DROOL – Issue No. 1

I S SU E N O. 1

Our 1971 BIXBI Airstream

has been more places than your dog’s nose. And we’re proud of that.

Making really good dog food — that’s what we do.

Bringing people and pets together in beautiful places — that’s why we do it.

Homebase - Boulder, CO

BIXBIpet.com

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ISSUE NO. 1 / FALL 2020

EDITOR-IN -CHIEF

James Crouch

MANAGING EDITOR

Todd Rowan

DEPUTY EDITOR

Alynn Evans

EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Chris Nelson

CREATIVE DIRECTION & DESIGN

TMBRWN

DESIGN PRODUCTION

Jennifer Roberts COPY EDITOR

Christian Glazar CONSULTING EDITOR

Adam Fitzgerald

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

John Webster

NO BAD IDEAS EDITORS

Rachel D’Agostino Melissa Van Vactor

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Amileah Sutliff, Basem Wasef, Chris Nelson, Elana Scherr, Eric Weiner, Jon Gaffney, Keith Baskett CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Chris Matlock, Chris Nelson, Debra Peterson, Emilio Madrid, Errol Colandro, Jessica Walker, Zach Skow CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS

Amy Balch, Cielle Graham, John Vogl, Kaitlin Ziesmer, Laura Connelly, Renay Shaffer, Steve Feldman 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 permission from Bixbi.

For general inquiries, story and photography submissions, contact us at droolideas@bixbipet.com © 2020 copyright Bixbi Printed in the USA

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ISSUE NO. 1

84 Pawsitive Change

“...IT WAS DE LA ROSA’S FIRST JOB AS A FREE MAN, THE FIRST STEP TO BUILDING A NEW LIFE AFTER NEARLY 25 YEARS IN PRISON. ONCE AN INCARCERATED INDIVIDUAL SERVING A LIFE SENTENCE, DE LA ROSA BECAME A CONFIDENT, PRACTICED DOG TRAINER WITH THE HELP OF PAWSITIVE CHANGE, A PROGRESSIVE NON-PROFIT PROGRAM THAT PAIRS HIGHRISK SHELTER DOGS WITH INMATES IN THE CALIFORNIA STATE PRISON SYSTEM...”

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Magic Mork Rescued from the Chinese food trade, this “chubbychibbychops” pup became an overnight sensation after people on social media compared his appearance to that of Baby Yoda.

Q&A: Erika Henningsen The breakout Broadway star who led Tina Fey’s musical adaption of Mean Girls — and was then forced offstage by the COVID-19 pandemic — is happy to be at home with her recently adopted Lennox.

Making Sacrifices in Pursuit of a Life Well Lived If you own a dog or if you collect vinyl records, or both, you learn to appreciate depth over convenience, and stomach a certain degree of misunderstanding.

Through Puppy Eyes This day-to-day account of a twoweek, 5,000-mile road trip through America’s West details sights and smells experienced by a stubbylegged, six-month-old Basset mix named Blue.

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At the Edges of the Earth No matter where in the world he is, no matter what assignment he is on, award-winning photographer Keith Ladzinski always makes time to take pictures of the dogs he meets.

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The Maremmas of the Mayacamas The world-class Hanzell Vineyards in California’s Sonoma Valley operates differently than most other wineries with the invaluable help of two dedicated guard dogs.

Issue No.1 Cover Collies by Minneapolis, MN-based illustrator John Vogl.

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

BUDDHA BUDDHA HUMBAY, MO BETTA MO BETTA MO BETTA!

Del Mar, CA, Summer of 1988

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Boulder, CO, Summer of 2020

On the most perfect days of my youth, the sun shone warm, the waves broke epically, and my friends and I enjoyed the time of our lives surfing along the Southern California coast. Even on those most perfect days the waves would suddenly stop rolling in, and my friends and I would be stuck sitting in calm waters waiting for our joy to return. That’s when we’d start to chant: “Buddha Buddha Humbay, Mo Betta Mo Betta Mo Betta!”

It was our cry to the surf gods. We slapped the salty ocean water and repeated our mantra until our calls were answered.

Lately, I find myself thinking about those days and about that chant. This year has been full of pauses in the waves, and humanity’s collective happiness has taken hit after hit.

Too often now, we find ourselves waiting in the water, looking to the horizon, waiting for joy.

We created Drool — the first publication of its kind — to remind us that no matter what life throws at us, there’s always happiness somewhere, even when we can’t see it. This is a magazine to help us all recognize and appreciate our extraordinary dogs and what they bring to our lives, every single day. This year our dogs love that we’re staying home more often, giving them love and attention like no other time in history.

We want to celebrate our four-legged family members through beautiful art, funny stories, and amazing features and interviews. This is Drool.

Drool is a labor of love and we hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed making it. I ask you to grab your dog, a glass of wine, and go find a quiet spot where you can escape and immerse yourself in all things pups. When you do, chant at the top of your lungs: “Buddha Buddha Humbay, Mo Betta Mo Betta Mo Betta!”

Cheers,

James Crouch, Editor-in-chief

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WE ONLY USE FRESH MEAT. UNLIKE THOSE OTHER TURKEYS.

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RAWBBLE Dry Food. The only fresh meat kibble with 93% digestibility.

CLEAN & PURE L E A R N M O R E AT

BIXBIPET.COM/PURITYPROMISE TE

BIXBIPET.COM

STED

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“...DOGS ARE NOT QUITE WILD BUT NOT QUITE CIVILIZED EITHER, CARRYING ATTRIBUTES OF BOTH WITHOUT CENSORING ANY OF IT. THEY ARE SO FAMILIAR AND RELATABLE, AND SUCH A PART OF OUR HUMAN LIVES, THE WILD BEASTS THAT SLEEP ON OUR COUCHES...”

Cielle Graham

Indian ink with drafting pencil on paper. www.ciellegraham.com

Peace, 2015

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A RESCUED DOG WHO LOOKS LIKE A STAR WARS PUPPET HELPS ANIMAL ACTIVISTS IN CHINA — AND AT HOME

WORD S BY EL ANA S CHERR P H O T O G R A P H S B Y J E S S I C A WA L K E R

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All the wrinkles and wobbles we dread seeing in our own mirrors become adorable when on our pets, and Nikki Carvey says we should apply that love of “imperfection” to all parts of our lives.

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Mork is famous for looking like a Star Wars character, but you don’t need to be a Baby Yoda fan to fall in love with that face.

Oh, Mork is so little! I don’t know why I expected a larger dog: a kneehigh fellow with a big wrinkly face, hamburger-bun paws, and a long, wibbly-wobbly tail. Maybe it’s because Mork’s caretaker, Nikki Carvey, runs an L.A.-based dog rescue called Road Dogs & Rescue that specializes in bulldogs, or maybe it’s because Mork has such a giant personality on his Instagram page, @morkskywalker. In reality, he is a little piglet-puglet of a dog, the perfect size to cradle in your arms, but I settle for a polite ear skritch. After all, we’ve just met.

All dogs are celebrities, but Mork is a canine superstar. His rescue from a meat-market truck in China coincided with the popularity of Disney’s Star Wars spinoff series, The Mandalorian, and it only took a few posts on the Road Dogs social media accounts before people were comparing Mork’s creased forehead, button nose, and half-up, half-floppy ears to the character known to fans as Baby Yoda.

“I didn’t even know about Baby Yoda at all,” says Carvey, while Mork poses in a fluffy sweater for our photographer. “People kept referring to him as Baby Yoda and I was like, ‘What’s that?’ and then I saw the character and went, ‘Oh!’” The comments on Mork’s posts started lighting up the Road Dogs account. Even a special effects tech who worked on The Mandalorian contacted Carvey to tell her he was a fan. “I sent him some Mork socks,” she says. With so much attention on Mork, Carvey decided

to make him his own profile; as of this writing, @morkskywalker has over 215,000 followers. Mork has made appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, in People Magazine, and on numerous websites, but Carvey says that becoming famous was never her goal in adopting Mork. “I just saw his little face and I was like, ‘Oh my God, we want him.’”

