Benji - TV Star to be

Benji, a Chihuahua mix we often take for walks, will be appearing on "Tiere suchen ein Zuhause" on the 1st of January 2007, along with a couple of other pets from the shelter.
Lets hope it´ll help to find them good homes !
Link to the website of the TV-show "Tiere suchen ein Zuhause" on WDR
Benjis greatest hobby and joy ist cuddling, but he also loves running around like a maniac - this little dog is a real clown :).

And some more pics of Bobby:

Thinking about the time I went along to the TV-show and re-reading my entry on it hurts. A lot. I found two sites on the internet which deal with the question of guilt and pet loss: http://www.petloss.com/dealing.htm and http://www.pet-loss.net/guilt.html
But even though I do feel guilty, I believe, no, I know that during the last year I made his life so much better, I was there whenever I could, we had lots of good times and I never even thought of abandoning him when he bit me - I take comfort in these thoughts though I miss him terribbly.

Duck killer

I consider myself lucky to have spent every Christmas with my family so far, this year making no exception with us gathering at my parents house.
This time Snoopy went along for company, as you can see she enjoyed the traditional poultry :) .
(We had "raclette", much more convenient for the single veggie in the family. Me.)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a quiet and peaceful Christmas time to everyone!
Hope you can all enjoy some nice days with your family and/or friends!

The new dogs

Susa

Imo

Imo

Laika

Freddy

Dolly

Snapshot

of Susa. Photographing today has been nerve-wracking.
There are six "new" dogs at the shelter and I tried to take photos of five of them.
It was drizzling and overcast and my cam´s (Canon, EOS300d) driving me mad.
I´ve tried everything: different lenses (28-80 in this case), Iso-numbers, Flash, experimenting with the aperture and shutter speed, even the bloody programs.
Either the pics are much too dark or they become blurry - I can only choose between two evils.
As much as I love digital photography and appreciate its advantages - I never had these problems with my analogue SLR, an Eos 500.
It has to be possible to take pictures while the sun´s not shining...I´m not asking for works of art or focused pics of racing dogs but only for ordinary images od standing dogs.
Aaaargh...HELP! Any tipps would be highly appreciated
(Due to financial shortages :) no chance for additional equiment like better lenses or an external flash though. No chance for artificial light either, to my knowledge there´s no proper place at the shelter for taking indoor pictures. )

Ashley & Arno

Timmy, Harry & Blacky

†
Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday.
Thornton Wilder

Snoopy takes flight

:)
Taken today. Snoop is not a dog from the shelter but one I sometimes "dogsit" for.

Christian Scientific Volunteer ?

As I am now officially a "Diplombiologe" (eqivalent to a Master in biology) ( HURRRA! HURRA! HURRA!) I have started looking for a job.
Amongst the jobs on offer there are a few strange ones :
"Title: Christian Scientific Volunteer
[...]
Job Description: Christian volunteer works: students recruiting and wildlife educational issues and ORDERED CROSS-CULTURAL AND Culturally related issues.
Qualifications: BA/BS Wildlife science or BA/BS/Master/PhD in mathematics/computer science
Salary: volunteer as a preacher"
Situated in the US, of course...
(I think Albert Einstein had a point when he stated "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind." BUT from what I gather from the news about Christians in the US and their attitude towards evolutionary biology...)

BTW: I rather liked the job descripition which said "must no be afraid of snakes" - sounds extremely good to me! :)