DROOL - Issue No. 4

BY B I X B I — I S S U E N O. 4

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BY BIXBI—ISSUE NO. 4

EDITOR-IN -CHIEF

James Crouch

MANAGING EDITOR

Alynn Evans

EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Chris Nelson

CREATIVE DIRECTION & DESIGN

TMBRWN

DESIGN PRODUCTION

Jennifer Roberts COPY EDITOR

Christian Glazar PRODUCER

Shayan Asgharnia DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

John Webster

NO BAD IDEAS EDITORS

Rachel D’Agostino Melissa Van Vactor

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Alynn Evans, Alyssa Hurst, Chris Nelson, Elana Scherr, Basem Wasef CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Shayan Asgharnia, Julia LaPalme, Michael Shaffer CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Ryan Duggan, Moron Eel, Hannah Koslosky, Michael Howard, Lauren McGookin, Stephen Morrison BIXBI Pet PO Box 7327 Boulder, CO 80306 303.666.1070 No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any shape or form without written consent from BIXBI. For general inquiries, story and photography submissions, contact us at droolideas@bixbipet.com. © 2021 copyright BIXBI Printed in the USA

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ISSUE NO.4

44 Blood Hounds

“... DONATED CANINE BLOOD IS IN PERPETUALLY SHORT SUPPLY, AND THE BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR TO THE BLOOD DEFICIT IS A LACK OF EDUCATION AND AWARENESS; PEOPLE SIMPLY DON’T THINK ABOUT CANINE BLOOD DONATION UNTIL THEY NEED IT...”

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Dogs Don’t Hold Resentment The chaotically spectacular life of actor Danny Trejo.

A Gladiator, A Gentleman The history of a dog with an egg-shaped head.

If Dogs Could Talk What if we said it’s as easy as pressing a button?

Fast & Furriest The high-revving adventures of Lucy the goldendoodle.

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Toothy Tuna Is All Smiles A dog that looks like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, but cuter.

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When Nature Calls An artist’s hilarious ode to dogs and the crap they do.

Issue No.4 Cover Actor Danny Trejo with adorable Zeke, one of his seven rescue dogs, captured by L.A.-based photographer Shayan Asgharnia.

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DDRROOOOLL— —IISSSU SUEENNO.4 O.4

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

DOGS SEE THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY, AND WE LOVE THEM FOR IT.

Recovery, 2021 by Stephen Morrison.

See more of Morrison's art on page 92.

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Humans see the world the way that we want to see it, distorted by expectation and foregone conclusions. Dogs, on the other hand, see the world as it is, with objectivity and innocence, and slobbering with curiosity. As often as I can, I try to see the world through my dog’s eyes, but frankly I don’t care to see the world she sees when she gazes through the window at a squirrel for two hours straight, or sniffs out a new friend at the park, or waits for her morning walk as I step out of the shower. No, I want to see the world she sees when she trots down the street, experiencing everything and everyone around her, full of joy and completely devoid of judgement.

Issue Four of Drool should be read with joy and without judgement as we walk you through the lives of dogs and dog lovers alike. We get to know actor Danny Trejo, an intimidating ex-convict with an unbelievable story and a deep, gushy passion for his seven rescues. We meet Bunny and Stella, a pair of pups who are learning how to communicate with their owners, excited and unafraid to ask the existential questions that typically plague us two-legged creatures. We fall in love with Tuna, a “chiweenie” with an unconventionally adorable smile who became an internet sensation. We peek behind the doors of a blood drive for dogs, and we appreciate why a goldendoodle named Lucy loves to go camping in an unexpected adventure vehicle: a Porsche 911.

Too often we see what we want to see, or judge before we understand, but dogs don’t, and that’s one of the many reasons why we love them as much as we do — and why some people prefer dogs over people.

Keep sniffing, James Crouch

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DOGS DON’T HOLD RESENTMENT — ­— ——————­THE CHAOTICALLY SPECTACULAR LIFE OF 06— 17 ACTOR DANNY TREJO. WORDS BY CHRIS NELSON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY S H AYA N A S G H A R N I A

DRO OL N O. 4

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On August 23, 1969, 26-year-old Danny Trejo walked into a Greyhound bus depot in downtown San Francisco after being released from prison, where he had spent four and a half years for attempting to sell four ounces of fake heroin (sugar) to an undercover cop.

“I went through the doors of the bus station and saw this beautiful German shepherd sitting there with his master with no leash on,” Trejo recalls, “and I yelled, ‘A dog!’ and the German shepherd turned, looked at me, and just came up to me like he was my dog. It was almost like he knew I hadn’t seen a dog in a long time ... It was a perfect homecoming.”

As a free man, Trejo wanted to atone for a misguided life of crime and dedicated himself to helping other people and animals. Now 77 years old, Trejo is a loving family man and a cherished community member who has performed in about 400 films, owns a chain of successful restaurants, and recently founded a record label.

He says, “Everything good that has happened to me, has happened as a direct result of helping someone else. That’s the way it’s meant to be. God has put some of the most beautiful people and beautiful animals in my life.”

With seven rescue dogs at home, one of Trejo’s favorite things to do when he gets back from a long day at work is to throw himself on the floor and call his pups over for a “lick-o-fest.” The imposing man with a hard, scarred face turns into a soft-spoken, mushy sop around

dogs. He is a passionate and outspoken advocate for animal welfare, as he is for prison reform and substance abuse recovery. In the past, Trejo has protested pet stores that sell dogs from puppy mills, and in a strangely hilarious and poignant PSA he played a tough, scruffy mutt that likens life in an overcrowded rescue to a prison sentence. “We domesticated dogs, they’re our responsibility,” Trejo says. “I don’t even like people that don’t like dogs. I don’t understand them.”

It’s always been that way for Trejo. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, just north of Los

As intimidating as Danny Trejo can look, he reveals his sweet nature when he plays with his seven rescue dogs. Four of his dogs are shown here in stunning black and white (clockwise, from top left): Dixie Lou, Raven, Zeke, and Duke.

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“THE ONLY REASON FOR THE ROUGH LIFE IS THAT I MADE IT ROUGH.”

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Angeles, he and his cousin would find stray dogs around the neighborhood and try to put them in good homes. He says, “A lot of times we’d see the guys trying to raise pit bulls to fight, and I’d say, ‘Shut up, bitch, give me that dog.’”