She goes on to say that Mork’s looks and fame are a mixed blessing. The positive side is that she is able to reach a wider audience and bring attention not only to the work being done to rescue dogs from the meat trade, but also bring more awareness to the rewards of adopting a special needs dog. The downside is that there are always critics of Mork’s appearance — and worse, people who like the way he looks so much that they want to recreate it. The latter concerns Carvey so much that she won’t even make a guess as to his breed.

“He’s popular on social media because of the way that he looks, and when people ask what he is, I tell them, ‘He’s 99-percent cosmic awesomeness.’ I’m not doing DNA tests on him. I’m not trying to figure out what he is because I just know that there are people out there who will try to recreate him, and he has all these health issues that shouldn’t be repeated.” She’s not wrong; “Breed” is one of the first things Google auto-fills if you type in “Mork Skywalker.”

While she’s talking, Mork is doing a hopeful little dance with his cute duck-paddle feet. He doesn’t worry about DNA or Instagram influence; he just wants a treat and some pets. Mork doesn’t know that his deep wrinkles and cartoonish, floppy jowls — Carvey calls them his “chubbychibbychops” — also cause his skin and breathing issues. He has digestive problems that could be from

his rough start in life; they could also be genetic due to inbreeding.

Even his wide-splayed feet are likely due to damage from standing on a wire cage bottom during his puppyhood. “A lot of dogs that have been kept in cages, their feet tend to spread out more,” says Carvey, lifting one of Mork’s paws. He pulls away and then returns and puts both front feet on her knee.

“I’ve noticed that in a lot of puppy mill dogs.”

Carvey doesn’t know for sure that Mork was a puppy mill dog, but she does know he spent time in a wire cage. She suspects he was unwanted as a pet due to his cosmetic abnormalities and sold as livestock. Dog meat is legal to eat in most of China — which sounds shocking until you realize it was legal in most of the United States, too, until the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act outlawed it in 2018. Although there are Chinese food safety laws against the sale and breeding of dogs for consumption, and eating dog and cat meat was banned in two cities in April of 2020, there is still a market there for dogs as food. “It’s a very small portion of the population that still do this,” Carvey says. “The average Chinese person does not eat dog meat. I want to emphasize that.”

Many of the dogs that do end up on the slaughterhouse trucks are strays or dogs from breeders that are considered unadoptable. While attitudes toward dogs and cats are

changing — China has a nearly $30 billion pet industry — there aren’t many anti-animal cruelty laws, and only a small support network for stray and unwanted pets, which means that even if being cruel to an animal is frowned upon, there is no legal recourse to discourage it.

Unlucky dogs are shipped to places like Yulin, Guangxi, which holds a controversial dog meat festival every summer. That might have been Mork’s fate had he not been rescued by the team at Harbin SHS, a group of animal advocates based in Harbin, China, who work with local shelters to save dogs and cats from the meat trade and find them homes around the world.

Carvey had worked with Harbin SHS through her Road Dogs rescue, which is very experienced with bulldogs, French bulldogs, pugs, and other brachycephalic — short-snout — breeds and mixes, so it was a no-brainer for Harbin SHS to place Mork with Carvey.

But it wasn’t certain that Mork would make it to rescue day. “He was very sick when they got him,” Carvey says. “They weren’t sure if he was going to survive. He’s only alive because of the amazing vets that work with Harbin SHS. He was probably in the hospital for about three months before he was finally able to come here. He arrived just before Christmas.”

“Mork! You were a Christmas present,” I say to him, and he wags

“...WHEN PEOPLE ASK WHAT MORK IS, I TELL THEM, ‘HE’S 99-PERCENT COSMIC AWESOMENESS’...”

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Did I maintain a reporter’s objective distance during this interview? I did not, and I’m not sorry.

his whole back half, which sets up a sympathetic jiggle all through his chubbychibbychops. My notes get a little hard to read around this time in our visit, because another of Carvey’s rescues, a tiny French bulldog named Malcolm, decides my notebook might make a good chew toy and does his best to wrestle it away from me. When Malcolm gives up on the notebook he starts chasing Mork, which makes Carvey smile. “When Mork first arrived, he was quite shut down. He wasn’t playful, he was very quiet and aloof.

He weighed only 12.2 pounds, he was super skinny. He’s 18 pounds

now, not quite where we want him but closer, and he’s come out of his shell. Now he gets his little zoomies and he’ll run around. He’s quite a happy little guy.”

Carvey says there’s no magic trick for getting a rescue to relax; it just takes patience and empathy. “You have to let them come around in their own space. Sometimes we’ll give them a little bit of a cuddle and be like, ‘Okay, you’re not comfortable with that,’ and just leave them so that they’re not forced to do anything they aren’t ready for. Since Mork has been here, he’s never been crated or put in a cage or anything

like that. He’s always been free to do what he wants, and that’s probably been vital as well to making him feel safe.”

Seeing these transformations from sickly and unwanted to happy and loved is what keeps Carvey going. It’s not just about the way she and other rescuers can improve the lives of the dogs they foster, but also about how those dogs go on to improve the lives of everyone around them. “Not only does Mork make me smile at the end of the day, I hear from people all over the world who are dealing with depression and anxiety and they say that he really

helps them, which I think is wonderful. I want him to help people and give back.” Carvey says that all dogs do this, but that there is something in particular about special needs dogs, which is why her rescue focuses on animals with brain and spinal injuries or genetic conditions that many shelters would deem unadoptable. “We rescue these little special needs ones because I believe that they help people become more compassionate. When everything is about perfection, it makes people harder and more narcissistic, whereas accepting imperfection makes life more joyful.”

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To highlight Carvey’s words, Malcolm takes a particularly joyful, flying leap off the chair he’s sitting on, and is expertly scooped up before he hits the ground. Carvey suggests maybe everyone might like to go outside and run around.

We make a funny parade — me, Carvey, the photographer, Mork, and mouse-sized Malcolm — as we walk through Carvey’s living room, which is decorated with the numerous throw blankets all dog owners seem to have on their couches, books on travel and healthy eating, and various bulldog figurines and fan paintings of Mork.

Carvey says that while caring for special needs dogs takes commitment and has its share of sorrows, the reward is knowing that you’ve made life better for another living being, and that by treating conditions that used to be considered untreatable, you may be contributing to medical knowledge that will help vets and doctors save future patients. “Of course it’s hard, the emotional part,” she says. “Because of the kinds of dogs we take, we lose a lot of them, but with the special needs dogs, it’s not about how long you live, it’s how you live. Same thing with adopt-

ing a senior dog. A lot of the time people will say, ‘Oh, I don’t want to adopt a senior, because it’s going to die.’ Instead of looking at it like that, you can say, ‘Well, I can adopt a senior and make that dog’s life amazing in the last few months or years.’ Turning it around like that — not putting the focus on yourself, but on the animal— that’s something very good for humans as well. Interestingly, when you let go of asking what you’re going to get from a situation and focus on what you can give, you end up getting a lot more back.”

She gives Mork a chin skritch

and does a little sniffle that turns into a laugh. “Ugh, am I sounding clichéd? I’m sorry. I really do love seeing the seniors get pampered and get bucket lists and stuff. It’s so sweet.” She opens the doors to the backyard, where a pair of older bulldogs are stretching in the sun.

Mork jumps up for a quick cuddle, then jumps down again to roll on the grass. “Look at him,” Carvey says. “Less than a year ago he was in a cage on a meat truck and now he is in the sunshine and online, reaching all these people with a message of hope and light. It’s a great thing to put out there.”

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“...IT IS SO MUCH FUN PAINTING DOGS, BECAUSE THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT THE PERSONALITIES OF DOGS THAT DIFFER MORE THAN OTHER ANIMALS...

THEY CAN BE JUST SO QUIRKY...”

Kaitlin Ziesmer

Acrylic on canvas, acryla-gouache on paper. www.kaitlinziesmer.com

Clockwise, from top left: Juney, 2018 Fast, 2019 Royal, 2019 Thug Life, 2019

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VINYL RECORDS AND DOGS HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN YOU MIGHT THINK.

