I'm a polygamist

Saipin and Fah, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

(P.S. not really)

Guard Duty: Protecting the mother-in-law-land, our house

Three dogs, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

Punk rocker Ping Pong, albino dog Fang, and Kuk Kik (left to right).

Dogs as alternative energy sources

In these days of rising energy prices one's imagination wanders. Could dogs provide this energy that we need so terribly?

The squire in the movie Tom Jones (1963) sets an energy conservation example for all of us by sleeping with his dogs (as friends of course).

Ancient cavemen, perhaps, also once slept with their dogs in the days before oil became plentiful. Maybe we should heed their example.

The history of dogs as an alternative energy source is still new with many stones yet unturned, but I've done a little researh into the origins of the phrase "three dog night":

"I understood that this is a temperature scale and that it refers to the number of dogs you need in bed with you at night to stay warm. I was recently told that it refers to the number of dogs that died that night due to the cold. Comments?"

":: In Alaska, and the arctic, when it gets dreadfully cold you bring dogs from the sled team into the tent to sleep with you. The measure of cold is how many dogs it takes to provide enough body heat to get through the night. I've heard of four dog and five dog nights, but three dog night is the most recognizable phrase because of the rock group with the same name" (Source)

Someone else says it might be Australian.

Sleepy Time

Sleepy time I, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

It's warmer more cozy I guess

Sleeping in a pile

Dinner's ready! Come and get it!

Feeding Time, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

Every one of these little critters

Now fully grown

Ever, never ever, thanks his mum

Fah, mother of all Shih Tzus

Bingo - Enemy No. 1

shihtzugermanshepherd1, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

No German Shepherd friends for your Shih Tzu.

You won't be doing your Shih Tzu a favor.

Our Shih Tzus do surprisingly well against our German Shepherd Bingo though.

Better than you would have imagined.

Shih Tzus are small and agile.

Lunging, leaping, and biting skills, highly advanced.

Our German Shepherd runs away or gets forced into a corner.

The problem is that

Bingo the German Shepherd.

Thinks he is a Shih Tzu.

He wants so bad to be a Shih Tzu.

But he will never be accepted.

Our friend has a farm nearby in the hills

With an orchard

With other German Shepherds like Bingo

Bingo might be happier there

Mr. Buk Bik, quiet reserved Shih Tzu

bukbik3, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

Here's Mr. Buk Bik when he was younger

He died two months ago

He was hit by a truck in Maesai, Thailand a year ago

Mother used to bring him with her to her house in Maesai

Buk Bik would run around on the street with the other dogs

He became a young tough gang member

Mother said the other dogs respected him

Because he had hair

He was a lot smaller than the other dogs though

Most of the dogs on the street in Maesai end up getting run over

Buk Bik's daughter Fang got her tail run over, ouch!

After dinner one night

Buk Bik ran out onto the street

Without looking

A truck hit him

He had a hard time breathing for a while

But eventually he got better

But he still had

His little gangster habit of fighting with the other dogs

One day Saipin and mother came back from the store and found him dead

They buried under a tree in the yard

We don't let any of the dogs run out on the street in Maesai anymore

Ping Pong, punk rocker with a fur coat II

pingpong2, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

Ping Pong, punk rocker in a fur coat

PingPing1, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

Like a daredevil motorcycle stuntman.

He leaps over your lap.

Not into it.

When he was born.

He leaped from the big plane of dogs in the sky.

And Landed in this world.

All alone.

Without any brothers and sisters.

An only child.

Son of albino dog Fang.

Only grandson of Nong Fah, mother of all Shih Tzus.

He can hold his own in any paw to paw combat.

He also has a tender sensitive side to him.

Devoted to my mother-in-law

Whom he loves as dearly as he would another dog.

P.S. Whoops. What I wrote above sounds like I'm calling my mother-in-law a dog.

I love my mother-in-law just as much as I do my wife and dogs (but differently of course).

Don't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

Buk Bui: Unrepentant ball addict

BukBui1, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

At 9 kilograms he's an imposing Shih Tzu.

Even the veterinarian asked whether he really was a Shi Tzu.

Life is a ball for Buk Bui.

And since he's the biggest, he always gets his ball.

Som, the smallest

Som, originally uploaded by Jon Fernquest.

This is Som. When she was a baby she was the runt of the pack. She caught pneumonia and had to live in a little glass box to dry out her lungs for a few days, but in the end she survived.

She is a very shy and quiet little dog who doesn't like to fight.

Dog in hand

Fah, mother of all Shihtzus

Fah or Nong Fah in the Thai language, is the mother of all Shihtzus. Because she is everyone's mother, she has special privileges like sleeping upstairs with the humans.

I thought sleeping upstairs with the humans would be a special privilege, but I found out that it isn't. Most of the Shihtzus want to sleep downstairs in the kitchen (for obvious reasons). That's where they are in this photo, behind the bars.

Washington is swarming with Shih Tzus

In the world of American politics, Shih Tzu means character defect.

After all Shih Tzus are lap dogs.

What I ask is wrong with a lap dog?

I used to put my German Shepherd on my lap, but I had to take a shower afterwards.

The metaphor or analogy must run like this:

Bush is a doting over-sensitive Shihtzu owner looking for love and the journalists are his lap dogs dishing out unconditional love.

Good on Bush for finding Shih Tzus and unconditional love. If we could all be as lucky. Here's the article:

A Capital Full of Shih Tzu Reporters

"As I occasionally survey the pack of sycophantic Shih Tzus in the Washington press corps, wriggling on their bellies to kiss the feet of those in power, I feel plumb discouraged about the future of journalism...The president’s approval ratings are at 31%, and not a single Shih Tzu will yap at him."

Actually, Shih Tzus are known for being rather proud beasts, not very sycophantic at all, and I've never seen any of my eight Shihtzus "wriggling on his belly kissing my feet." More likely he's fighting over a woman (or food) with his teeth.

Pop culture images in peoples' heads are interesting though. According to Wikipedia on Lap gods I mean lap dogs:

"Popular culture presents the image of the spoiled or pampered 'pooch' who is the obnoxious companion of a spoiled or pampered lady."

I prefer the more traditional image of Shih Tzu as lion dog denizen of the Chinese emperor's forbidden palace, my home of course.