Trejo was only a pre-teen, but no one messed with him because everyone knew his uncle Gilbert, a former Golden Gloves boxer who sold drugs and robbed local convenience stores. Trejo idolized his uncle, so he didn’t shy away when Gilbert gave him his first hit of marijuana at age eight, and his first dose of heroin at age 12.

Since Trejo saw Gilbert’s way of life as “kind of heroic,” it wasn’t long before he was using a sawedoff shotgun and a hand grenade to knock over liquor stores, and constantly consuming drugs and alcohol to numb himself. “People think I had a rough life,” Trejo says.

“The only reason for the rough life is that I made it rough.” Soon Trejo became a regular in California’s youth authority system, and at 18 years old he went to prison for the first time after getting into a fight with two sailors and stabbing one of them with a broken beer bottle.

A few years later, after selling bunk “heroin” to a cop, Trejo ended up in the notoriously violent San Quentin State Prison. Behind bars, Trejo saw a lot of pain and death, and built up his badass reputation through boxing, again following in the footsteps of Gilbert, and became a three-time lightweight and welterweight champion. Trejo says, “In prison, there’s two types of people: predator and prey. Every morning you have to decide what you’re going to be.”

In May 1968, during a prison riot, Trejo allegedly threw a rock at a prison guard and as a result, spent a year in solitary confinement in Soledad State Prison, waiting for

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his time in the gas chamber. As Trejo contemplated the end of his young life, he stayed sane by acting out scenes from The Wizard of Oz and asked God to let him die with dignity, pleading, “If you do, I will say your name every day and I’ll do whatever I can for my fellow man.”

Fortunately for Trejo, no one testified against him, and soon he was released from custody, vowing to change his ways.

Trejo moved back to the San Fernando Valley, got a job at an auto wrecker, and attended his first meetings with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). He started doing chores for neighbors and family friends, drove other addicts to meetings, and before long, became a drug counselor and sponsor.

When Uncle Gilbert tried to coax him back into a life of crime, Trejo refused; a few months later Gilbert went to prison, and not long after he overdosed and died.

Trejo stayed true to his deal with God and helped as many people as he could, and he had been clean and sober for almost two decades when he got a call from a young actor who he was sponsoring, who was working on the set of a film called Runaway Train (1985) and couldn’t handle the fact that his fellow actors were heavily using cocaine. When Trejo drove down to the movie set, he saw dozens of men dressed in prison blues, and he landed a part in the film after meeting the film’s co-writer, Eddie Bunker, a former convict who was incarcerated with Trejo.

Bunker became a close friend and mentor who helped Trejo navigate Hollywood and earn small supporting roles in several films. Trejo says, “For the first five years of my career, I was ‘Inmate Number One,’ ‘Bad Guy,’ ‘Chicano Dude,’ ‘Tattoo Guy,’ ‘Killer’ ... I

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Ugit ulpa enimpor aut ulpa sequi quo imiliqui officab oremquodi quiaes aut facerum ipsante mporature etur, comnihil exersperi rerspitat qui dolorro ventur?

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TREJO STARTED GETTING BIGGER AND BETTER ROLES, THOUGH HE CONTINUED TO BE TYPECAST AS A MEAN, KILLER MEXICAN.

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never had a name. The first role I had with a name was ‘See Veer’ in Penitentiary III (1987), and then the next one was ‘Art Sanella’ in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987) with Charles Bronson, who reminded me so much of my uncle Gilbert ... somebody that could turn you to stone with a look.”

While Trejo never thought he’d return to San Quentin, he went back to film Blood In, Blood Out (1993) before he starred as a menacing, completely silent lead villain in Desperado (1995), a film by Robert Rodriguez, who turned out to be Trejo’s second cousin.

The biggest break of Trejo’s early career came when he landed a role in Heat (1995), acting alongside Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Jon Voight — playing a character named “Gilbert Trejo.”

After Heat came out, Trejo started getting bigger and better roles, though he continued to be typecast as a mean, killer Mexican, until Rodriguez cast him in Spy Kids (2001) and showed a softer, more nurturing side of Trejo. Little did Trejo know that his role as “Uncle Machete” would become one of the most important of his career. For years, Rodriguez had toyed with the idea of directing a film that riffed on the blaxploitation films popularized in the ’70s and followed the gruesome revenge story of a former Mexican federale named Machete. Rodriguez knew Trejo was the only man for the part, and when he debuted a teaser trailer for the “Mexploitation” film before the double-feature horror film Grindhouse (2007) that he collaborated on with director Quentin Tarantino, the audience response was so overwhelmingly positive that Machete Kills (2013) went into production, with Trejo in the lead role for the first time in his acting career.

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“...ATECAE AUDIPSAMENIS ET IDELEST OCCUS, CON REPTA VOLEN DIT VENDIS ARCI QUI SOLUPTATIUNT ENISQUATE COM NIS IPITATUS NEST ENIM VELLABO GYTRNT...”

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Not long before his debut as “Machete,” Trejo starred in a low-budget action film that spun off into a trilogy, Bad Ass (2012), and that’s where he met producer and future business partner Ash Shah, who advised Trejo to open a restaurant. Trejo jokingly said he’d call it “Trejo’s Tacos,” and two movies later, on the set of Bad Asses on the Bayou (2015), Shah brought him a fully vetted business plan, and in March 2016 they opened their first restaurant. Trejo says, “It’s been awesome, I love it. It’s like serving people in your living room.” He eats there all the time, and when dogs come to the restaurant, Trejo walks into the kitchen, grabs some carne asada, washes it to get all the spice out, and feeds it to the pups.

Trejo now has seven taco cantinas, as well as one coffee and

donut shop, but his entrepreneurial ambitions are not yet tapped out. In the summer of 2019, he founded Trejo’s Music, a record label that aims to shine a light on talented emerging artists, and more recently he’s released two books: A Trejo’s Taco’s cookbook and a 288-page memoir, Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood.

He spent his adolescence as a flawed menace to society, but eventually Danny Trejo revealed a warm and accepting soul that belies his intimidating exterior.

He very easily could have continued to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Gilbert, and likely would’ve met a similar fate, but instead he focused on improving the lives of others, teaching them that no matter how dire their situation, no matter what mistakes they’ve made, they can change for the better — but only if they’re willing to be selfless, give back, and work hard for the future they want. Trejo continues to inspire those around him in the same ways that dogs inspire him.

“Every day I just see dogs get along with each other,” Trejo says.

“All they want is love, and I think that’s all anybody wants. I think the relationship between people and their animals — their dogs especially — are probably the best relationships that you can have.”