Hank Williams, Ramblin’ Man (1955)

WORDS BY AMILEAH SUTLIFF PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRIS NELSON

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you collect records, you have to make peace with a certain degree of misunderstanding. Upon seeing your collection proudly displayed and alphabetized, people often demand to know, “Do records really sound any better?” or, “They actually still make those?” or — my personal favorite — a nice, succinct, “But why?”

Dog owners are also well-acquainted with the unique brand of confusion a person tends to face

when they choose a lifestyle that favors experiential depth over convenience. When I brought home my first dog, I received a healthy dose of skepticism; I’d just graduated college, had relatively little to my name except a stack of vet bills, and my nights of going out to make exciting (albeit poor) decisions until 3 a.m. were suddenly null and void. With newfound purpose and a needy puppy that I couldn’t bear to leave alone for a minute more than I had to, I was learning to take life slowly.

“...AS A LONGTIME RECORD COLLECTOR, I HAD SOME PRACTICE IN MAKING SACRIFICES OF ALL SIZES IN PURSUIT OF SEEMINGLY SMALL THINGS THAT AMOUNT TO A LIFE WELL-LIVED...”

Lo and behold, despite what I had given up, life became more beautiful. The joys of new rituals — quiet morning walks, falling asleep next to my dog on the couch, the sound of paws scrambling on the hardwood floor to greet me — began to replace the more fast-paced thrills that were quickly forgotten. As a long-time record collector, I had some practice in making sacrifices in pursuit of seemingly small things that amount to a life well-lived.

It’s likely for the same reason that a large portion of the staff at the heart of Vinyl Me, Please (VMP) — a Denver-based “Record of the Month” subscription club that exists to experience music more deeply via the medium of vinyl — also happen to be dog owners. “ Todd loves a good romp around the park, but he’s the king of the living room and appreciates the routine of our morning walks, breakfast, followed by his six-hour snooze,” says Courtney Catagnus, Director of Digital at VMP, about her nine-year-old Lab mix. “Music nerds like myself also love the ritual of creating their space at home to relax into — watering the plants, lighting the candle, jostling the chair into the perfect position, pouring a drink, and selecting a stack to suit your mood — all in preparation for those moments of solitude with your record player. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that around the same time I adopted Todd, I started building my record collection.”

In an era where you can listen to nearly any song, album, or recorded sound from the last century for just $9.99 a month and the click of a button on your phone, who could fathom dropping three times that amount on just one album? Vinyl records take up space in your home, are irritating

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President and COO Lloyd Starr (top left) with his dog, Zappa, and CEO and co-founder Matt Fiedler (bottom right) with his dog, Wrigley, in the Vinyl Me, Please office amongst stacks of records, most of which are albums that they’ve pressed.

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Sitting in VMP’s listening room are CFO Adam Block (top left) and Hoss, his 9-year-old American bulldog, and COB and co-founder Cameron Shaefer and Prince, his 2-year-old mini sheepadoodle.

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to transport, and require special equipment and care. To those who haven’t fallen in love with the tactile joy of dropping the needle on wax, records are often written off as an amusing novelty at best, and a silly luxury item at worst.

I invite you to imagine the grey, suffocating blandness of our lives if we did everything for the sake of ease and instant gratification.

Even in a world of Soylent, Uber, and an infinite catalog of Top 10 Cutest Dog Video compilations on YouTube, most people will choose a slow-cooked meal, a long walk with no destination, and the warmth of a dog at our feet over any of the former alternatives, given the time and means to do so. When it comes to what nourishes our most basic desires, it will always be the tangibility of what’s in front of us — that which we can feel, hear, touch, love, and interact with — that reminds us the true exhilaration of being a human in this world. This is what dog people and vinyl people share.

“They are both a part of my life because I never, ever have to wonder if they will be there for me when I get home after a bad day,” says Jesse Pavlovic, People and Operations Manager at VMP, who has a 16-year-old Lab/pointer mix named Cabo at home. “I need those cuddles and those sound waves to envelop me. Both do it with no question and unconditionally.”

Whether the folks at VMP are listening to bubblegum pop while playing with their 10-pound Boston terrier on the floor of their bedroom or enjoying the reggae soundtrack of a day in the great outdoors alongside their massive American bulldog, they’re living proof that a dog and a good record can be all you need to squeeze every last drop out of each minute that’s been given to you. In fact, a recent article from

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“...I INVITE YOU TO IMAGINE THE GREY, SUFFOCATING CALLOUSNESS WE’D LIVE AMONGST IF WE DID EVERYTHING FOR THE SAKE OF EASE AND INSTANT GRATIFICATION...”

Harvard Health, “Mindfulness and your dog,” suggests, “Perhaps one of the greatest psychological benefits of interacting with a dog is the opportunity it provides to be more mindful — to purposely focus your attention on the present moment.”

The intentional act of caring for your records, selecting one to listen to, and using your hands to place it on your turntable presents the same opportunity, and a similar reward.

We all have our reasons for bringing dogs and/or vinyl into our lives, despite the expense and

inconvenience. Maybe you view your pup or your record collection as a tool to keep yourself in the now, and feeling a warm tuft of fur on your cheek or hearing the crackle of a record needle gives you that serotonin hit you need after a long day. Not everyone understands, but the staff at Vinyl Me, Please certainly does. Like them, I’ve learned through experiencing both of these small joys that anything that pulls you further into the moment at hand proves its value countless times over.

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SPIN DOGS

Dogs are our muses, and for decades musicians have celebrated their four-legged friends by putting them on the covers of their albums. Below you see keyboardist Ruth Crockett posed with her beloved toy poodle, Lambkins, and the Captain and Tennille sat with their floppy-skinned bulldogs, Broderick and Elizabeth. For the cover of his fifth studio album, Beck used an image of a jumping Komondor, which his girlfriend found in a 1977 issue of the American Kennel Club Gazette, and Sidney — the rescue dog featured on the cover of Weezer’s Raditude album — became an honorary Yale scholar after becoming involved with studies at the university’s canine cognition center.

Beck, Odelay (1996)

The Captain & Tennille, Love Will Keep Us Together (1975)

Yvette Horner, Bal Chez Yvette No. 3 (N/A)

The Terriers, Woof (1960)

Weezer, Raditude (2009)

Van Morrison, Veedon Fleece (1974)

Heino, Heino (1967)

Tosse Bark, Rock Ring Sång (1959)

Jesse Owens & Anne Byrne, Ireland’s Jesse Owens and Anne Byrne Sing Favorite Folk Ballads (1966)

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Mickey Katz, Katz Puts on the Dog! (1957)

Lightning Hopkins, Original Folk Blues (1967)

Otis Clay, Trying to Live My Life Without You (1972)

Yvette Horner, Bal Chez Yvette No. 2 (1958)

Rick Springfield, Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet (1982)

Ruth Crockett, Ruth Crockett at the Dual Keyboards (N/A)

Beth Brown, School Book for Dogs (1964)

Sooty Sings, My Friend and I and Super Sonic Sooty Spug (1973)

Yvette Horner, Bal Chez Yvette (N/A)

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Food?

Topper?

Treat?

YES!

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RAWBBLE Freeze-Dried. 94-98% Meat. Raw nutrition + kibble convenience.

CLEAN & PURE L E A R N M O R E AT

BIXBIPET.COM/PURITYPROMISE TE

BIXBIPET.COM

STED

T TH EDGES F TH EARTH 30

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WHY KEITH LADZINSKI CAN’T WALK

BY A DOG WITHOUT TAKING A PHOTOGRAPH

WORD S BY KEITH BASKETT PHOTO GRAPHS BY KEITH LADZINSKI

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hard to imagine any one person being more intimately familiar with the distant corners of our world than Keith Ladzinski. A longstanding wildlife photographer for National Geographic, Ladzinski knows how to capture the exact moment when an animal reveals its personality, and this knack is most apparent in his photography of dogs. No matter where in the world Ladzinski finds himself, even in the midst of a demanding commercial shoot schedule, he makes time to photograph moments of spontaneity as only canines can give us — it is his passion.

