A photography blog about dogs in Arlington, Va. Published every Monday morning. This blog will feature regular contributions from outstanding photographers in Virginia.
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Back Next Week With More Arlington Dogs!
The A-Town Dog Blog will be back with more A-Town dogs next week!
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Four Rhodesian Ridgebacks in Arlington's Shirlington Dog Park
This week's dog is the Rhodesian Ridgeback -- a dog that comes from South Africa, where it was famously used to hunt lions. The defining physical characteristic of this dog is a prominent ridge on the dog's back, which you can see in the second photo below. The most defining personality trait of this dog is its bravery, which it must have needed to hunt the lions in South Africa.
I was lucky enough to see four Rhodesian Ridgeback's at the Shirlington Dog Park at the same time recently, and they all had a wonderful disposition, which hopefully comes through in some of these photographs below.
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Shih Tzu Madness at Arlington's Shirlington Dog Park
For a relatively rare breed, it was fun to see three Shih Tzus having fun together at Arlington's Shirlington Dog Park this past Sunday. The Shih Tzu is a Chinese breed of dog, and the name translates to be "Lion Dog," which is what they are supposed to look like. Apparently, according to Wikipedia, the Shih Tzu is considered to be an "ancient breed," which means that its DNA shows a close genetic relationship to wolves.
According to legend, Siddhartha carried a tiny Shih Tzu with him as he traveled throughout India, and once when Siddhartha, also known as the Buddha, was surrounded by thieves, the tiny Shih Tzu transformed into a full size lion, and scared the thieves away. Then, Buddha bent down and kissed the Shih Tzu which had transformed back into a cute dog. The kiss from Buddha is why Shih Tzu tend to have a different colored spot on their forehead, although not all Shih Tzu actually have this.
(Sneakpeak for next week: next Monday the dog blog will feature a great looking pack of Rhodesian Ridgebacks.)
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And email us photos / videos / comments at atowndogblog@gmail.com!
An English Bulldog at Arlington's Benjamin Banneker Dog Park
English Bulldogs can look pretty scary. Just see the first picture of today's dog below. But if you spend any amount of time around an English Bulldog, you'll learn that they aren't scary at all. They are big, muscular, and very laid back and friendly. The one featured below allowed a smaller dog to chew on his ear for about fifteen minutes today.
A fun fact about English Bulldogs is that they are one of the very few breeds of dog that have naturally short tails that appear to be docked. Most of the time when you see a dog with a stubby tail, it got that way because it was docked by the breeder at birth, typically to prevent the dog from knocking things over or injuring people as a full grown adult.
Another less fun fact about Bulldogs is that they were originally used in a sport called "Bull-baiting," which is where they get their name. Bull-baiting is a disgusting sport in England in which a bull is chained to a post, placed in a hole, and, after pepper is sprayed up the bull's nose to enrage it, it is attacked by trained Bulldogs, as well as other dogs sometimes. You'll be glad to know that this "sport" was outlawed in England in 1835.
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A Basset Hound in Leesburg Virginia
Today's post is the A-Town Dog Blog's first guest blog post, and it features a great looking Basset Hound who was visiting the Olde Izaak Walton (Dog) Park in Leesburg, Virginia. It was photographed by a very talented photographer whose work you can view more of here.
The Basset Hound is an exciting breed, because it was bred to have an exceptional sense of smell. Your first tip off that the Basset Hound is one of the "scent hounds" should be the long, droopy ears that fall to the floor. These are called "drop ears," and they work to gather scents and keep the scents closer to the dog's nose.
So, the Basset Hound has an exceptional sense of smell, but unfortunately for Basset Hound lovers, another breed boasts the best sense of smell in the entire Dog Kingdom, the Blood Hound. But with the exception of Blood Hounds, no dog has a better sense of smell than the dog you're looking at below, photographed by Jacqui.
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A Border Collie in Arlington's Benjamin Banneker Dog Park
Border Collie's are one of my favorite breeds of dog. They were bred originally to herd sheep in England and Scotland. A Border Collie named Chaser currently holds the record for being able to respond to the largest number of English words (Chaser can respond to over 1,022 words). They are also incredibly energetic, so if you get one, you should plan to give it plenty of opportunities to run.
(In the first photo below, you can see that my dog sometimes gets jealous when I photograph other dogs, which can make it hard for me to take photos for this blog.)