He pauses for a second, laughs and smirks as the cracks and scars on his face crease, and says jokingly, “Look, put your wife or your husband and your dog in the trunk of a car, and leave them there for an hour. When you open that trunk, you see who’s happy to see you.

That dog will jump up and kiss you, and your wife or husband will scream, ‘You bitch! I’m suing everything!’ You understand?

Dogs don’t hold resentment.”

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DDRROOOOLL — — IISSSU SUEE NNO. O.4 4

“... I’VE DRAWN HUMAN PORTRAITS FOR YEARS, AND MORE RECENTLY I’VE WANTED TO DIVERSIFY SUBJECTS INTO ANIMALS. THE FIRST THING THAT CAME TO MIND WAS A DOG, MAINLY BECAUSE THEIR CHARACTERISTICS ARE SO STRONG AND RECOGNIZABLE, WHETHER THAT BE THROUGH WHAT WE CULTURALLY ASSOCIATE WITH A CERTAIN BREED OR THE INDIVIDUAL PERSONALITIES...”

Michael Howard

Pencil, Ink and Gold Leaf nvm-illustration.co.uk/

Need Hound, 2021

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Michael Howard Michael Howard AKA NVM’s exploration of tattoos, stickers, graffiti, and general iconography manifest in immense detail, where you end up finding something new every time you look at one of his pieces. While NVM has drawn portraits of people for years, using animals as the main subject matter is a relatively recent development. In terms of process and motivation, he strives to constantly push his creativity, techniques, and skills to the edge, saying, “It’s sort of like a Rubik’s Cube: once you have one side the same color and you think you’ve got it all figured out, you turn it slightly, only to realize the other side is still a mess.”

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No Master, 2021

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IF DOGS COULD TALK 22 DRO OL N O. 4

REALLY, IT’S AS EASY AS THE PUSH OF A BUTTON.

WORDS BY A LY S S A H U R S T I L LU S T R AT I O N S B Y MORON EEL

D R O O L — I S SU E N O. O.4 1 — B I X B I P E T.C O M

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BUNNY PLAY

THE FIRST time Bunny spoke, it was like a light bulb turned on in her furry head. The two-year-old, blackand-white sheepadoodle didn’t speak in the traditional sense, but rather she communicated through a soundboard dotted with round recordable buttons. Each button has a different word associated with it, and when Bunny wants to chat, she simply extends a paw and pushes a button.

Bunny was just a puppy when she was first introduced to this communication method. Her new home was already outfitted with an “outside” button when she arrived, and her owner, Alexis Devine, immediately began modeling its use, hoping Bunny would catch on. But three weeks in, there was little progress. Then, one day, Bunny approached her button, looked down at it, then back up at her owners, then back down at the button.

“All of a sudden, she lifted her paw, looked up at us, and smashed the ‘outside’ button,” Devine recalls. “Her head whipped up, her ears went flying, and she got this huge grin on her face. We went outside and celebrated, and that was sort of the start of it.”

Bunny’s communication skills have since developed beyond what Devine ever considered possible. Bunny’s button board now includes more than 90 buttons, and Bunny often strings together multiple words to form semi-complete thoughts. Devine pictures her as a little canine astronaut

confidently operating a complex NASA console.

Bunny knows her own name, and those of her owners and best doggie friends. Fittingly, her favorite words are “walk” and “play,” though she’s keen on asking others to hush, by saying “sound settle.”

Recently, she’s even started tackling life’s bigger, more philosophical questions, like “What dog?” and “Why dog?”

Though Devine says she doesn’t have satisfying answers to Bunny’s most existential questions, the board still has served exactly the purpose she hoped it would.

“My goal from the moment I decided to bring a dog into our family was explicitly this: I want to have the very best relationship

possible, the best communication possible. What Bunny is doing is saying, ‘I have something I want to communicate to you. Let’s interact; let’s engage.’ That’s communication.”

Before Devine brought Bunny home, she did her research, hoping to understand canine communication from multiple perspectives.

Along the way, she discovered Christina Hunger, a speech-language pathologist who paved the

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LOVE YOU OUTSIDE

way for Bunny’s language lessons through her work with her own dog, Stella. Hunger had experience helping nonverbal toddlers, particularly by using tools known as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.

When an eight-week-old Stella arrived and began learning and growing, Hunger was quick to notice familiar patterns.

“Really early on, I was very inspired by how much Stella was

already communicating. She was using gestures to communicate, she was vocalizing, and she was using her eye contact to direct my attention toward something, which is a huge milestone in human language development,” Hunger explains. “I had this thought that if she’s already communicating in these ways that toddlers do right before they start talking, shouldn’t she be able to develop that next level of communication?”

Drawing on her AAC work, Hunger purchased Stella’s very first buttons. Like Devine, she started with just one: “outside.” And just like Bunny, Stella took a few weeks to warm to the idea, but Hunger expected as much; she says it can

take children a while before they notice and use their AAC devices.

Eventually, Stella began watching her buttons closely and even swatting them. In short order, Stella started combining words and from there, “her language just exploded,” Hunger says. Now Stella strings together five or six words in one phrase and uses her board to communicate about 25 to 50 times daily. On several occasions, her mastery of language has surprised even Hunger.

Take, for instance, when the button Stella uses to say “beach” broke. “When that happened, Stella said, ‘help water outside,’” Hunger tells us. “It was so incredible that she could communicate about that and find another way to say ‘beach.’” Or another time, when Hunger realized Stella was using the button for “love you” in a whole new way: “She used to only use it when we were either giving her affection or she was giving us affection, but then she started using ‘love you’ whenever we would say ‘no’ to something.

So, if she said ‘outside’ and we said, ‘no, not right now,’ she would say, ‘love you outside.’”

According to Hunger, Stella’s abilities and creativity — and occasional emotional manipulation — follow a similar development path as a toddler’s might, far surpassing initial expectations and not only contributing to Stella’s happiness, but also deepening the bond between human and dog.

“Because of her ability to communicate with words and seeing her communication patterns, I know what’s really important to her,” Hunger says. “She loves ‘outside’ so much. She has so much to say about outside and just loves doing any sort of outdoor activity. I also have realized just how routine-oriented she is. She notices changes

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“...THEY’RE SAYING THINGS ALL THE TIME, WHETHER OR NOT WE’RE LISTENING...”

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in her environment. She has feelings about them, and opinions about them.”

