A Chip Off the Old Block

I found a photo of Cabana's dad, Bosworth, on the Utah County Puppy Raising Group site. He's a handsome fellow, and I can see why he's the papa of so many GDB litters. Cabana must have gotten her coloring from her mom, Darlene--but I laughed when I saw Bosworth's knock-kneed sit. It's exactly the same as Cabana's!!

Previously, I had blogged about my concern for Cabana's sloppy sit. But if Bosworth made it as a prolific breeder with his knees turned in, I think it's safe to say Cabana's are healthy, too.

If anyone has a photo of Darlene or knows where I can find one, I'd love to see it!

Radio Guy: Steve Erenberg

This is the most amazing online source of steampunkish tools, equipment, masks, etc. All of it is the real deal, and museum quality.

Above is one sample page. At his website Radio-Guy.net you can click on each item to get more info and details. I recommend setting aside some time to explore it all.

If you like steampunk, you'll love this site!

Score!! I Bought Four!

I'm an extremely practical person, some may say too practical. For my 40th birthday a few years ago, I asked for a new washing machine. Other years, for either birthday or Christmas, I have requested things like a vacuum cleaner and steam iron. My husband laments my wish lists, worried that others will put him in the same camp as those who buy their wives subscriptions to Sports Illustrated for their birthdays. But after 19 years of marriage, he finally understands and appreciates that I like things that will be useful on a day-to-day basis. Diamond rings and pearl necklaces sound good, but they don't meet my pragmatic criteria.

So, all the members of my family were more than a bit flabbergasted when I came home last week with FOUR new dog beds. Ummm, no, we don't have four dogs...just the one Cabana.

Let me explain! After dropping off our relatives at San Francisco Airport last week, I stopped in at SCRAP, which is an acrostic for Scroungers Center for Reusable Art Parts. Some folks may like to shop at Bloomies or Saks, or even pocketbook-friendlier Kohls or Target. But SCRAP is hands-down my favorite store.

Businesses and individuals donate their unneeded but still usable items, complete or just the parts and pieces, and instead of becoming landfill, it becomes whatever someone has the imagination to make it become. You NEVER know what you're going to find there.

Last week, I found dog beds. Nothing wrong with most of them, except that they were unstuffed. They had all kinds of shapes and sizes--and they were each only THREE dollars!! It was too good of a bargain to pass up. Using the stuffing from Cabana's old dog bed (an un-luxurious $15 purchase from Ross) and $20 in new stuffing (using a coupon from Joann's), Cabana has become a pampered pooch.

But I still qualify as practical, since now, I don't have to move Cabana's bed from room to room. She has one waiting for her in just about every room in our house.

The bed in the photo above is my favorite, big and round, made of cozy sherpa. And the bolstered back keeps Cabana from falling off the backside.

This one is in our bedroom. It has cute handstitched detailing and an appliqued bone. It was missing a corner, but using a scrap of fabric, I sewed a new one in.

Her family room bed. Love the mitered plaid border and piping!

And the pièce de résistance--a couch bed with double bolsters. Right now, it's hanging out in the garage, which is where Cabana spends quite a bit of time with me while I sew/work. Behind Cabana, you can see my 40th birthday present--my fabulous front-load washing machine!

Skull Respirator: One Step Backwards

As typically happens in this process of creation, I have had to take a step backwards. I realized I had mismeasured the fit of the mask to the face, and so have recut the 15 layers of acrylic to make the bottom smaller.



That's the old version in front, with the new version in the back.




And here it is with the skull sitting atop it. Next I'll make the pattern for the connecting leather.

What Cabana Did on Her Summer Vacation

We had a whirlwind of a week! It was a lot of fun, but it's also nice to be back home and catch up on blogs!

My husband's brother came from out of state, along with his wife and 4-year-old son, Adam. Adam and Cabana took to each other in the first 2 minutes. I don't know what they're doing in this photo--peekaboo maybe?

The first part of our vacation was in Santa Cruz, where we stayed in a rental house just minutes from the beach. Cabana loved and adored every minute we spent at the beach, running like mad on her flexi leash. She dug holes in the sand, ogled other dogs, and dashed through the waves.

Those retractable leashes, though, do not retract as fast as they should--especially when they're a bit water-logged! A couple of times, we had a massive tangled mess, and it was all I could do to keep Cabana still enough to untangle her.


Here we are at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk--a great place for puppies in training, since "regular" dogs are not allowed! We did see one other service dog there, and both dogs were equally distracted by the other. Still working on that one, ad infinitum!!


Onto the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Cabana and I had front row seats for the penguin feeding, and Cabana, although interested, was very well-behaved, even while being completely surrounded by children who wanted to pet her.

Unfortunately, Cabana had an accident while we were at the aquarium, although I blame myself entirely. I forgot to relieve her as we were leaving the beach house, and when we got to the aquarium, I tried to get her to pee. But Cabana wouldn't go, and the rest of my family was waiting for us--so I gave up. After we entered the aquarium, the time slipped by quickly as we went from exhibit to exhibit. Then, just as I was thinking I should take Cabana out, she peed on the floor. :(

Cabana hasn't had an accident in at least 5-6 months, so I felt bad for making her break her almost-perfect record. But hey, pee happens!


I don't know if it was to appease me, but our relatives said they wanted to take a tour of Guide Dogs for the Blind! They really enjoyed Cabana and hoped to get a chance to pet some of the baby pups. So even though we missed Fun Day, we got to have our own mini fun day! This puppy caught my eye because he was such a chubby chunk--what a sweet baby!


Also on the tour with us was a working guide named Donna, along with her partner Amy and husband Dave (they gave me permission to include them in this post). Donna was so good at her job!! I confess that I found it a bit difficult to see Cabana doing that someday, unless she undergoes quite a change in the next few months. Our tour guide used a few inevitable adjectives for Cabana, like "high-energy", "high-spirited" and "live wire".


