So what happened to May?

I'm sorry folks, I didn't mean to pull a disappearing act for nearly the entire month of May.

Happy 5th Birthday, Elka! And many more!

Our Elka V is now 5! I don't know how that happened. It seems like it can't be all that long ago she was an itty bitty puppy, peeing on the floor and chewing on the kitchen wall and falling asleep on our laps in a warm bundle of puppy brownies. Well okay, I guess she still does the lap bit.

Wordless Wednesday January 15 2014

(how the K9 Veteran's Day photo shoot actually went down)

Why I Watermark My Pictures

Well now, anyway. I didn't always watermark them. I forget when I started, exactly, but it's just part of the routine now.

But, there are a few reasons. It occurred to me to list/discuss them after this past Wednesday's post, wherein many of you commenters said you did or did not.

1. Copyright. My pictures are mine. I might not be a good photographer, but I own that. And, watermark or not, pictures I produce are mine, and I don't want to just hand 'em out. You can look at them, that's what pictures are for. But use them? Represent them as yours? I'm pretty much not okay with that.

Business cards from Moo.com

So, necessary or not, I have business cards for this blog. I give them to people I meet occasionally, press them upon my friends and coworkers, and tack them to corkboards at the vet's office and the feed store.

My original ones were from Office Max, a not so great picture of Elka laying down on a white background. Thin paper. Little information, just my name and email address (no phone number. I'm running a blog, not a "please call me" business).

My newer ones from Moo.com, though, are beautiful. I've gotten them twice now, the first time on their heavier paper, the second time on recycled. Fabulous paper quality both times. When I got the cards on recycled paper, the box was too, which was a nice surprise! They also ship quickly.

The first time, the cards were free because of a Klout.com perk, and so had to have the Klout icon on the back. Oh yes, the back. Moo.com cards let you put a picture and stuff on the front and back. Maybe I'll get even fancier next time and do a QR code (or that might be too fancy and not work. I'm never sure what's too far).

(this is the picture I used on the back. I couldn't get a good picture of the card, for whatever reason)

But, if you're interested in your own business cards from Moo, you can use my Super! Special! referral link, which will give me an amount off my next order  http://www.moo.com/share/p8cgnn

FTC diclaimer: I received no compensation from Moo.com for this review. I decided to do it all on my own.

Calming Signals, illustrated with Aussies

I talk about "calming signals" with regards to canine body language once in awhile here. I even reviewed Turid Rugaas' book on it.

Well here, on Quality Aussies, is a fabulous page on Calming Signals (though unfortunately, the linked Rugaas web sites at the beginning of the page are no longer up). I really know little about Australian Shepherds, and have never interacted with one, but that doesn't matter in this context. These are things that every dog does, naturally. Instinctually.

Now, does every dog listen to the calming signals of others? Even if they're doing some of their own? No, I can't say that they do. I think dogs are rather like people in that regard (or people are like dogs) in that we can miss the messages that are right in front of our faces, and end up making poor decisions.

I've got a good "yawn and head turn" picture of Elka:

The "sideways approach" illustrated by the Quality Aussies is one that I do frequently with a library patron's dog. She's a little mini Aussie-Border Collie cross (okay, so I've interacted with half an Aussie), and she's demonstrated herself to be rather fearful. So, I sideways approach. I turn my head. I let her come to me. Typically, she'll wiggle over to me, and then turn her back to me and sit. Then she looks at me, grunt-whining, and I scratch her rump and haunches, which makes her get up again and close her eyes with happiness.

Really, I'm jealous of all those great Aussie pictures (though if I'd properly socialized Elka, I'd be able to take pictures of her playing with other dogs. Sigh.) I do have a piloerction one:

But really, situations in which Elka is doing a play bow, or the occasional whale eye, or anything like that, I don't have a camera out. I'm typically interacting with her, or watching her interactions.

Can't we just cuddle?

I was reading on the chaise lounge part of the leather couch the other day, and Miss Elka decided that she needed to be up there with me. We lay together companionably for awhile, but of course I couldn't just let things be. I had to get the camera.

Liebster Blog Award (Thanks Ruby!)

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Share five things about yourself
3. Answer five questions presented by Ruby
4. Ask five new questions to your nominated bloggers
5. Reveal your top five picks {with less than 200 readers} and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
6. Copy and paste the award on your blog
7. Hope that the people you’ve sent the award to forward it to their five favorite up-and-coming bloggers and keep it going

Sounds like fun, right?  Right!

Dog Tag Art: company and product review (and giveaway!)

As you may have noticed, Elka ends up with quite a lot of jangles on her collar. Other than the bottle opener, and even that one is arguable, I would say that they're all necessary. There's her dog license, her rabies tag, her AKC Companion Animal Rescue program tag, and a plain old "dog tag" with her info on it for your average joe. However, I was approached by Dog Tag Art to try out their products and write a review, and I just didn't want to say no. In fact, she doesn't even jangle any more than she did before....miracle of miracles, the tags come with those rubber silencers!

(I love it when a company has a picture of their "founding dog" with their material!)

Slight changes!

Frequently, once I get used to the look of something, that's the way it stays. So, not that I thought I was a L33T Pro blog designer once I did my very first layout....I just like staying in a comfortable rut. "Good enough" is sometimes the way things stay.

I even changed my Twitter icon. It used to just be a cut-down version of the original blog header

I changed it to a newer picture (though still one taken in my kitchen!)

If you really dig this picture, it's also available as a button on The Elka Almanac Zazzle store!

Friday relaxation

I messed around a bit with my camera settings today, as Elka napped next to me on the couch. She opened her eyes when the camera turned on, but that was it.

I have this problem where I tend not to read the manuals to the things that I'm operating. I just kind of figure it out. Cameras can be less than intuitive, so I'm going to need to do it sooner or later. But I know how to change the settings that the little wheel thing on the top controls, anyway.

Food wasn't involved, and I wasn't asking her to do anything, so Elka just kind of kept an eye on me. Sometimes food is involved with our picture taking. It's how I get her to cooperate with some shots, and as always, food is an excellent reward.

Ultimately, I didn't really learn anything. Not even to let sleeping dogs lie.

Dog Body Language: Photo example

I was taking pictures of Elka in her harness, when I got this picture. I'd asked her to sit, and she got up in between completing the cue and my getting the picture, so I asked for another sit.

See the lovely calming signals Elka is presenting? She turned her head, so she isn't looking right at me. Her tongue is doing that because I caught her at the beginning of a yawn. And she licked her chops after. 

Sorry, puppy, but "sit" does mean "sit".

Dog Photography: Not as Easy As You'd Think

I'm not really a great photographer.  Elka's natural looks sort of balance out my lack of eye for things like composition, and being able to crop pictures so that she's more or less in the center of them really helps.

Something that doesn't really help is Elka's natural ability to move at the very second the picture is taken, so that what would have been exactly the shot I want it instead, well, something else.