He has photographed dogs on all six continents that have dogs; if there is one in Antarctica, he’d love to shoot it, too. In Nepal, a Tibetan mastiff — bred to be defensive and quick to protect territory and family with a sharp nip — was impossible to pass by without taking a portrait, because the setting and majesty of the dog were undeniable. His series on Alaskan sled dogs unflinchingly captures the often brutal reality of the environment and landscape the dogs live in, while simultaneously providing a conduit for the viewer into the energetic and playful nature of the dogs on the team.

On an excursion to the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia — where the environment is so harsh that traveling from one rock outcropping “island” to another is done at night to minimize exposure to the heat — Ladzinski remembers a dog who showed up at their remote camp and laid down by the crew, as if he

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had arrived home. It was a surreal and deeply unexpected experience in a place normally void of flora and fauna. When they hopped to the next rock island, they met the dog’s owner, who had a small business selling supplies to travelers.

Ladzinski’s most recent longterm assignment — an environmentally focused piece about life around Lake Michigan — seeks to shed light on the egregious transgressions against the ecosystem surrounding the industrial hub of the Midwest. One evening on location, he met a family having a picnic on a beach and asked to take their picture; as he settled low to the ground to capture the moment, the family dog burst out from hiding with all the unleashed excitement that a young Staffordshire terrier can offer, creating an incredibly emotive and spontaneous image that became one of his favorites from the whole project.

Any time that it is even remotely practical for Ladzinski to travel with his golden retriever, Vesper, he does. If he can’t bring Vesper along for an adventure, she stays at home with the rest of his family and watches over his eight-month-old son; he says it’s magical to watch the bond between his son and Vesper grow so quickly and from such a young age. Vesper is a family member who provides comfort and love, whose needs and wishes are as important as anyone else’s. But the dogs that Ladzinski interacts with during his travels have wilder, more visceral lives, with less gentle human interaction.

Ladzinski often reflects on the kaleidoscope of directions the connection between humans and dogs can take. While love for animals may be nearly universal in human culture, the specific needs of societies and animals vary and change due to geographic and economic pressures. Throughout his life, Ladzinski has learned to empathize with his subjects whenever possible, but also to step outside of his own subjective view and take on a more neutral, objective view, aware that the more he imposes his preconceived ideas onto a scene, the more he risks diluting the honesty of the moment. But he feels none of those pressures when he is candidly photographing the dogs that he meets in strange and distant places; the results illustrate that no matter how much our standards of living shift, we will always develop a level of companionship that is deeper than mere convenience.

OPENING SPREAD: Uyuni, Bolivia, 2017.

PAGE 32-33: Tasiilaq, Greenland, 2012.

PAGE 34-35: La Paz, Bolivia, 2017.

PAGE 36-37: Patagonia, 2018.

OPPOSITE: A photo of Keith —camera in hand—suspended on wall in Verdon Gorge in southeastern France.

Keith’s dog, Vesper, bounding through grass in Boulder, Colorado.

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Laura Connelly

Hand-drawn digital illustration www.stellarvilla.com

Camp Love, 2020

“...TO ALL THE DOGLOVING HUMANS, KNOW THAT YOU ARE WONDERFUL. KEEP ON LOVING, CARING, AND ENJOYING YOUR DOG’S COMPANY. BE THERE FOR THEM AS THEY ARE THERE FOR YOU...”

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THE MAREMMAS 42

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OF THE

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MEET THE A D O R A B LY D E V O U T GUARD D O G S OF HANZELL V I N E YA R D S

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M AYACAMAS

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Hanzell Winery’s sprawling vineyard is nestled atop the Mayacamas Mountains in Sonoma, California, where volcanic soil has fueled continuous production of chardonnay and pinot noir for decades. The property, punctuated by postcard imagery and mature foliage, is 200 acres, and 46 of those are planted to vine. While the vast majority of commercial vineyards are examples of monoculture — raising no animals, vegetable crops, or other food products — Hanzell takes a contrary approach, embracing the biological benefit of having animals and plants interact with its soil.

Four years ago, Hanzell president, farmer, and winemaker Jason Jardine elected to introduce pigs, chickens, sheep, ducks, and geese to his property.

“Of all the world’s ecosystems,” he explains, “the symbiotic relationship between animals and plants is absolutely critical to sustain the life of the soil and the health of the wine. Plants react differently based on the manure, urine, bacteria, and fungi associated with native animals.”

W O R D S B Y B A S E M WA S E F PHOTOGRAPHS BY DEBRA PETERSON

This arrangement, however, is seldom executed in the commercial winemaking world. And for good reason: while there are undeniable benefits to renewing soil fertility through a variety of native animals — not to mention the avoidance of composting, which contributes to global warming when practiced at this scale — any animal ecosystem is intrinsically vulnerable, and therefore requires vigilant protection. At Hanzell, predatory menaces include hawks, falcons, mountain lions, wolves, bobcats, coyotes, and the occasional bear that would — for lack of a more delicate term — make mincemeat of the cuddly animals that contribute to this sort of environment.

Enter Radley and Scout, a pair of Italian Maremma sheepdogs that make Hanzell’s menagerie of farm animals possible. The brother-and-sister team of canines plays a pivotal role in protecting an animal community that would likely have been unable to survive in this wild setting. For centuries, Maremmas have acted as guardian dogs in environments where natural predators abound, but they were only introduced to the States in the 1970s. When exposed to sheep, pigs, and chickens at a young age, the energetic pups bolster their innate tendency to protect the animals under their purview. The result is an essentially altruistic relationship that enables the animals to thrive in otherwise uninhabitable environs.

“They scan the skies during the day and will bark off hawks,” says Debra Peterson, Hanzell’s marketing manager, who handles day-to-day operations at the vineyard. Jardine adds, “They’ll bark at anything they perceive to be a threat to the herd.” The dogs’ heft and strength — Radley weighs

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Radley, one of Hanzell Vineyard’s two Italian Maremma sheepdogs, shortly after arriving at his new home in May of 2017; Jason and Ali Jardine surrounded by the fruits of their gardening labors; a micro view of Hanzell’s 46 acres worth of grape production.

“...FOR CENTURIES, MAREMMAS HAVE ACTED AS GUARDIAN DOGS IN ENVIRONMENTS WHERE NATURAL PREDATORS ABOUND... WHEN EXPOSED TO SHEEP, PIGS, AND CHICKENS AT A YOUNG AGE, THE ENERGETIC PUPS BOLSTER THEIR INNATE TENDENCY TO PROTECT THE ANIMALS UNDER THEIR PURVIEW...”

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Of the 200 acres of land on Hanzell’s property, only 46 are planted to vine due to the land’s mountainous terrain; newborn piglets can be particularly vulnerable to predators; a crimper rolls over cover crop to aid water retention during dry season; Radley and a few of the sheep he protects on the property; turnips are one of several intercrop root vegetables used to minimize weed growth and bolster soil nutrition.

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Hanzell’s Heritage Winery, inspired by the press house at Clos de Vougeot in Burgundy, France, was built in 1956; one of the property’s roosters, captured during grazing season in December, 2017; Radley and sheep wandering the vineyard during the morning hours.

more than 120 pounds, and Scout is about 100 pounds — enable the duo to confront would-be marauders when barking isn’t sufficient, and neither will hesitate to jump a fence and chase off threats. “No coyote is going to take on those two dogs,” Peterson says.

“There’s not a lot that would protect [the animals] if we didn’t have the dogs, and we’re not the kind of farmers shooting coyotes or taking out predators. We feel they’re just as important, and have a right to be there, as everybody else,” she adds.

Hanzell’s property is fenced off in tenth-acre parcels, encouraging animals to graze in concentrated areas, also known as “mob grazing.” By confining the critters to discreet sections of land, and rotating between sections every other day, the animals are able to feed in and fertilize a specific area without overgrazing that spot, which can be easily patrolled by Radley and Scout. The sheep chomp on surface greenery while pigs perform a light turn of the soil, which churns up worms that are subsequently eaten by ducks. The ultimate goal is to rotate through all 46 acres in one rainy season, but meteorological unpredictability can get in the way of the best-laid plans. For instance, this past winter rain materialized later in the season than usual, followed by a warm and dry February; as a result, bud break on the vines occurred earlier than usual, and

the animals had to be moved from the vineyard to the paddock before they could be tempted to sample the fresh buds.