The same is true for Devine, who feels that this communication work has offered a unique insight into Bunny’s world. “A lot of it is me taking the time to think about what Bunny is already telling me without the buttons,” Devine says. After a recent road trip, Devine noticed Bunny spending more time at her board, testing new word combinations. She tried to put herself in Bunny’s shoes to understand why. “Anytime I go traveling or I experience something new, it just opens my mind to so many new possibilities,” Devine says, “and it really felt like that’s what was going on with her, too. I find that to be really, really endearing and really magical.”

Both Bunny and Stella have garnered internet fame for their ability to “talk.” Stella’s Instagram account has nearly 800,000 followers, and Hunger recently published a book on her pup’s progress, How Stella Learned to Talk. Meanwhile, Bunny has amassed an astounding 6.6 million followers on TikTok. While millions of people are eager to witness Bunny and Stella’s progress, social media fans aren’t the only ones watching. Researchers at the University of California San Diego’s Comparative Cognition Lab are working with Devine to understand the similarities and differences between human and non-human-animal cognitive behavior. The researchers arranged six cameras on Bunny’s board that film 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Devine sends the data to the lab every two weeks along with details about patterns she’s noticed and any new words added.

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The goal, at least in part, is to understand whether the words Bunny strings together amount to language. The study is currently in its first phase, so we don’t yet have an answer, but Devine has no doubt that Bunny’s buttons are a breakthrough in communication.

“I’ve considered myself a hopeful skeptic from the beginning, and it doesn’t always make sense what she says,” Devine says, “but I think if people look at the bigger context of it, there is quite obviously communication going on here.”

Maybe Stella and Bunny’s buttons will illuminate major scientific breakthroughs about our understanding of the animals we share our lives with, but for both Hunger and Devine, that was never the point — it’s always been about knowing and loving their pets as deeply as possible.

“I feel like it just changes how we interact with our pets,” Hunger says. “We understand that they’re complex thinkers. They have their own minds, their own wants and needs. And just like you would

with another human, you want to take all of those wants and needs into consideration as you’re interacting together.”

D evine agre e s: “ This has strengthened my resolve that animals aren’t just fluffy potatoes that live with us. They are these sentient beings with emotional lives that need a tremendous amount of respect. They deserve deep relationships. They deserve to have their needs met and they deserve to be listened to. They’re saying things all the time, whether or not we’re listening.”

“...THEY HAVE THEIR OWN MINDS, THEIR OWN WANTS AND NEEDS. AND JUST LIKE YOU WOULD WITH ANOTHER HUMAN, YOU WANT TO TAKE ALL OF THOSE WANTS AND NEEDS INTO CONSIDERATION AS YOU’RE INTERACTING TOGETHER...”

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TOOTHY TUNA IS ALL SMILES

MEET A BELOVED CHI-WEENIE WITH AN OVERBITE.

WORDS BY ELANA SCHERR

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T U N A W A S S L E E P I N G . friend I was a little worried about “He really does not do much,” said Courtney Dasher, with an apologetic laugh. “He truly would prefer to just be under the covers the majority of the day.” I found that highly relatable, and told her so. Besides, with 2.1 million Instagram followers, numerous television appearances, a book, a plush toy, a calendar, and most importantly, a decade of promoting rescue and foster care under his belt, Tuna deserves his nap time — he’s a hard-working little chi-weenie.

Picture the soft, fawn-colored fur and tiny paws of a typical Chihuahua. Take his bat-ears and add a little floppy fold. Stretch the whole dog, snout and all, and add the wrinkled, worried forehead of a mini-dachshund, but with an overbite. All teeth and neck wrinkles and nearsighted stare: that’s Tuna. Somehow, it’s incredibly cute on a dog.

Dasher first met Tuna at a Los Angeles farmers market in 2010.

He was in a local rescue’s booth, and she was on the hunt for a foster friend. “I had moved to L.A. about a year before, and I was living without roommates for the first time,” she says. “I’m an extrovert, I want company, and I told my

living alone.” The friend suggested a dog, and since Dasher wasn’t sure about the commitment, her pal mentioned that fostering could be the perfect solution. Help socialize a dog who needs a home, have some company, do a good deed, and then let the pup go to his or her new home when they get adopted.

It sounded perfect to Dasher.

“I had never heard of that before, fostering. I think it’s more popular today, but back then it felt more common to buy a pet from a store or a breeder. Not that many people understood the importance of rescuing, adopting, or fostering.”

That epiphany came just a little later. First, Dasher had to meet Tuna, whom she almost missed out on. “I saw this dog with an underbite; you know, his lower teeth stuck out.” She pauses so I can appreciate the humor in wanting a dog with an underbite and ending up with Tuna and his comical, chinless smile. The first dog was already being adopted, but when Dasher turned the corner, she felt the lightning strike of true love. “As I like to put it: the record stopped,” she says. “I saw this tiny, shivering puppy. He had this oversized sweatshirt on and he looked

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“...ALL TEETH AND NECK WRINKLES AND NEARSIGHTED STARE: THAT’S TUNA. SOMEHOW, IT’S INCREDIBLY CUTE ON A DOG...”

Courtney Dasher originally had her eyes on a dog with an underbite and now laughs that she ended up with the extreme opposite. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

like he needed a lot of love, and I had all this love to give.”

The rescue told Dasher that Tuna had been found on the side of the road in San Diego, and then sat in a county shelter until they pulled him out for foster care.

He was only four months old, and so shy that at first he didn’t even walk, he just slunk along in a crouch-crawl. “He looked like a cartoon, like the boss from The Simpsons, so I called him Mr. Burns, but that soon degraded into Toony, like Cartoony, and finally Tuna, which stuck.” As someone who once had a cat named Fangor, who became Fanny, and eventually, Annie, because she just didn’t look like a Fangor, I found Dasher’s story

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“...OCCASIONALLY HE WON’T BE IN THE MOOD. I CALL HIM ‘SPICY TUNA’ ON THOSE DAYS, AND JUST LET HIM GO BACK TO HIS NAP....”

Tuna’s goofy expressions have made their way all around the globe. He certainly has an international social media following, but also has traveled extensively in and outside the US.

of the name evolution just as relatable as Tuna’s love of naps.

Sometimes the animals just name themselves.

As you might have guessed, Tuna quickly became a “foster fail” when the time came to give him up for adoption. Dasher couldn’t imagine living without him. “I formally adopted him on December 26, 2010, and at that point, I had no idea what we would go on to do together. I mean, I didn’t even have a Facebook page.

