What the flu means to me....

We, um, evacuated the city and went to the beach for the, um, disease-free air.

Okay, it was an unexpected week and a half of vacation!

Egyptian Dogs

Now I know I don't study Egyptology, but other people smarter than I do. For example, the other day my friend Jenny (who does study Egyptology) wrote on her blog about dogs in ancient Egypt--I thought it was cool that there at least 77 dogs with names in Egyptian records.

She mentioned that some of the Egyptian dogs may have been ancestors of Basenjis (which everyone knows I have) .

So I started looking at it, and it turns out that many of the hieroglyphs and carvings and statues show dogs that have all the characteristics of Basenjis--curly tails, pointed ears, medium size. I found a website made by a Basenji owner that investigates them in ancient Egypt.

She says that one of the common hieroglyphs for the word 'dog' not only includes the phonetic spelling, but also a small picture to distinguish the 'dog' word from other words that sound the same (and that the dog used often looked like a Basenji):

Below is the hieroglyphic spelling tsm, one word for dog. The first three symbols represent the phonetic spelling: the hobble rope [top left] equals t, the bolt [bottom left] equals s, and the owl equals m. The pictogram for dog follows, cementing the meaning of the word.

But then again, who knows? I don't want to include a link because I didn't ask for permission and she may not be very scholarly. But maybe I will anyway.

Anyway, in reading about the history of Basenjis, I learned that they originated in central Africa, but made their way to Egypt as gifts for pharaohs and other important people and eventually caught on as a cool pet. I guess sort of like how lots of people started carrying Chihuahuas after Paris Hilton did it.

They sure do look a lot alike (that's Sam on the left. I don't know the doggy's name on the right):

Speaking the name of D-O-G out loud...

Okay, yes I know I promised not to be dlogger, but they are exceptionally cute today. I think of it more as a photography exhibition . It's art, not a crazy dog man.

By Popular Demand...

In an informal poll, a full one-third of my loyal readers have asked for a video of the pups (that's you Jenny). I've said that I didn't want to be a full-time dog blogger (dogger?), but with this kind of public response, what can I do? I have to keep the fan happy!



In this video, you can see some of the typical wrastlin' they do. Samson may seem to have the upper hand because of his size, but Lila gives back pretty good. She is also faster and more agile (not to mention more clever and, well, bitchy), so once she gets on her feet, the race is on. The end of the video catches just the beginning of what I like to call the Basenji 500. They'll do laps and laps at top speed.

And yes, we are on the roof, but they are not typical Mexican roof dogs. a) they get to come down. b) they are never there alone, and c) they also go other places. You'll notice on the roof some of the garbage they prefer to expensive toys. They love, LOVE, the paint rollers, but the empty plant pot is also fun too. And no, that is not a pup tent (har har). It's a skylight covered with a shower curtain. My neighbors think it leaks. I reserve comment.

Other than dog stuff, everything in my life is pretty much the same. I've been spending a lot of time at home, partly because I have hermit tendencies, but also because the dogs can't go out much yet (vaccinations) and I feel guilty if I leave them alone too long. I only have a few more weeks until summer vacation (!). I'll be in Alabama and Atlanta for the month of July. I had thought about driving up with the dogs, but three days (and two nights in a hotel) with them might be more than I could stand. Probably not very much fun for them either. So Fernando is going to stay in my apartment for the month, and take care of the kids and I'll fly into Pensacola.

Other good news: when the kids turn four months old (on June 5th), they 'll be able to go to puppy kindergarten! This guy Miguel comes to your house three times a week while you're at work, picks them up and takes them to play with other pups the same age. I don't know if they do arts and crafts or music, but they do get to socialize with other dogs and learn some training basics (sit, stay, bring daddy a beer, etc.) That will be great! (P.S. I shouldn't refer to Miguel as 'this guy'. He's actually a professional dog trainer with lots of experience and references).

If you want to see all the dog pictures, you can look at my web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/the.matt.itat/Dogs

Well, there's been a change...

I don't want to be one of those crazy dog-bloggers, so this will be the last post about the puppies...unless of course they do something extraordinarily cute, pass a major developmental hurdle, or something else equally interesting to the general public. Right.

So, the latest news is that there has been a small change in the naming protocol. The girl pup is still Dalila (pronounced in the Spanish way, da-lee-la) often shortened to Lila (lee-la).

The boy pup has turned out to be at the top of the weight range for the breed, and is generally dumber, less aggressive (although cuter) than Lila. So, he has become Samson (English pronunciation, shortened to Sam).

So there they are Sam & Lila. Most people asked me why I didn't name him Samson as soon as they learned Dalila's name. I had no good answer, so I changed it.

Not that their names make much difference, they don't listen anyway. But now that they have their documents from the vet, it's official at least.

This week has been fun (lots of fun for them) and tiring (for all of us). I'm trying to get them on a schedule of sleepings, feedings and poopings, but of course they have different ideas. I'm still not walking them on the street because they haven't finished getting their vaccinations. Which makes the house training a little more fun.

But they're sweet, and cute, and it's been less than a week since they've come to live with me, so I suppose they'll keep learning, and things will get easier and easier.

Then the fun really begins...

Okay, we decided we should probably take a walk outside to see if anything happens. Jack is busy pulling the couch apart when we start to fashion some kind of leash to each of them.










As you can see, it was a little more complicated. Each one wanted to chew the rope of the other.












Sometimes they wanted to chew their own rope, and the other's rope at the same time.












And then the games truly began....Full Contact Rope Wrestling

Meeting the family...

So, I've become a father again! This time it is to two feisty little Basenji dogs. One is a male, and the other is female (brother and sister). I'm pretty sure the boy's name is Jack, but I'm still torn on the girl's name. I'm sort of liking Daleela, or Sheila, or Lula or maybe Fulana. When you say Jack's name, he sort of looks around, but none of the other names work for the girl.

This is the girl, Lula (?) licking Fernando's face. Lula would be an homage to Tallulah Bankhead, notorious Alabama socialite who threw it all in the face of her traditional family and moved to Hollywood to star in sexy movies, drink whiskey, get cigarrette voice, and dabble in the lesbian arts.


This is a photo of Jack climbing onto my lap. It's the safest place, because there are lots of things to chew everywhere else. Not to mention pee and poo. Even a little vomick in transport cage (and in the back of my car--it was a long ride for them).


Jack is the bigger, lighter colored one. He's also probably the sweetest.

Daleela is darker, smaller, and much feistier. She'll jump on Jack's head without provocation. And bite! I fully expect her to pick up smoking within a month, and cursing soon after.

Now, Jack is feeling comfortable on my lap for 5.6 seconds until he figures out what is so interesting to Fulana on the floor.


But they are awfully cute, and awfully sweet. It's just their first night here--they've had to travel about 4 hours by car, and to add insult to injury, have their vaccinations today too.


So, they're asleep now--let's see for how long!