This photograph really has to be declared the "Official Yawn Photo" of Readlarrypowell.com.
The dog is Choo and he's among the spotlighted dogs in this weekend's "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie and Napping Cats Nap." Well, OK, he's sharing the spotlight with Marty, Laddie, Grizzly and Jack.
They were nominated by their devoted human, Dianne Watson, the noted Arlington Animal Services volunteer and critter rescuer with West Texas Chow Rescue.
She explains that the yawn photo was taken "after I disturbed my Choo's nap time. He was sunning himself on the deck. He is 'yawning' not growling! Since I keep my two purebred chows looking like lions, I guess Choo thinks he is one."
Now, she actually was able to sneak up on Marty and snap a photo of the 7-year-old chow/corgi mix out like a light on his back. In that next photo on the left, Marty has a bit of a "what was that flash?" look on his face.
"When my first Chow, Chan, passed away on Good Friday, 2003, from liver cancer, we went in search of another Chow to 'adopt'," Dianne says. "That's actually how I encountered Linda Brantley of West Texas Chow Rescue. My husband and I applied and were approved to 'adopt' one of her rescued chows, but before we drove to Lubbock, I found Choo on Petfinder. He was with an affiliate of the SPCA in Temple, TX. We drove three hours to meet him; we brought him home with us.
"BUT, Choo was a mess, they had just dipped him in some type of flea and tick killer; he had literally hundreds of ticks on him. It was a long drive home with our surviving dog, Laddie in the car with us and Choo smelling like kerosene! Choo was 18 months-old when we adopted him, April 2003, just three weeks after losing Chan.
"Our hearts had such a hole in them and Laddie (who is about 10-12 years-old now) was also grieving for Chan. Choo will be eight years-old this October. Everyone gets a kick out of that photo of Choo yawning; it was a once in a lifetime picture, just snapped at the right moment!
"Marty was originally 'pulled' from old Arlington Animal Services as a foster back in August, 2004. He was evidently someone's backyard-only dog. He had no experience with other dogs. Marty wanted to 'eat' Laddie [photo to the right] and Choo when I first brought him home. Took four months of working with him and two sets of basic obedience classes to get him to 'loosen up' and to be able to enjoy the company of other dogs. He didn't know what a toy was or even a dog biscuit. "Since then, Marty has played at doggie day camp at PetSmart a few times and walked in the Arlington Parade of Lights with other dogs. After 10 months in foster care without being able to find a home as good as my own for him, we adopted Marty as our third dog. He is now between the ages of six and seven years-old.
"We now have five dogs, Marty was number 3, so he has welcomed Grizzly and Jack into the family since his adoption."
Now, Laddie, Grizzly (left) and Jack (lower right) seem to be happy to be photographed wide awake. Laddie is the "senior" Collie/Shepherd mix. Grizzly is the youngest purebred chow at 4
going on 5. And Captain Jack, an Arlington shelter alumni from Sept. 2007, weighs in at 82 pounds and is, like Marty, 7 years old.
And, they all sleep, they just don't all sit for photographs when their sleeping.
(We've been presenting sleeping dogs and napping cats -- and some alligators and other snoozers -- since May 14, 2005. It's a respite from all the hard luck stories during the rest of the week. We love it when people show the pride in their critters by nominating them for spotlighting in Let Sleeping Dogs Lie and Napping Cats Nap. So, send us your photos of sleeping (and yawning!) animals and their stories and info about all of you to dallrp@aol.com. We'll publish the photos and the images will be seen around the world. It's a public service for insomniacs -- sort of the promise that some day, we insomniacs, too, will be able to sleep.)
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