I was the last person you’d expect to get big on social media.” Once again, it was friends who kept nudging her to join this new social platform called Instagram. “My best friend was trying to encourage me to get on. She kept telling me it was very arty, very designbased, and when she showed me what people were posting, I thought, ‘Oh, this is really cool,’

but I didn’t want it to be about me.

But I had all these funny pictures of Tuna with his smile. I think the first one was called ‘Daily Tuna Special.’”

Initially, viewers were split between loving Tuna’s goofy charm and posting mean comments calling him ugly and malformed. Dasher realized there was a teaching moment to be had. “I decided I could use this platform to celebrate his unconventional features, and I tried to lovingly point out to people that being mean on the internet is a kind of bullying, and some people came around and apologized, and those that didn’t I would delete and block. It was crazy in the beginning. But now I don’t think I ever get a negative comment about Tuna. And I read every comment every day!”

Tuna was a popular account even in the early days, with thou-

sands of followers back when most accounts only had a few hundred, but what really changed things for Dasher was when the online forum Reddit picked up an image of Tuna. “He was looking off to the side and someone had written ‘thquirrel,’ like a lisp, like he was saying ‘squirrel.’ ” Soon after that, Instagram itself picked Tuna as its weekly pet feature. Overnight, Dasher’s followers went from less than 10,000 to more than 30,000.

“I was at a friend’s house when we found out, and we just sat around the phone watching the numbers go up in disbelief.”

As Tuna’s viral popularity grew, so did the opportunities for Dasher. She created calendars and collectibles, took Tuna to meet his fans, and wrote a book about a day in the life of a little dog with a big underbite — and a good-natured acceptance of being dressed up in costumes and bowties. “He’s really a good sport about that,” Dasher says. “I never force him, but he just takes everything in stride, from meeting people to dressing up. Occasionally he won’t be in the mood. I call him ‘Spicy Tuna’ on those days, and I just let him go back to his nap.”

Dasher says she loves getting fan art and hearing from Tuna’s admirers, but even more importantly, she hopes that seeing Tuna’s posts encourages other people to foster and adopt. “Even if you aren’t ready yet, you can donate money or check the wish list for local small rescues. We just want to give back, to bring joy to other people. I feel so grateful to live this life, having my dog as my boss.”

Oh, and one last piece of advice from Tuna: “Don’t neglect your dog’s dental health!” Those smiles are precious and priceless.

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“...HAVE YOU GUYS EVER WONDERED IF DOGS GET SONGS STUCK IN THEIR HEADS? I FEEL LIKE THEY DO...”

Hannah Koslosky

Ink, digital hannahkoslosky.myportfolio.com

Guido, 2020

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Hannah Koslosky Hannah Koslosky is an artist based out of New Orleans. She attended a small college in a tiny town in Louisiana where she learned to create art that makes her happy instead of trying to please other people. Her playful and endearing pet portraits employ just the right amount of anthropomorphism to capture each dog’s personality in a comically relatable way. Koslosky absolutely loves creating art with dogs – her favorite subject matter being old yellow Labs with lots of fat rolls.

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Luna and Maze, 2021

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BLOOD HOUNDS

DID YOU KNOW THAT DOGS SHOULD DONATE BLOOD, TOO? WORDS BY A LY S S A H U R S T

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL SHAFFER

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WHEN Sharon Voss-Northrup noticed that her oldest dog, Shadow, a black Lab mix rescued from a high-kill shelter, had a distended abdomen and was a bit wobbly, she rushed the dog to their family vet.

The doctors discovered a strange mass near Shadow’s spleen, liver, and intestines, and Shadow was sent to an emergency hospital for immediate surgery. The mass, it turned out, was a blood clot formed in response to a tumor on Shadow’s liver and several more in her spleen, which ultimately had to be removed. Though the vet’s work was successful, the trauma of Shadow’s surgery caused significant blood loss; to save her life, the vets relied on a blood transfusion.

In human medical practice, this life-saving procedure seems commonplace and completely mun-

dane, but in veterinary medical practice, it’s actually quite miraculous, because donated canine blood is in perpetually short supply. “We’re always battling a critical shortage,” Casey Mills, director of the North American Veterinary Blood Bank (NAVBB), tells us. “We want blood to be a second thought for treatment. We don’t want it to be this terrible struggle of vets calling around in the middle of the night for an emergency.”

According to Mills, the biggest contributor to the blood deficit is a lack of education and awareness; people simply don’t think about canine blood donation until they need it. This was the case for VossNorthrup, who admits she wasn’t aware of the problem or the need until Shadow received her life-saving transfusion. Since then, she’s

IN HUMAN MEDICAL PRACTICE, THIS LIFE-SAVING PROCEDURE SEEMS COMMONPLACE… BUT IN VETERINARY MEDICAL PRACTICE, IT’S ACTUALLY QUITE MIRACULOUS.

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made it her mission to not only spread the word, but to give back.

Two of her other dogs, Nikita and Ranger Jr., visit the NAVBB clinic monthly to donate blood to dogs like Shadow. “If somebody had not donated their dog’s blood, we wouldn’t have Shadow,” VossNorthrup says. “We said immediately we’re going to start paying it forward.”

Mills says regular donors like these are critical for veterinarians, who call NAVBB daily searching for blood products that match their patients’ blood types, and that time spent tracking down blood wastes precious minutes for the most critical dogs. “One donor can make such a huge difference,” Mills tells us. “We can help save four other dogs with just one donation.”

One of the primary vehicles

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Community-donor clinics, like the ones Nicole Watson of Virginia hosts, offer a comfortable place for healthy dogs to donate blood. Many have extra perks, like free or discounted comprehensive blood work and a guarantee donor dogs will have blood if they ever need it.

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THE WHOLE BLOOD DONATION PROCESS TAKES 30 MINUTES AND STARTS WITH A BLOOD SCREENING AND GENERAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT, FOLLOWED BY LOTS OF CUDDLES.

Dogs have over twelve different blood types, referred to as “blood groups” by the veterinary community.

While many healthy dogs can donate blood, there are some breeds, including greyhounds, Dobermans, and pit bulls, that are more commonly universal donors.

NAVBB uses to ensure a growing blood supply is the community-donor model. Take, for example, what Nicole Watson has done to aid NAVBB in Middleburg, Virginia. In late 2020, Watson learned of the dire need for canine blood from a dog trainer. “I was up there looking at her kennels and I saw a certificate for one of her dogs who had given a gallon of blood,” Watson says. “And I thought, ‘Well, we have so many people in this community with dogs, and this is fascinating ... I wonder if we could get something organized.’”