Regardless of whether animal rotation goes as planned, the animals’ safety would be compromised without Radley and Scout.

Some breeds, like Great Pyrenees, make excellent perimeter dogs that stand guard at the edges of a property, but Maremma sheepdogs are more emotional creatures; they assume an all-in relationship with the animals, playing the role of protector, comforter, and companion. Adopted when they were just six months old, Radley and Scout “were just puppies, but went straight to work,” Jardine recalls.

“You would hear them barking and running the fence and protecting the place all night; it was truly amazing. They went right into their roles, adopting the guardian role immediately.”

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Boss Baby, a lamb born at Hanzell in February 2020; three of the heritage breed American Guinea hog piglets born onsite; José Ramos, Hanzell’s Vineyard Manager of 46 years, seeds cover crop; cabernet sauvignon harvest, which constitutes barely over an acre of planted crop.

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“...THE DOGS ARE SELFLESS OVERSEERS OF THE ANIMALS, WITH AN UNFLINCHING ABILITY TO DO THE RIGHT THING, REGARDLESS OF CIRCUMSTANCE...”

Breaking the routine can be devastating to a Maremma. When Radley was neutered, he was isolated for several weeks and fell into a deep depression that was relieved only when he could see sheep, pigs, or chickens through a fence. “He would just perk up immediately and start pacing back and forth,” Jardine remembers. “Where most other dogs wouldn’t care, they are the opposite of that. They need that environment to thrive.”

The dogs are selfless overseers of the animals, with an unflinching ability to do the right thing, regardless of circumstance. Consider the times when ewes were lambing, and occasionally left a newborn with one of the dogs overnight, who watched over the lamb until one of the farmers took over the next morning. “We would be losing these animals all the time to predators,” Jardine says. “It’s just such a unique bond that Maremmas can

make with animals.”

By keeping predators at bay, the Maremmas seem to be having an impact beyond the paddock, as native insects, rabbits, and turkeys flourish, helping to fertilize the soil both within and beyond the contained grazing system. The cover crop that grows following the grazing period creates a thick mulch that locks moisture in the ground and enables irrigation to be reduced by as much as 80 percent, which conserves groundwater.

Long after the grapes are harvested and the sun has set on yet another season, one cannot help but ponder the future of this carefully constructed microcosm of animal, earth, and crop. “By about year 10, we’ll probably introduce two more [Maremmas] from the same family,” Jardine says, referring to Radley and Scout’s breeder in Gold Hill, Oregon. “We’ll retire Radley and Scout, but they’ll stay out there with the animals and remain part of the system, letting the young bucks take over and play that key role of guardians.”

Jardine is quick to emphasize that Hanzell’s Maremmas are the singular element that brings these seemingly incongruous forces together. “Dogs are the absolute key pillar that holds all this up,” he insists.

“Without them, you just couldn’t do it; it would be impossible.”

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“...I FIND THE GAZE OF A DOG SO SOULFUL AND ALWAYS START MY DRAWING WITH THE EYES, BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE WE REALLY CONNECT...”

Renay Shaffer

Colored pencil and pastel pencils on paper. www.renayshaffer.com

Sophie, 2020

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ERIKA HENNINGSEN A R I S IN G B ROA DWAY STA R W H O L OV E S B E IN G AT H OME WIT H H E R N EW P UP.

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I N T E RV I E W B Y J O N G A F F N E Y PHOTO GRAPHS BY EMILIO MADRID

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IN 2015,

less than a year after graduating from the University of Michigan’s Musical Theater program, performer Erika Henningsen made her Broadway debut as the youngest Fantine to date in Les Miserables. Two years later she landed the lead role of Cady Heron in Tina Fey’s adaptation of the movie Mean Girls, which earned a Tony nomination, and Henningsen held that role until early this year when she transitioned to a new Broadway production — Flying Over Sunset — just as COVID-19 reached New York City, causing a prompt and indeterminate pause in the play’s launch. We recently caught up with Henningsen and discussed life during a pandemic, which has given her and her boyfriend, former co-star Kyle Selig, plenty of time to play with their recently adopted pup, Lennox.

DROOL: What keeps you busy and

sane while Broadway is on hiatus?

ERIKA: Teaching has always been really helpful for me. I love working with young students. It’s funny though ... teaching has always been that “second thing,” and right now it’s becoming my predominant way of making a living, of having a schedule during the day. I’ve also really enjoyed getting to learn how to take care of my dog and be a dog owner in New York City. Those are two things that tend to bring variety, but I still miss what I do.

COVID-19 put Broadway on an indefinite hiatus, but for Erika Henningsen it provided a rare window of time at home, and she and her boyfriend Kyle used the opportunity to adopt the dog they’d been waiting for.

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D: Tell us a little bit about your dog, Lennox.

E: We fostered her with Muddy Paws Rescue. They ask that if you are fostering to let them know as soon as possible if you’re interested in adopting, so when we got her it was just one of those things where I tried to take my heart out of the situation, which is hard when you’re looking at the dog’s face. Ultimately I think my heart won out anyway, but practically, you know, we never have time as actors. We’re always going, always having to travel for work, but I just thought this is one of the few moments in my life where I might really be homebound to New York City for upwards of six months. It felt like the best time to train and get a dog acclimated to us would be now. She was already fully grown pretty much, and there’s something kind of cool about that because you feel like she has her own way of existing, and it’s our job to figure it out. It’s been a journey of trial-and-error and getting to know her, and training Lennox is really training us to keep her happy and well-adjusted in the midst of a very chaotic city.

D: Is she making a lot of doggy friends?

E: Yeah, she is. We moved up to the Harlem area in January, so everybody was inside, and there wasn’t a lot of neighborly contact. When coronavirus hit, there was even less human contact. This summer — perhaps because things have been going well in New York — more people are outside, our neighborhood has started to feel more like home, and we feel like we’re part of a community as opposed to the apartments that I’ve lived in without a dog in the past, where I paid rent but had no sense of roots.

New York City can be transient and anonymous at times, but Henningsen feels grounded by being a dog owner, and having Lennox has helped her connect with other dog owners in her Bronx neighborhood.

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“...I THINK ANY DOG OWNER WOULD SAY THAT IT’S LIKE YOUR DOG OPENED UP A WHOLE NEW COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE THAT YOU TALK TO AND SEE...”

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Henningsen’s love of dogs dates back to always having a Labrador or two at home growing up. Getting her own dog wasn’t an if, but when. Fostering Lennox won her over in short order.

D: Has Lennox helped you explore your new neighborhood?

E: I think any dog owner would say that it’s like your dog opened up a whole new community of people that you talk to and see.

Now maybe you only know them by their dog’s name, but you still know that. I feel like New York can kind of be one of those places where even though we’re all on top of one another, you can put your headphones in and tune out, but having a dog sort of negates that practice. It’s been nice to check in with the people who live right next door to us far more than we ever had before because of her.

D: You and your boyfriend met at a tryout for Mean Girls, and you’ve been through a lot together in the past few years. Has it been a smooth transition from working together to essentially being stuck in the house together all the time?

E: He and I talked about that the other day. We did not live together until this January, partially because we were in the show together. I was about to partake in another project, and he was about to be in a TV show in North Caro-

lina, and that really would have sent us into new spheres, but then the coronavirus hit, and now we’re back in the same sphere. We’re honestly really excited because we love being together, and Lennox has been a really incredible addition to our lives.

D: What’s been the hardest part of transitioning to life with a dog?

E: About a year ago Kyle started the process of allergy shots — 27 in total — to build up his immunity, because in a true testament of love he is allergic to dogs! I love dogs, and soon after we started dating I think Kyle realized, “Oh, if I’m going to stick around for a while in this person’s life, I’m going to have to figure something out.” And lo and behold, the shots work, which is fantastic!

