PJN Photography: February 2011

Last week The Post Star featured an article about a local man who's canine friend has an unfortunate terminal disease called degenerative myelopathy. This condition is a deterioration of the spinal cord that can affect the use of the back legs, motor skills, balance, and continence. It is most common in German Shepherds but can be found in many different breeds. The bright side is that the dogs who develop the condition lose feeling in the affected areas, however; this it can be detrimental to their body awareness (which can lead to various other issues).

Jake is my parents dog, our family dog since 2001 and a Black Lab/Dane/German shepherd mix. He was at the local SPCA, in a cage that had links all the way to the top because he was one of the few who could actually leap that high. His name was Norris (as in Chuck Norris). He was 2-3 years old and a bundle of energy- but still well behaved. He was a very dark shade of black with dark eyes and the cutest ears that would only perk half way, looking more like wings than ears (or as my father puts it "heli-chop-ter" ears). My family quickly decided he should be called something quick and easy (I was away at college so I was not involved in the renaming process) it turned out he responded very well to Jake.

Why I am posting this has more to do with one particular idiosyncrasy of Jake's. One that used to make me laugh but also drive me crazy. He hated cameras. He was very scared of them and knew one when he saw one. Whether it was a folding Polaroid, a DSLR, a point and shoot, a cell phone, a video camera or even my old Rolleiflex, he would head for the nearest exit.

If I put a long lens on my DSLR to try and shoot from a distance, he would see me bring it up to my eye and disappear in seconds. In fact, I have maybe five decent images of him over a ten year period and only two with his eyes open (the others are sleeping). He just would not be in the room if you had a camera in your hand.

A typical Jake portrait, sleeping circa 2008

Last year Jake started slowing down, quite quickly, and by the end of the summer he was losing a lot of muscle mass. At first we thought it was arthritis since he was always so active, but because he was a bit of a jumper when he was young we figured perhaps that contributed to his back-half deteriorating. By the fall he was starting to sway when he walked, getting up after sleeping was increasingly difficult, and it was clear he was struggling to get where he needed to go.

In November my mother heard about degenerative myelopathy. It was obvious after some research that he had this condition. In all honesty he's just slowed down. The disease hasn't incapacitated him and he still has a very healthy appetite. His back end just doesn't respond like it used to. He doesn't respond like he used to, and to many people he just looks like an old dog.

Angus, my English Bulldog, tries to keep him young, never hesitating to provoke Jake into a quick wrestle. But those short bursts of activity last only seconds now and then they both go back to sleep.

Then it occurred to me: Jake may have changed his view of cameras.

Well not exactly. He won't run into another room but the ears go back and he won't look into the lens. That being said, I did manage to get a few portraits of the old guy the other day.

Scratching the ears helps

Angus checking on Jake as they wait for a treat

In the above picture you can see his posture, his skinny back end crouched as he waits patiently for a little treat. He just can't stand for long periods of time before his legs give out on him.

Trade mark Jake ears

The body and the face has thinned, but the hunger is still there...literally.

Probably the only time I've ever got a straight-on look from Jake (but in all fairness, I tricked him into looking my way). Even though his hair is a bit salt and pepper, he's still the dog obsessed with cheese. The dog who will hit his head on the floor when he sneezes. The dog who would rather not have his picture taken.

While the rest of the country has been struggling with the extreme amounts of snow that has fallen in the past 7 days (looking at you guys in Arlington, TX), here it's been a manageable 4-8 inches every three days. The result is thigh-deep snow in the fields, large snow banks like the ones I remember growing up with, and excellent weather for winter activities. I'm sure today's snow globe-like snow was enjoyed immensely by those attending the Lake George winter carnival, Courtney and I held one of our own.

We got ready, laced up our Bean Boots, and headed down the road where we borrowed a sled. The snow flakes seemed giant, they had to be falling at an inch an hour for about an hour and luckily my Nikon is weather-sealed because it was covered in no time.