Watson now has a donor network of more than 30 dog owners and hosts monthly blood drives, with each event bringing in more than a dozen canine donors.

All the dogs in attendance are between one and seven years old, weigh over 50 pounds, and are current on vaccines, free of medications, and in good general health.

The whole blood donation process takes 30 minutes and starts with

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a blood screening and general health assessment, followed by lots of cuddles and treats, and ends with the actual blood donation, which takes only two to three minutes.

Once the initial assessment is done, donors climb up onto a massage table with a designated vet technician who acts as a snuggler, keeping dogs calm, feeding them peanut butter and making the experience as comfortable as possible. Numbing cream dulls even the slight pinch of the needle, and within minutes, they are headed home.

Voss-Northrup says that Nikita and R.J. enjoy donating blood.

“When the ladies come out, the dogs immediately jump out of the back of our SUV and run to them, tails a-wagging. They’re always excited to go in there, because they get pampered.” Whether it’s through community organizing, like Watson has done, or getting your own dogs involved, like VossNorthrup, there’s a way every dog lover can help meet this incredible challenge. “Think about it from the standpoint that your dog might need this one day,” VossNorthrup urges. “Get out there, learn about it, talk to your vet, find a local blood donation bank, see if your dog is a candidate and spread the word.”

She’s learning how to sit. She’s learning how to stay.

SHE THINKS SHE DESERVES A TREAT JUST FOR LOOKING CUTE. She’s damn near perfect.

DAMN NEAR PERFECT A reward should be just that, rewarding.

Whatever the accomplishment, BIXBI has the best way to say “good dog.” Low calorie and high value, they really are damn near perfect treats.

TREATS

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Day at the Beach (with shitting dog), 2021

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D R O O L — I S SU E N O. O.4 1 — B I X B I P E T.C O M

DRO OL N O. 4

WHEN NATURE CALLS W O R D S B Y A LY N N E VA N S I L LU S T R AT I O N S B Y RYA N D U G G A N

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THE

SCENE IS ALL TO O FAMILIAR: HER nose is pulled to the ground, her sniffing ramps up, and a sudden pull on her leash steers you off course. Her frantic circling begins while you search for a crumpled-up bag in your pocket. You can’t believe how particular she is about finding a spot, and you can’t believe you lick your fingers to open the bag before picking up her shit. She curls into the shape of a question mark, and you stare at her, almost obsessively, because you’ve got to make sure she’s healthy, and that she didn’t actually eat all that pizza crust the night before. Then, you accidentally make eye contact; for an animal that has no concept of personal space or boundaries, she looks surprising alarmed by your inconsiderate gaze. She stands up as you kneel down, the bag over your hand, and she kicks up grass into your face.

If you’ve ever walked around your neighborhood swinging around a steaming bag of crap, there’s a good chance you have a dog.

Let’s hope so anyway. For as different as every dog is, there’s one “dooty” that unites them all, and we’re not talking about unconditional love. As illustrator and printer, Ryan Duggan, says, “Even serious dogs have to poop in full public view.”

Duggan is a Chicago-based illustrator, designer, and printer. He started this series of artwork in 2014 as a personal project and continues to add to it yearly. Ryan shares his home with his partner and sweet pup, Patty, whose “pooping face” is endearingly compared to “the facial expression of a woman who’s worked the overnight shift at a Waffle House for 25 years.”

Summer Campground (with shitting dog). 2018

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Doggie Diner (with shitting dog). 2020

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The Boat Builders (with shitting dog). 2020

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A Day at the Ski Jumps (with shitting dog). 2018

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Night at the Carnival (with shitting dog). 2020

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DOGS ARE JUST INHERENTLY FUNNY. EVEN SERIOUS DOGS HAVE TO POOP IN FULL PUBLIC VIEW, SO IT CAN’T BE DENIED.

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Desert Ranchero (with shitting dog). 2021

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Covered Bridge (with shitting dog). 2021

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Winter Farm (with shitting dog). 2020

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Motel Pool (with shitting dog). 2020

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She’s pretty. She’s loving.

SHE ROLLS IN DEAD STUFF LIKE IT'S CHANEL NO.5.

She’s damn near perfect.

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DRO OL N O. 4

A GLADIATOR, A GENTLEMAN

HOW THE BULL TERRIER WENT FROM THE RING TO THE COUCH W O R D S B Y A LY N N E VA N S

P H O T O G R A P H S C O U RT E S Y O F L I B R A RY O F C O N G R E S S

E

EVERY BREED OF DOG HAS defining physical characteristics that set them apart from their cousins. The short, squished nose of the pug. The dreadlocks of the komondor. The dragging ears of the basset hound. But without a

doubt, one of the most iconic features in the canine world is the face of the bull terrier.

A typical dog’s face is concave; the muzzle is distinct from the rest of the head, meeting just below the eyes at an anatomical point referred to as the “stop”. The bull terrier’s face has no stop; instead, the skull is convex, curving up and around, bulging from the tip of the snout past the eyes in what is most often described as “egg-shaped.”

In the case of the bull terrier, the egg did not come first; instead, the face shape evolved over decades through crossbreeding and refinement — but only after the breed was rid of its tenacious fighting ancestry.

As difficult as it is to imagine now, for centuries, folks gath-

ered to watch dogs attack chained bulls or bears, the goal being for the dog to eventually immobilize the beast. While this was thought to tenderize the meat for feasts, the practice turned into a spectator sport drawing large crowds.

By the 18th century, bull baiting was widely popular and accepted throughout England. Enthusiasts started crossing bulldog-type dogs with terriers to develop the right balance of strength and tenacity. The bully breeds are known for their power and courage. The terriers were bred to control vermin populations, and therefore are notoriously independent, agile, and quick to act on impulse.

Together, along with cruel treatment and training from a young age, this “bull and terrier” breed

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A bull terrier from 1915. Early bull terriers didn’t have the “eggshaped” head that the breed is known for today.

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The white bull terrier was the standard up until the early 19th century, when color was introduced due to the link between all-white breeding and deafness. Opposite: The bull terrier and Staffordshire bull terrier were the two products of the nowextinct “bull and terrier” dog of the mid-18th century.

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became nearly unstoppable in the ring.