D: In addition to performing and dog training, you do quite a bit for charity and volunteer with a focus on expanding access to acting and theater. What inspired you to get involved?

E: A lot of it came from me reckoning with the opportunities and the privilege that I was given based on

not just what I look like, but where I was born and what my family was able to provide to me growing up and wanting to do theater. We see it reflected in the representation in the entertainment industry, so a big thing for me has been, “How can we teach at the level when students are still just students and still learning, and just need to be in classrooms and have somebody sparking their curiosity and their joy and their individual artistry?”

I really think that if you can catch people at that young age and if you can uphold them and clear some space for them, then hopefully the entertainment industry will be more reflective of our national population. One thing that has really been taking a lot of my time, which I’ve always been passionate about, is voter registration.

Through Mean Girls I had a lot of reach to young people, and talking to them during election season made me realize that voter registration is such a very complicated experience, especially if you are a young person doing it for the first time. It’s important to me to inform young voters and get them registered, with the ticking clock that’s

going on until November. It brings me as much joy and feeling of purpose as performing does.

D: Are you still working with Broadway Barks?

E: Broadway Barks has always been one of my favorite traditions of our theatre community: essentially, the great Bernadette Peters and company block off Shubert Alley for one weekend every summer in support of adopting dogs who need homes, and the shelters and rescue organizations that provide temporary relief. The past two summers I have gotten matched with a pooch and shared their story with potential fur-ever homes, and so far my personal adoption success rate with Broadway Barks is 100 percent. Ultimately, it is what made me decide to rescue when the time came to add a pup to my own household.

D: Any challenges adapting Lennox to city life?

E: Well, she tends to pick her moments to go, and it’s right in the middle of the crosswalk ... that’s her favorite spot. We’re getting into the swing of things now, though.

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“...CANIS FAMILIARIS IS THE SUPERIOR SPECIES. THEY HAVE A SINCERITY, INNOCENCE AND LOYALTY ABOUT THEM THAT IS HARD FOR HUMANS TO EQUAL, AND ADDITIONALLY DOGS EXHIBIT THEIR SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE BY COAXING US GULLIBLE HOMO SAPIENS INTO CATERING TO THEIR EVERY NEED...”

Steve Feldman

Hand-drawn digital illustration. www.stevefeldman.com

The Dog Days of Summer, 2015

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T H R O U G H P U P P Y E Y E S

A 5,000-MILE ROAD TRIP WITH OUR SIX-MONTH- OLD MUTT.

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WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY CHRIS NELSON

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This is Blue, a short and stocky rescue pup who is part Basset, part blue heeler, and probably a bunch of other breeds, and he’s the most handsome and charming dog to ever exist.

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he road is my home. All of my adult life I have traveled the world, meeting fascinating people with stories to share and seeing firsthand the oddities that hide in the hardest-to-reach spots. But this wayward life is not without sacrifice; often it takes more than it gives, and it requires forgoing personal desires in favor of professional ambition. It’s also why I hesitated whenever I considered bringing a dog into my life.

Then this past spring the COVID-19 pandemic reached America, the pace of work slowed substantially, and I decided to give a warm home to a big, senior dog — but instead adopted a 10-week-old runt of the litter: a stubby-legged, sausage-bodied Bassett mix, named Blue on account of his blue tongue. Those first few months with Blue were blissfully simple, and suddenly I felt like I had a home where I wanted to plant my roots and watch my family grow. But I knew one day soon the road would call and the adventurous child inside of me would answer — only this time, sweet Blue would obediently follow in my footsteps, unaware of how huge and strange this world can be.

In July, my girlfriend Mallory and I took our six-month-old puppy on his first road trip: a two-week, 5,000-mile ramble through the American West, sleeping in a Happier Camper trailer that we towed behind our 2020 Jeep Gladiator, seeing a frighteningly divided country anew through wide puppy eyes.

Day One ——————————————— Long Beach, California to Zion National Park, Utah ——————————————— 440 miles Prior to today, Blue refused to evacuate his bowels anywhere other than our backyard. His turmoil is obvious as he sniffs around the scalding hot rest area outside of Las Vegas, desperate to find a comforting and familiar scent.

When he finally squats and does his business, Mallory and I erupt in applause; Blue yips and wiggles his long, low body as he runs to us for “soft rubbies” and love.

When we drive into Zion National Park in southern Utah, Blue wakes up just as a herd of bighorn sheep cross the road in front of us; he stares through the glass, silently

struggling to understand what he is seeing. We stop in town to have a beer at the local brew pub, and it takes us 10 minutes to get to our table, because again and again people ask us two questions: “What breed is your dog?” and “Can I please pet him?”

Day Two ——————————————— Zion National Park, Utah to Moab, Utah ——————————————— 345 miles Blue chases a lizard around the campsite before we drive east into Bryce Canyon, where hundreds of rust-colored hoodoos spiral up into the sky. We stop at Joe’s Original Rock Shop, where a 10-yearold boy is tending the register. He asks with a soft lisp if he can pet our

This family tried to steal Blue from us, but everyone does; people can’t resist his nubby legs and novelty-sized paws, his soulful brown eyes and his heart-melting smile.

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Above: Behind the scenes at the filming of The Wheeler Dairy Killings, which debuts this fall. Below: Mallory patiently walks Blue across a desolate landscape, hoping that he’ll squat.

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puppy. On cue, Blue rolls over in the dirt and presents his belly, and the boy abides with tummy scratches.

I ask the kid if he has a dog, and he says, “Yeah, but I can’t let her outside because she will murder other dogs.” We drift aimlessly on scenic two-lane country roads until we rejoin the highway, where it is dangerously windy, and with each massive gust, the fiberglass trailer sways from side to side. Blue hates it as much as I do, barking sharply in discomfort, but eventually we make it to our evening accommodations: a small, tree-covered dirt stall on a horse farm in Moab.

Day Three ——————————————— Moab, Utah to Coalville, Utah ——————————————— 250 miles

We hit the road expecting the unexpected, but never once did we imagine a wheel coming off of our trailer at 60 mph. Immediately after Blue cried and howled, but then calmed down and handled the situation surprisingly well.

We worry that one of the horses might stomp on Blue’s fluffy little head, but to our surprise, the friendly mares and stallions are as curious about the oddly shaped pup as he is about these huge, hooved dogs. We drive into Arches National Park and marvel at the delicate sandstone structures shaped by eons of water and wind. Even with the Jeep’s air conditioning on full blast, Blue is panting uncomfortably, so we nix our plans to go four-wheeling along Moab’s legendary off-road trails and instead head north to find cooler temperatures at higher elevations. Before sundown we pull into an RV park in the nothing town of Coalville, and within minutes there is a swarm of people at our site. Blue rolls onto his back, anticipating scratches, but this time, the trailer draws more attention. I do my best to answer a deluge of esoteric questions while I rub Blue’s belly.

Day Four ——————————————— Coalville, Utah to Jackson, Wyoming ——————————————— 230 miles A few moments after we pass a sign welcoming us to Wyoming, the right wheel of our trailer falls off at 60 mph and goes bounding across the field next to us like a happily prancing doe. All five wheel studs sheared off, so the spare tire is all but useless. I call a flat-bed tow truck while Mallory moves our essentials from the trailer to the Jeep’s bed, and in the back seat of the truck Blue cries and wails, as confused and frustrated as we are.

We share a beer while we wait for the tow truck, then drive two hours north to Jackson, Wyoming, where we get a room at the hipster-posh Anvil Hotel. We order rich, creamy Italian food from the restaurant around the corner, and then I take Blue on a long, aimless walk through downtown so both of us can decompress before bed. When people stop to pet Blue and ask me what his name is, I amuse myself by answering with absurdities like “Burt Reynolds” or “Randy Savage.”

Day Five ——————————————— Grand Tetons National Park to Yellowstone National Park ——————————————— 450 miles In the morning Mallory watches a Xena marathon on TV while I answer emails with buckshot replies and Blue chews on a pig ear. We decide to spend another night at the hotel so we can enjoy an entire day exploring Grand Tetons National Park and adjacent Yellowstone. We stop alongside the Snake River so Blue can

74 All grass is tall grass when Blue is standing in it; in an open field like this one, he will run as long as he can, his wet, black nose pressed against the earth as he follows traces of scents left by long-gone animals.

