”

“In October, we went back to Wildrose and I noticed that Heather did not seem to be feeling well. She was taken to the vet and unfortunately diagnosed with hip dsyplasia. She was not able to be bred and was spayed at two years old. After that she was really my dog,” Sandra said with a little bit of a sad smile.

“We moved to Oxford in December and decided to adopt Heather. I got her papers on my birthday that February. That was indeed a special day.”

“Heather is very intelligent and intuitive. She is always making unusual faces and funny expressions with her mouth. We now have three labs from Wildrose. The others, the boys, Gumbo and Gator, are very laid back. Mike Stewart selects the dog he thinks will fit you and your family best. Heather would not have been a match for us. She is a bit hyper and intense —different from the other two. Still, she is the best behaved. She is the fearless one and she stands her ground with the boys. She is a seasoned hunter and has won several hunting awards. However, she does sometimes move too fast for her nose and gets ahead of herself.”

We had been sitting in the kitchen as the three labs dozed on their cozy round beds in the next room. Each separate from the other but the lofty beds tied them together into a single unit. I noticed that only one had eyes resting intently on Sandra. The other two slept soundly.

“Its weird. I named her, trained her, and most of her ‘firsts’ were with me and even though she wouldn’t have been a perfect match I think she has always been my dog.”

Some days Heather can be seen walking along side Sandra on the court square or waiting patiently just outside the local ice cream shop. Sometimes a small crowd of children gathers, even the ones that smile and say, “I’m afraid of dogs,” as they proudly pat her head. Heather just sits and watches Sandra waiting for that familiar signal for them to take their next step together.

Vicki Wood, JD 6/10 ©

Pound Puppies and Road Dogs - Watercolor

This makes me sad. These are dogs and pups that have passed through my life at different times. Several are Hurricane Katrina victims and most were just put out on the side of the road. I still have some and others I took to Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society. Some had the mange and some were freezing and starving. One came with a litter of seven. And the last, little Izzy, came from OLHS (I had a weak moment while there taking photos). More about Izzy and that weak moment is posted below.

11th Annual Paws for Art Auction

Wow, another year has gone by! A better image of this donation piece is below but I wanted to post some pics of the actual auction. This piece sold for $1,000. It is a great feeling to help the unwanted critters. I appreciate all that Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society does and I especially appreciate the purchasers of this piece and the bidding audience.

"...don't leave without me."

Izzy

Every year I paint a portrait of an Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society "resident" and donate it for their annual fundraiser, "Paws for Art". I also write an accompanying story (which rises to the level of being compelled to do so). I usually leave home with one particular idea in mind but, after time at the shelter, always end up with something different. Here is my story about "Izzy":

I had heard that Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society was housing about 30 Chinese Cresteds they had recently rescued. I had not yet taken this year’s photo for OLHS’s “Paws for Art” fundraiser and decided that these hairless dogs might be good candidates for my annual donation portrait.

When I arrived I learned that the Cresteds were shy due to their past living conditions and I would need to wait while they retrieved a few of the more social ones. I had made up my mind prior to arriving that I would go through this as if I had on blinders in an effort to lessen the hurtfulness produced by the scene of any animal shelter. So, I planted myself on what I thought was fairly neutral ground. As I waited, I couldn’t help but notice an 8 x 8 portable pen full of puppies. They were the non-descript dogs —medium height, medium weight, medium black hair, with a long tail— the ones that are so often seen on the side of the road eating anything and looking worse than half-starved.

A kennel worker passed and saw me. “They have been here a while,” he said and I knew that meant their time was short. I stood watching and noticed that some looked to be about 3 months old while others were just babies. Lost in my troubling thoughts, I saw that the smallest one had pushed her tiny head through one of the squares of the chain-link fence. With her head lowered and chin resting on the wet concrete she rolled her eyes up and was looking directly at me. Trying to pass the time and shift my thoughts to thinking that this was cute, unsuccessfully veneering over the true sadness, I snapped a few photos. She sat very still by herself, close to me, body in the pen and head out with her pen-mates piled up in the far corner. She watched as I moved trying to break her gaze in a thickened time that seemed like hours. “Today will be their last day here,” said the kennel attendant nodding toward the pups bringing me quickly forth to the harsh reality of the situation. I lowered my camera, “Look at that little one with her head sticking out …what a shame.” *

I was shown to an area where I could photograph the Cresteds. For a moment, I was completely absorbed in the darting movements of these nervous creatures of only skin and a few puffs of hair. I knew that, unlike the pups, their uniqueness would find them in adoptive homes.

The afternoon was hot. I began to feel uneasy and wanted to leave. I finished the last photo of the Cresteds and walked toward the office. I again passed the pen of puppies. Only now it was different. It was empty except for the little one who had moved to the far corner where her buddies had been. “After you noticed her, we decided she might get adopted and, really, were hoping that you might take her,” the attendant said half smiling.

My mental image of blinders and hope for numbness suddenly dissolved. I thought of my too many animals at home and then of this tiny one with a remarkable ability to vividly express herself. I knew that in spite of her infancy, her plea was clear,

“…don’t leave without me.”

I didn’t.

Vicki Wood, JD ©

* I have worked with OLHS for years. I know they do all they can and it is inevitable that, as a single organization, they become overwhelmed at times by the shear numbers with which they are forced to deal. OLHS has taken approximately 30 animals from me over the years and most were the non-descript ones mentioned above that were abandoned on the roadside. Many have been so badly treated that they can’t be caught and wander the roadside and ditches for months and, unfortunately, produce litters forcing them into eventual captivity. OLHS knows all too well the prolonged starvation, freezing temperatures, and disease that these animals endure.

Pound Puppies and Road Dogs - Watercolor

These are dogs and pups that have at different times walked in and out of my life. Most are "walk-up" dogs that have been abandoned on the road by my home or shelter animals. Some are even hurricane victims. Its a watercolor on paper and has been put on hold while I finish a commission and also my donation piece for the Oxford-Lafayette Human Society's annual fundraiser "Paws for Art".