In 1835, bull baiting was officially outlawed in England, which inadvertently helped popularize the sport of dog fighting and the continued crossbreeding of these groups. Because the bull and terrier was bred for sport, not appearance, there was no standard of how it should look and no consistency inhow it should behave, creating quite an unmanageable beast.

Now extinct, the bull and terrier dog became the ancestor to two much more refined breeds that we know today: the Staffordshire bull

terrier and the bull terrier.

James Hinks, a mid-19th century business owner and dog breeder, took it upon himself to modify the bull and terrier by bringing more elegance to a dog whose appearance had been neglected from the start. He began breeding bull and terriers with the old English bulldog and the now-extinct white English terrier – thinning out the body and elongating the legs from their stumpy predecessor. The breed quickly gained popularity, but did not yet have the defining egg-shaped head. Hinks added crosses with Dalmatians, fox-

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hounds, and Spanish pointers for even longer, straighter legs, but it wasn’t until the greyhound, borzoi, and smooth-coated collie were added to the mix that the iconic face started to take shape.

Early 20th century dog lovers were fascinated by this developing breed and continued to enhance the convex nose, known then as the “down-face.” The first bull terrier recorded to have the true downface we know today was Lord Gladiator, bred in 1917. Around this time, the bull terrier gained popularity among the middle class, who began dabbling in the dog show

world that was previously dominated by the wealthy. The breed certainly retained some physical characteristics from its determined ancestors, but was much better suited for companionship.

Today, the bull terrier isn’t nearly as popular as dogs like the Labrador retriever or as abundant as its close cousin the Staffordshire bull terrier. However, the breed is well-recognized by many thanks to icons like the Bud Light-selling Spuds MacKenzie of the 1980s and Bullseye, Target’s white bull terrier adorned with their classic red logo. Aside from their “so ugly

it’s cute” looks, the real appeal of bull terriers comes from their goofy personality. Often called the comedians of the bully breeds, these dogs are known for being the life of the party. Bull terrier fanatics have even coined the term “hucklebutt” to describe the hilariously unique side-stepping movement they perform when excited. It’s hard to believe this clown of a dog evolved from such an appalling time in animal welfare history. But in true rags to riches fashion, the bull terrier has proved it belongs on the furniture, not in the ring.

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“...WITH DOGS, YOU DON’T JUST PAINT THEIR CUTE LITTLE FACES, YOU PAINT THEIR PERSONALITIES, TOO… I GUESS IT STARTED WITH A LOVE FOR SMOOTHIES AND QUICKLY ESCALATED FROM ARTY FRUIT DECOR TO PAINTING IN MY BOWLS. MY MUM SAYS I ALWAYS ENJOYED PLAYING WITH MY FOOD, MUCH TO HER DISMAY...”

Lauren McGookin

@whats_cookin_mcgookin

Nacho, 2020

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Lauren McGookin Lauren McGookin was often caught playing with her food as a child, but she never could have predicted that would evolve into her wildly detailed smoothie art, which transforms healthy breakfasts into almost-too-good-to-eat works of art. Using a cocktail skewer as her paintbrush, the materials she uses are all-natural and the same for each portrait: tinned coconut milk, activated charcoal, instant coffee, blue spirulina powder, pink pitaya powder, and blended raspberries.

Based in Newcastle, England, McGookin is a dental student who looks to art, dogs, and smoothies as a way to de-stress.

Jackson, 2020

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Bailey, 2020

Lola, 2020

He plays fetch. He walks nicely on a leash.

HE’S ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE HE’S A LAP DOG. He’s damn near perfect.

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FAST 80 DRO OL N O. 4

AND FURRIEST

A GUIDE TO SPORTS CAR CAMPING WITH LUCY THE GOLDENDOODLE.

W O R D S B Y B A S E M WA S E F PHOTOGRAPHY BY J U L I A L A PA L M E

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LIKE ANY RED-BLOODED, FOUR-YEAR-OLD GOLDENDOODLE, Lucy is irrepressibly friendly and delights in windows-down car rides. But unlike a vast majority of dog parents, Brock Keen and his wife Sarah possess an automotive wanderlust that has turned the canine-on-a-roadtrip trope on its ear.

Keen, a self-described petrolhead, admits to a long history of justifying car purchases using specious reasoning. For instance,

when he craved a Range Rover Classic, the boxy ’80s and ’90sera sport utility vehicle known for its associations with the royal family, he took the plunge on the notoriously quirky SUV to create “enough space for Lucy” on multi-day road trips. Similarly questionable logic was used to rationalize purchasing everything from a high-performance ’80sera BMW sedan to a late model

Porsche Cayenne GTS. “I’m always looking for a reason,” Keen admits, which inevitably shifts the conversation to the unlikeliest road trip vehicle of all: his 2004 Porsche 911 Carrera C4S. Keen’s 911 is not what most people — or anyone, really — would consider a great car for camping road trips. Equipped with front bucket seats and vestigial rear perches better suited to small children than a large pooch, the classic Porsche sacrifices interior and storage volume for maneuverability and outright performance.

That era of 911, known as the 996 series within Porsche circles, has also happened to strike a chord among the brand cognoscenti of late, including Keen. “I’ve always

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KEEN, A SELF -DESCRIBED PETROLHEAD, ADMITS TO A LONG HISTORY OF JUSTIFYING CAR PURCHASES USING SPECIOUS REASONING.

For this goldendoodle, life on the road is all she knows. Lucy has racked up over 60,000 miles alongside Brock and Sarah.

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loved Porsches and they’ve always been a big part of my life. And there was no way I was going to drive the car without the dog.” Keen first took Lucy up the Oregon coast when she was eight weeks old and says, “She’s been with us on the road since Day One.” Nearly every milestone in Brock and Sarah’s relationship was forged on the open road. The couple eloped on what became a 3,000-mile road trip that took them from their home near Portland, Oregon, to Yosemite National Park, the western Sierras, all the way to the hills of Alabama, and back again. “Lucy rode with us the whole time,” Keen says with a normality that suggests he couldn’t have imagined it any other way.

The fixation on curating an intimate rolling home for the adven-

turesome trio evolved from the idea that more space is not necessarily better. This seemingly counterintuitive goal led Keen on a quest to reverse-engineer the compact sports car into a trail-ready, mile-gobbling, overnight-capable road trip machine. Finished in Atlas Grey, Keen’s 911 rides on all-season tires so it’s ready for almost any variety of inclement weather or iffy road conditions.