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For the first two days of our road trip Blue slept in his bed in the Jeep’s back seat, but after that he realized that his mom is much more comfortable, and she never complained once about having to cuddle her adorable, sleepy boy.

dip his oversized paws into the slow-rolling water, and he looks back at me with a grin. He has the best day of his puppy life: running free through overgrown fields of wildflowers, barking with naïve machismo at one-ton bison, growling softly at a juvenile grizzly bear as it digs for grubs. As the sun sets we drive back through the Yellowstone, Blue hanging his head from the passenger window, eyes closed and still grinning.

Day Six ——————————————— Jackson, Wyoming to Laramie, Wyoming ——————————————— 385 miles Rob is the warmest mechanic I’ve ever met, and his sweet smile assures me that our trailer is now in proper working order. We head south and stop at Red Baron Drive-In in the town of Afton, where we eat cheap-but-good burgers and milkshakes, and Mallory sneaks a few fries to Blue; she’s a sucker for his dopey, doleful brown eyes. We spend the night at a KOA next to the highway, and while Mallory makes hot dogs and beans on the propane stovetop, I walk Blue to the fenced-in dog park. Blue chases me, then I chase Blue, and then together we lay in the grass, panting, watching as the sky burns and darkens.

Day Seven ——————————————— Laramie, Wyoming to Greeley, Colorado ——————————————— 100 miles There are no available RV spots anywhere near us, so Mallory and I decide it best to enjoy a hearty meal before we spend our night

parked on a disused logging road or in a murky alley somewhere outside of Denver. The waitress at Penrose Taphouse & Eatery in Fort Collins, Colorado, can’t focus as she takes our order; she is too enamored with Blue, as are the rest of the restaurant’s patrons. While Blue and Mallory woo the crowd, I call two dozen more RV parks and eventually find a spot in the farming town of Greeley. We meet our neighbors for the night, Jerry and Linda, who collect antique mining equipment and safes from the 1910s and ‘20s. Mallory and Linda drink wine while Jerry and I talk about Chevrolet Corvettes. Blue chomps on a bully stick and chases the moths that fly too near the lights of our trailer.

Day Eight ——————————————— Greeley, Colorado to Nederland, Colorado ——————————————— 77 miles We aren’t hopeful that we’ll get a first-come, first-served campsite near Rainbow Lakes on the edge of the Indian Peaks Wilderness, because it’s a wildly popular place.

The five-mile gravel road to the campground is narrow and jagged, and it is a high-stress endeavor with a 17-foot-long, 2,500-pound camper in tow, but after 30 minutes of trundling along we reach the campground and find an idyllic campsite just before the place fills to capacity. We take Blue on his first-ever hike, a 2.5-mile trail that skirts the edge of three small troutfilled lakes. Mallory fears Blue’s tiny legs might preclude him from hiking, but those fears quickly dissipate as we watch the pup run up steep grades, jump felled trees, and leap from boulder to boulder.

At a creek crossing he refuses to

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walk over the small bridge and whines until I carry him, but I am glad to have an excuse to hold my little man and kiss his wet nose.

Day Nine ——————————————— Nederland, Colorado to Manitou Springs, Colorado ——————————————— 130 miles We eat fried egg and bacon sandwiches before starting the painfully slow drive out of the Rainbow Lakes campground. We stop at a deli in the nearby town of Nederland to pick up sack lunches before we start a hike around Mud Lake; Mallory desperately wants to see a moose, and she heard moose frequent this spot, but unfortunately we see none. After our hike we drive to a century-old farm south of Denver where a group of friends are filming a short monster movie that I wrote this past spring. The actors are four local high schoolers; all of them fawn over Blue, and Blue is smitten by them, too. When filming wraps, Blue stubbornly anchors himself in the dirt, refusing to leave his new friends.

Day Ten ——————————————— Manitou Springs, Colorado to Grand Lake, Colorado ——————————————— 175 miles We spend the night in an RV park at the base of Pikes Peak, with plans to drive down into New Mexico, but in the morning our neighbors tell us about the town of Grand Lake and say we will absolutely see moose if we go there. That is all Mallory needs to hear to change our itinerary, so we backtrack into the mountains and rent an RV spot at Winding River Resort, which

backs up against Rocky Mountain National Park. We stare in awe through the windshield as we drive the Jeep up to 12,000 feet, and on a one-way dirt road with successive switchbacks we see a dozen bull elk, many of them still in velvet. We see eight moose, too, and Mallory is elated.

Day Eleven ——————————————— Grand Lake, Colorado to Taos, New Mexico ——————————————— 333 miles Blue and his mom snore in the passenger seat as I slog south down the highway, both lulled to sleep by an audiobook that Mallory put on before conking out. A friend recommended that we stay at Hotel Luna Mystica outside of Taos, where a sprawl of gorgeous vintage RVs and trailers are available for rent; traveling campers are allowed to park on the edge of the grounds. When we arrive, Blue jumps out of the Jeep and immediately buries himself halfway down a prairie dog hole. Mallory yells for him to stop, then points off into the distance and screams, “Double rainbow!” In our trailer we make s’mores and eat them in bed, snuggled up with our boy.

Day Twelve ——————————————— Taos, New Mexico to San Antonio, New Mexico ——————————————— 285 miles Downtown Taos is a ghost town; recently, the coronavirus spiked in cities across the country, and New Mexico and bordering Arizona are now hot spots for infection. We drive four hours south to explore the extraterrestrial capital

of Roswell, but the UFO museum is closed, and the downtrodden downtown isn’t as kitschy cute as we hoped it would be, so we turn west and drive toward California.

In San Antonio, New Mexico, I see a sign for the seventh best burger in America — as rated by GQ Magazine in 2005 — and pull over at the Buckhorn Tavern for a green chili cheeseburger and a locally brewed IPA. A few miles down the road we find the Bosque Birdwatchers RV Park, which looks abandoned but isn’t; I find the owner of the place asleep in his car, door open and engine running. Blue hesitantly plays with a roving pack of ranch dogs that materialized from the tall grass while Mallory and I sit in lawn chairs, watching storm clouds gather and quail scurry by our feet.

Day Thirteen ——————————————— San Antonio, New Mexico to Long Beach, California ——————————————— 765 miles We didn’t intend to drive 14 hours in one day, but the campsite we planned to stay at has suddenly closed due to forest fires, and almost no one in Arizona is wearing a mask or seems to take coronavirus seriously, so when we reach Phoenix in early evening, I turn to Mallory and tell her I’ll put the hammer down until we get home, making one quick stop for dinner at In-N-Out Burger. My eyelids feel like they’re made of lead by the time we reach L.A.’s convoluted and overcrowded system of highways, and I turn on heavy metal to stay awake. When we park down the street from our house, Blue jumps out of the Jeep, sniffs around excitedly, and tugs at his leash. I still love being on the road, but Blue makes it clear: this is home.

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Like most dogs, Blue enjoys sticking his head through the passenger window to feel the wind on his face; his tiny ears fold back, his amber eyes squint, and the long whiskers from his jowls dance like wheat in the wind.

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EVEN GOOD DOGS

Organic Mushroom

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HAVE BAD DAYS

Supplements for Dogs

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“...I ENJOY WORKING FROM CANDID PHOTOGRAPHS, BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE THE CHARACTER COMES THROUGH: A WONKY BROW, A SLOPPY LIP, A STINKING SIDE EYE, OR A BIG, PANTING SMILE...”

Amy Balch

Acrylic paint, Indian ink, and pencil on paper. www.amybalch.com

Try Telling Him He Ain’t King, 2020

PAWSITIVE TO L E A R AND O N C F EE L 84

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WORDS BY ERIC WEINER

C HANGE— N , LOV E , E AG A IN FR EE .

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PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERROL COLANDRO

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shelter manager told Isaac De La Rosa that she couldn’t hire him because he had no experience.

