We have winners!

 I think this photo was taken by my friend Kathryn Reed. This is her dog Futz. He's made an appearance here before. Rad road dog - without question. Not sure who the black dog is (UPDATE: it's Tiny and they were in New Jersey), maybe she or husband Rod would know. Old Futz is long passed but hasn't got off the road yet. I love that.

So we have two winners from the FIVE (WOW!) entries in our calendar contest..... Winner #1 is our great virtual friend, Susan Rose, photographer and fellow blogger among other things - and Winner #2 is Stalker Laura!!!! Congratulations, both of you. I wanted to send everyone who entered a calendar but that meant I'd have to order more. Thank you for playing though and thanks for dropping by occasionally. I really appreciate your comments and stories. And pictures. Send pictures anytime - or add them to Facebook - if you have or know of a great road dog.

Note to the winners: So happy you spoke up, congratulations! Go over to my main page and scroll all the way to the bottom. There's a contact link there where you can send us your mailing address privately. Your calendar will arrive shortly.

The new calendar is here!

 ..and it is pretty swell, if I did produce the entire thing myself. I know January is almost over but if you'd like to win one, leave us a comment below and we'll employ one of those random generated number things to pick a winner, a week from tomorrow. That would be Friday, January 20th at 9am. It isn't a popularity contest so you don't have to call all your friends or anything unless of course, you just want to.

I should say a couple of other things about this 2012 calendar. There was only one dog from last year who managed to reappear. It's Eight Ball. Some of you may remember him from the Bumper Cars. This time around I dug out Eight-Ball's puppy pictures. He deserved to be in there twice. He was awesome and is sorely missed.

If anyone knows Kelli of Fred and Kelli please let her know they made it in there too.

Last update: (she said) Someone already wrote and asked me if the  calendars are for sale. I hadn't planned on selling them this year but if a person were to drop $25. in my paypal account along with a mailing address, I imagine one might end up at your house before too long. I looked around for cheaper ones this year but the ones I found really were cheaper all around. 

*Stay tuned for the Diesel report - which includes horse kicking!
(no dogs were harmed)

Busted

We're there in the kitchen, the two of us. I empty the wax paper tube of the last few Ritz crackers, toss it in the trash can, and open a fresh one. I take a few crackers out, twist the top closed and drop it into a big bowl on the counter. I carry the plate of cheese and crackers into my office and sit down at the computer. Time passes.

You know how when you have children and they get into stuff and suddenly you realize you haven't heard them in a while? That's what happened. When I snapped to attention I heard a licking sound. The sound of paper, wax paper, scooting across old linoleum. I stepped around the corner and there stood Stella in the middle of the kitchen floor, head down, caught in the act. All I thought of was the new pack of crackers. So instead of thinking that she'd lifted the old paper out of the can (which is what happened), in my head - she'd just finished an entire pack of new crackers. The look on my face apparently conveyed this thought rather well. I say that because the second our eyes met - Stella tore out of the room past me, ran into her crate and laid down.

Fifteen minutes later, I said "Alright Stella, you've suffered enough," and she stood up and walked out.

What does your dog do when it knows it's done something bad?

Reminder: One last chance to win the final calendar; leave us a comment in that post that's linked on in the sidebar there. The drawing is tomorrow night!

Mo' free stuff

Calendar giveaway #2

First off thanks to those of you who joined us on the Carny Dog Facebook page. I really appreciate it. I hadn't planned on making such a page until recently when I realized that it would be a great way for some of the show people who drop by to painlessly add photos of their own midway dogs. I'm not sure if anyone will do it but we'll give it a go. Congratulations again to Tonya for winning the first giveaway. We put all the fan names in a hat, drew them out and numbered each one, then used a random number generator to choose the number. We'll do the same this time only now we'll draw from the comments below. Leave as many as you like. Contest ends at 7:30 pm, February 3, 2011.

While we're on the subject of giveaways, since you people are all animal lovers and I assume art lovers as well, Janet Nelson (who inspired this giveaway and the rules) is having a giveaway too. If you all will go over and leave a comment (be specific re: which painting you're interested in) on this post you may end up winning an original painting which I can testify is well worth your effort. Check out her other stuff too while you're over there. It's major-league creative, and as fun as Friday night.

United road dogs of America

This one is an old shot of Lucky and James taken in 2005. Lucky isn't with us anymore but James is (last I heard anyway).

One of my very own New Year's resolutions (this time around) is to locate and photograph as many carny dogs as possible over the next year. In years past I haven't made the dogs a priority, focusing instead on the owners and their lifestyles but it's always fun to change it up a little and the fact is, for a lot of carnival workers/showmen, just like the rest of us, their dog is family. In many cases, maybe more so because on a carnival lot, you can't just let your dog out in the back yard and forget about it. You have to be engaged and thinking of the dog's welfare twenty-four hours a day or things can go downhill fast. I've known a few guys that backed over their own dogs with a truck or left them tied up too close to one of those oh-so-delectable power lines. Talk about having your day ruined..

Many of you already know, there are all variety of dogs that travel with the carnival. Owners too. Some are spoiled rotten and some fend for themselves. They can be overfed, underfed, silly, angry, bored, and happy; happy to be bored, neurotic, athletic, entertainers. There are thoroughbreds and mutts and everything in between. As I've said before though, they're generally the most social dogs you'll ever meet. They have friends galore.

Having said that, I'm off to make them their very own Facebook Page. Please go over for a visit and "Like" it (them) and pass the link along to anyone you think might also like to see some magnificent road dogs from time to time. If you are one of those special people who actually owns a carny dog, we'd love to have you post a photo on the page as well and tell us in the caption a little bit about your dog. You never know, Stella and I might very well show up and photograph your best friend for next year's Carny Dog calendar!

Note: The calendars arrived last night and they are brilliant. My arm is cramping from patting myself on the back over it. In case anyone wonders, they start with February and go through next January. That way when you forget to get a new one next year, you'll still have an extra month of knowing what day it is ;-) Giveaway rules are forthcoming.