That adaptability is also aided by all-wheel drive, which helps the Porsche claw its way through dirt and mud with ease. Mounted to the nose are large rally lights that flood trails and lonely stretches of highway with light. Atop the roof sits an expanding tent that accommodates Brock, Sarah, and yes, Lucy too—who enjoys her own bedding in the cozy setup. The tent unfolds

THE FIXATION ON CURATING AN INTIMATE ROLLING HOME FOR THE ADVENTURESOME TRIO EVOLVED FROM THE IDEA THAT MORE SPACE IS NOT NECESSARILY BETTER.

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in minutes, props up via an extendable ladder, and can carry up to 600 pounds — more than enough for the three of them.

Brock says that unlike, say, the capacious Range Rover, the 911’s space limitations enforce a certain discipline when it comes to packing for trips. “We treat sports car camping like backpacking,” he says, which means bringing along smaller, lighter versions of items just as you would in a backpack. “I usually bring things like chairs, a table, and a Snow Peak Takibi fire pit that fold flat either into the [front] trunk or beneath the rear seats.” While he says he respects so-called overland travelers, whose elaborate rigs cram stoves, showers, and portable bathrooms onboard, “That’s not

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NOT TREATING THE CAR OR ITS OCCUPANTS TOO PRECIOUSLY ENABLES A CERTAIN FREEDOM; IF LUCY JUMPS INTO THE 911 WITH MUDDY PAWS, ‘IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.’

It’s a bit of a squeeze, but Brock, Sarah and Lucy all fit comfortably overhead in the rooftop tent. What’s even more impressive is watching the 48 pounds of fluff fly out of the tent every morning, more than ready to take on the day.

really my style. I’d rather just get out there on the road and enjoy it.”

That instinct for immediacy translates to his driving style, which he has described as “spirited.” It has also led to all manner of bold vehicular moves, from traversing snowy mountain passes to drifting sideways across dry lake beds.

Though some assume that a premium sports car means the trio are living in the lap of luxury, Keen begs to differ. “Even though it’s on the top of a 911, I wouldn’t call it ‘glamping,’” he says. Not treating the car or its occupants too preciously enables a certain freedom; if Lucy jumps into the 911 with muddy paws, “it’s not the end of the world,” he insists.

Keen is similarly comfortable with the inevitable nicks, dings, and

bumps, which, he says, “add a little bit of charm” and are simply “part of the journey.” That journey has expanded significantly since the pandemic, which shifted Keen’s roadgoing instincts into overdrive.

He estimates that he, Sarah, and Lucy covered some 30,000 miles in the last year alone, bringing the total up to 136,000 miles on the Porsche’s odometer to date.

Lucy integrates seamlessly into the sports car road trip scenario as if she was born to be there. Keen says that despite her seemingly bulky body, her coat hides only 48 pounds of dog, making the canine co-conspirator “super stoked” to sit on the shelf behind the rear seats and enjoy the view through the back window, watching the world go by as the miles roll on.

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PHOTO GRAPH BY BRAND ON HALEY

Perhaps the best thing about modifying your 2004 Porsche 911 Carrera C4S to fit your camping lifestyle is that, wherever you go, it’s always a Porsche.

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Lucy can do so for three or four hours at a time, and Keen says his need for bathroom breaks usually coincides with Lucy’s. “We don’t really have a signal. She might start spinning and turning around if she really has to get out, but we usually never get to that point.”

He says that climbing in and out requires moving the seat forward and sometimes giving her a boost.

But apart from the occasional ingress and egress awkwardness, Lucy is remarkably comfortable within the 911, taking the rear shelf when Sarah’s onboard, or sitting up front in the passenger seat, head plopped on the armrest.

Rolling the window down often triggers her to lift her head, and

SHE HAS TAKEN NATURALLY TO THE SPIRITED DRIVING ON CURVY ROADS...

AS THE G-FORCES MOUNT, LUCY TRAINS HER EYES ON THE ROAD AHEAD AND ANTICIPATES CORNERS BY LEANING IN.

Lucy usually perks up at the sight or smell of familiar spots, whether it’s the beach or Keen’s cabin. She has also taken naturally to spirited driving on curvy roads, as Keen learned after seeing rear-facing GoPro footage of her in the back of the 911. As the g-forces mount, Lucy trains her eyes on the road ahead and anticipates the corners by leaning in. The movement is as natural as breathing and as intuitive as surfing, illustrating the ease with which Lucy has taken to her dynamic surroundings.

While the novelty of sports car camping has been an undeniably large part of why six figures worth of followers — and counting — keep tabs on Keen’s Instagram

account, @996roadtrip, Lucy has been an integral part of his story’s appeal, stealing the show with her enthusiasm for the nomadic lifestyle. Keen says, “What I think really engages most people across the board is how this big fluffy teddy bear, Muppet-looking dog looks inside a tent on top of a Porsche. It’s kind of a head-exploding moment for a lot of people.”

Perhaps what makes Lucy’s story so compelling is how seamlessly she complements Brock and Sarah’s lifestyle. It’s about investing in relationships, adventure, and intangible experiences that accumulate over thousands of miles. It’s a timeless story of man, machine, and dog.

Lucy’s favorite place to go is the beach and the cabin. She can sense both miles before arriving. But really just about any destination is good enough for Lucy, who just wants to be close to her people and be a part of the action.

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“...I HAD MADE LOTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ART BEFORE MAKING DOGS EXCLUSIVELY...AND SOON DOGS WERE THE ONLY THING I WAS MAKING...I HAD ALWAYS THOUGHT THE SUBJECT OF MY ART HAD TO BE SOMETHING SERIOUS, SO IT WAS VERY LIBERATING WHEN I ALLOWED MYSELF TO WORK WITH SOMETHING I REALLY LOVED INSTEAD...”

Stephen Morrison

Epoxy clay, oil, acryic, fabric http://stephenmorrisonstudio.com/

Playtime

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Stephen Morrison You could say that Brooklyn-based artist, Stephen Morrison, lifts his leg on any traditional notion of how dogs are represented in art. While he has employed many different subjects before exclusively focusing on dogs, Morrison is thrilled to be working with a subject that gives him such great joy. In fact, in some way or another, Morrison considers all the dogs in his work to be self-portraits, saying, “I truly feel connected to them and love to represent my insecurities, desires, or dreams as though I’m this kind of dog creature.”

The Dinner Party

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Pizza, Assorted Veggie Dogs, Baguette

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