“Leave me with a dog, and come back in an hour,” De La Rosa told her. “If it’s not doing better by the time you get back, I’ll leave and you’ll never see me again.” The shelter manager handed him the leash to the meanest, dirtiest dog of the bunch, and when she returned from lunch, she was surprised to see the dog docile and relaxed, and she gave De La Rosa the job on the spot.

It was De La Rosa’s first job as a free man, the first step to building a new life after nearly 25 years in prison. Once an incarcerated individual serving a life sentence, De La Rosa became a confident, practiced dog trainer with the help of Pawsitive Change, a progressive non-profit program that pairs highrisk shelter dogs with inmates in the California state prison system and provides prisoners with the tools to more easily access employment upon release. Employment is a critical component of preventing recidivism, yet the American Civil Liberties Union reports that nearly 75 percent of those exiting prison remain unemployed a year after release. About 10 dogs are matched up with 25 to 30 inmates — mostly long-term violent offenders — who, through extensive training and practice, are able to reshape their own negative behaviors.

“We wanted to share reciprocal love with the people who need it most,” says Pawsitive Change founder and public relations director Zach Skow. “This is a mutual rescue scenario, helping create a pathway to change and give love

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to people who haven’t felt it in a long time. Exposure to it makes people fundamentally different.”

Skow started Pawsitive Change in 2015 as an offshoot of his organization, Marley’s Mutts, which rescues shelter dogs in Kern County, California, that would otherwise face euthanasia. Pawsitive Change launched at California City Correctional Facility in 2016 and has since expanded to five prisons and one juvenile facility.

“The first step in the rehabilitation program is for incarcerated people to start feeling again,” says Stephanie Taylor, head trainer at Wasco State Prison and program coordinator for Pawsitive Change.

“Some of them haven’t seen a dog in 20 years, and when they do, it makes them feel more human — like a statue that suddenly smiles,

and you see the love in their eyes.”

An inmate enrolled in Pawsitive Change must understand themselves before they can begin to understand how a dog communicates. The curriculum is rooted in psychology and focuses on building self-esteem, honest reflection, collaboration, and emotional intelligence; homework assignments and regular group discussions reinforce the teachings and prepare students to understand the ways in which canine communication differs from that of humans. As much as people want to believe that dogs comprehend human speech, the truth is that dogs communicate through energy and body language. Prison, however, is a dehumanizing place where expressing genuine emotion is socially forbidden, and the maelstrom of anger, fear, and frustra-

PREVIOUS PAGE: Isaac De La Rosa spent nearly 25 years incarcerated in prison. The time he spent learning to work with dogs and training them transformed his life into one that could not only survive, but thrive in the outside world.

Dogs arrive at the prison often just saved from euthanasia. Before long, they’re the ones doing the rescuing, injecting empathy and positivity into an environment sorely in need of both.

tion swirling in this environment is something that dogs are attuned to.

Taylor points out that, unlike people, dogs deal in simple emotions and live totally in the here and now, without judgement. A dog doesn’t care what you’ve done in your past or who you’ve hurt, so teaching humans to strip away the complexity of their feelings and engage on those basic terms is essential. “We learned how everything we’re feeling is channeled through the leash, like an umbilical cord,” says De La Rosa. “If I want the dog to respond to me, I have to be calm and confident. The program gave me the discipline and structure to be able to do that.”

De La Rosa spent the first 15 years of his 25-year sentence exhibiting nothing but negativity and bad behavior, and it constantly landed

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Dog training offers Oscar Rodriguez the chance to constantly examine and guide his own behaviors.

These four-legged friends are real catalysts for change.

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him in solitary confinement. “I was sure I’d die in prison, and I was acting like it. When I got out of the hole in 2013, I started doing the best I could to better myself.” Oscar Rodriguez, who also served 25 years and was able to turn his life around with help from Pawsitive Change, sees dog training as an extension of mindfulness practice.

“Dogs follow confidence and assertiveness,” Rodriguez says.

“Working with them is a lot like sitting on a mat and meditating, constantly asking you to observe and assess: How am I feeling? That brings me back to me. And I apply those lessons to my thinking all the time now, like second nature.

We determine what needs to be removed or added to a dog’s behavior, creating the way to a new normal. It does the same thing for us.”

Because prison is a highly segregated social environment in which people of different races do not often interact socially, Pawsitive Change builds mentor teams of two or three people, deliberately mixing Black, white, Hispanic, and Asian inmates to foster understanding and rapport. Wardens and correctional officers report reduced violence and disturbances in pods with a Pawsitive Change program.

“Good lord, the moment we came out into the yard to walk the dogs or train them, the whole mood in the yard just shifted,” Rodriguez says. “People softened up, asking if they could pet your dog, introducing themselves. And then we had the chance to use our knowledge and educate them on how to approach the dogs. You could share a laugh when these

men were reminded of a dog they had when they were a kid. Sharing something like that takes an incredible vulnerability. That’s opening up.”

Beyond that, the dogs help foster better relationships between the inmates and the guards. De La Rosa recalls one of the captains asking for tips on how to train his dog at home.

When the captain came to one of the course graduations, he had the chance to speak with De La Rosa’s family, who was visiting, and share pictures of his loved ones. “When the other guards saw that, they were maybe not so quick to pat me down, or hassle me as much,” he says.

De La Rosa and Rodriguez were able to gain release due to a series of recent prison reform laws that made it possible for juvenile offenders to earn parole. Since their

PREVIOUS PAGE: Dogs live with inmates, sleeping in kennels outside of the prison cells.

Individuals can remain enrolled in Pawsitive Change as long as they like, pending continued good disciplinary standing. For many, it becomes a critical support system.

releases, they’ve both found gainful employment working with dogs.

De La Rosa is thriving at California Paws Rescue while simultaneously starting a business that follows up with adopted dogs and their new owners to continually reinforce the training. Rodriguez became a professional dog sitter, dog walker, and trainer, and both he and De La Rosa enjoy having dogs in their lives as pets. Rodriguez’s nephew has three dogs that he regularly works with, while De La Rosa ended up adopting the last dog that he graduated from the program: “He got out three months before I did.”

These two men dug deep and reshaped their futures by investing their time and energy into dogs, and doing so gave them purpose, hope, and the opportunity to be more than just inmates. Through Pawsitive Change, incarcerated people can take comfort in the bond of fellowship with fellow students — especially between different racial groups — that the training forges. “There is a need for this program to be in every prison in America, period,” says Skow.

Every dog that has graduated from Pawsitive Change is now living in a new home, bringing joy outside the prison walls. For the people still inside, the dogs are both a pathway and a reminder of what it means to live a meaningful life, whether release is in the cards or not.

De La Rosa and Rodriguez are not letting their second chances go to waste, with leashes in hand and four-legged friends by their sides.

“Going to prison is going to Mars and being told you’ve gotta live out there,” reflects Rodriguez. “When that became normal, I started to forget what it was like to be free.

After 25 years, I’m sometimes feeling strange or uncomfortable at the newness of the world. These dogs are helping me heal.”

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“...MY STRONGEST WORK COMES FROM JUST SEEING WHERE AN IDEA TAKES ME AND NOT TALKING MYSELF OUT OF IT ALONG THE WAY. I STARTED DRAWING DOGS AS A PALETTE CLEANSER FROM SOME OF THE COMMERCIAL WORK I WAS DOING THAT I WAS PARTICULARLY BORED WITH...”

John Vogl

Screen-printed, hand-drawn digital illustration. www.johnvogl.com

Collies, 2019

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BECAUSE BISC

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CUITS ARE BASIC

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In issue two of Drool we will meet Jean Bolinger and her Cricket, who typically spend only 45 to 60 nights at home per year because neither one of them can ignore the siren song of the open road.

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“MEET CRICKET, THE SWEET LITTLE BOSTON TERRIER WHO HAS RACKED UP MORE THAN 300,000 MILES ON THE BACK OF A MOTORCYCLE ACROSS 48 STATES, MEXICO AND CANADA.” ISSUE 2 COMING WINTER 2020

P H O T O G R A P H B Y C H R I S M AT L O C K

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