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How To Rescue Dogs in Virginia
My wife received an email last night from the rescue organization where we got our dog asking for our help. The email said that the shelter, "Oldies But Goodies," could no longer accept any more dogs for the time being, because they have too many dogs that are waiting for homes as it is, and they don't have the funds or the volunteer capacity to foster any additional dogs.
For all of you dog lovers out there, you should know that this rescue organization specializes in Cocker Spaniels, and they take lots of care to make sure that each dog is placed in a good home. They rescue about 300 dogs every year in Virginia.
Also, it is entirely operated by volunteers, so any money you donate will be used will go towards saving dogs. And, in addition to accepting donations, they are looking for people who are willing to volunteer their time to either foster dogs in their home, attend events on their behalf, and to do other things like take photographs of dogs, which I plan on doing for them.
For this week's photos, here are some the my favorite photographs of the dog we were given by Oldies But Goodies. And to the donors and volunteers that support OBG, thanks for all the great work you do.
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Look at These Photos of Dog Friendships In Arlington, Virginia
Dogs love people, but they also love other dogs. Instead of focusing this post on a specific, interesting dog in Arlington like usual, I wanted to make this a post showing photos of dog friendships.
Just in case you want to learn more about "dog relationships," you should check out this interesting article in Modern Dog Magazine, which stresses that dogs can have rewarding relationships with almost any living thing, and that the quality of the relationship doesn't depend on the species. In other words, dogs don't need to be friends only with other dogs in order to be happy.
That article aside, here are some photos of some good old fashioned dog-on-dog friendships.
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A Boxer-Mastiff Mix at Benjamin Banneker Dog Park
Today's dog is a fun one. It's a sweet Mastiff-Boxer mix that was rescued from the streets of Georgia by its new owner only a week ago. He is now aptly named Mr. Ed (or just Ed) because he is tall, and resembles the horse from the old TV show by the same name. I didn't know this, but apparently Boxers and Mastiffs are a common mix-breed variety of dog, because they have very similar temperamants, and they also look very good.
In general, people like both Boxers and Mastiffs because they are affectionate, loyal, sweet, strong, and calm. This one seemed to have all of those characteristics, and despite having been rescued only a week ago, it looked like he was already very happy with his new owner.
The A-Town Dog Blog delivers you new photography every Monday morning of dogs in Arlington, Virginia. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, or subscribe by email.
A Newfoundland Dog At Arlington's Benjamin Banneker Dog Park
You would be forgiven for thinking that you were looking at a large bear, but no, as far as I know, there has never been a bear sighting at any of the Arlington dog parks. This is a Newfoundland dog, and, unlike a grizzly bear, which is resembles, Newfoundland dogs are known for saving peoples' lives, not eating them during camping trips.
I'll rush through the obvious: Newfoundlands are huge dogs (they get up to 150lbs), they are strong dogs, famous for their calm dispositions, and are intensely loyal. They have water resistant fur and webbed-paws, which makes them wonderful doggie-paddle swimmers, and the area that they distinguish themselves is in water rescues.
As the name "Newfoundland" implies, this breed was created to be companions to the fishermen in Newfoundland, Canada, and if you thought that the newfoundland at this Arlington dog park looked extra furry, you won't be surprised to learn that they have not only oily waterproof fur, but they have a "double-thick" fur coat to keep them warm in the icy waters of the North Atlantic when they need to go swimming to save someone.
Actually, this is the only dog that does NOT swim the doggie-paddle. According to Wikipedia, it swims a "modified breaststroke," by moving its limbs in a down-and-out motion using its webb-ed paws.
Here are some tales of heroism by famous Newfoundlands: one Newfoundland apparently aided in the rescue of 63 shipwrecked sailors, while another unnamed Newfoundland rescued Napoleon Boneparte in 1815 during his famous escape from the island of Elba. And in 1828, three people and one Newfoundland named Hairyman saved over 160 Irish immigrants from the wreck of the brig Dispatch.
Still not impressed by Newfoundlands? Here's my last attempt: a Newfoundland dog named Seaman accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition to explore the American West, earning the breed a place in American history.
And more recently than that, a Newfoundland puppy named Boo with zero training at all in water-rescue saved a deaf man from drowning in a Northern California river, where he had been panning for gold.
So, as you can see, this is a pretty exceptional breed of dog, for those of you who are up for owning a huge bear-like dog that is fond of both rolling in the mud, and saving your life.
Come back to the A-Town Dog Blog next week when you'll get to see a post highlighting a very muddy Golden Retriever. Subscribe to this blog so you never miss one of our weekly posts, updated every Monday!