But I know that Cabana CAN be disciplined and self-controlled, because she was ALWAYS so sweet and gentle with 4-year-old Adam who is a bit high-energy himself! It was absolutely endearing to watch them together. Above, they are sitting together on Cabana's dog bed.


Tickets to the boardwalk and the aquarium can be expensive--but wouldn't you know, they had the time of their lives with a couple empty plastic bottles and a big bucket of water.


As they say, "Priceless!"

Skull Respirator: Chin and Nose

Remember a few weeks ago when I used alginate to reduce a Jello™ mold? I had some of those smaller forms left over, and decided that one of them would make an excellent chin. It reflects the lines of the top skull (also a Jello™ mold), plus it gives a rounded bottom, which I think is preferable to a sharp bony chin.


I just had to saw it in half, and sand it to fit. I was concerned about the overall height of the skull becoming too long, so I decided not to copy the mandible more closely. Besides the chin, I've drilled small ventilation holes in the eyes, and also created the nasal cavity. It gives the look I'm after, plus provides two more ventilation holes so that the wearer can breathe easily.

I've also added a piece of aluminum tubing to help create the cheekbone shape. There will be one on the other side as well, and they will not be part of the casting, but will be added on post-casting. My little robot face is starting to exhibit real character now!

Skull Respirator: Cheekbones

Here I've molded and cast the skull top with the screws. Additionally I've attached the gear teeth and reshaped the cheekbones.

Skull Respirator: Fabrication

I am using the same Jello™ mold that I used for the anemone canisters to make the top part of the skull. I first cast polyester resin into the aluminum mold which had been sprayed with a mold release. Then I bandsawed the skull in half, and sanded it down somewhat more until the shape looked right sitting atop the existing skull.



After pondering how to make this respirator look less organic and more mechanical I am thinking I need to fabricate the entire skull, and not use any of the original plastic skull.

Above you can see a bunch of acrylic pieces that I've cut out with the laser, ready to assemble. As you might imagine this takes quite a bit of planning and taking measurements from the original skull, to get to this point.

Here are the same parts assembled. I will mold these and cast them in resin to modify. Then I'll add on the gear teeth, and the lower jaw.

Multi-Tasking Morning Walk

There's nothing I like better than multi-tasking, which is one of the reasons I love my morning walk with Cabana. It's much-needed exercise for me, but here are some of the other things we accomplished this morning.

The tennis courts near our house are a great first stop. No one is playing tennis at 7am, so we have the courts to ourselves. Cabana does a perfect down-stay, while I take a quick turn around the courts to make sure there's nothing dangerous or tempting for Cabana to put in her mouth.


In the video above, Cabana expends some of her surplus energy. She loves to run around with her Wubba in her mouth. After she's drained some of that boundless energy, Cabana is much more pleasant on leash for the rest of our walk. We also practice kibble-induced recall--Cabana's great at that.

Lately, Cabana has been getting me all discombobulated when we go through certain doors. Automatic opening doors are fine, but when it's a push-open kind, like here, she tends to go around behind me to my right and dart out in front of me, making the leash get tangled around the back of my legs. I've almost fallen down a couple times! Maybe Cabana is afraid of getting hit by the door? I don't know. Here as we leave the courts, we practice going through a few times, making sure that Cabana stays on my left.

We also practice sitting straight on our walks. Our CFR Celeste told me a few months ago that being near a wall or fence will help Cabana to face forward. Cabana is much better about sitting straight now, but I have found that if we don't keep practicing things, she doesn't always retain them. So even though Cabana gets it now, I still try to practice a few times a week.


Of course, there's nothing more challenging for Cabana than dog distraction. We pass this man and his dog almost every day. For some reason, Cabana is EXTREMELY distracted by this little dog. Maybe because the man doesn't make his dog heel, so his dog always comes RIGHT up to Cabana and WON'T leave. I do my best to keep Cabana in a sit until he can coax his dog away. Sigh.


The grocery store is a couple blocks from my house, and I know we need milk for our morning cereal. So I brought Cabana's jacket along so we could make a quick stop. This refrigerated section gave Cabana SOOOO much trouble back when she was 5 months old (blogged here). I'm so glad there's not even a hint of that fear left.


The grocery checkers all know Cabana now and love to see her. Today, we get in Donna's line. She says Cabana is the cutest customer she'll have all day. Ain't it the truth!

And the Winner is.....

Congratulations to Craig Hartel of Dawson Creek, BC, Canada for winning my latest steampunk writing competition about the Defender mask and helm. Defender is no more. It is now called Sentinel.




I received a total of seven entries, most of them very last minute. It was a tough choice between my two favorites, but ultimately I gave the nod to Craig for his excellent job of describing futuristic equipment in a 19th century setting in a concise, straight-forward manner. Below is the story, entitled "A Letter Home".




My dearest Mother,

It is with great pride that I write to you on this day; I have been selected as a member of the elite Sentinel Squadron for the Gryphon Interplanetary Expedition! As a Sentinel, I am one of those responsible for the safety and security of the crew and passengers aboard the mighty Gryphon Aeroship. Now that our mission has begun, I am finally able to tell you more about my duties and about the ominous adventures ahead of us all.

I wish that Father were alive to see me in my full Sentinel regalia; I know that with his scientific mind he would have been very curious about the many features of our protective gear. I can practically hear him asking me a thousand questions; what is the purpose of the Gryphon Luminiferous Aether Collection Devices? Why do you have a Cousteau Mk IV Anemone respirator? What is the purpose of the eye pieces in the mask? My heart is sad that I can only hear those queries with my mind’s ear, Mother. Perhaps you are now wondering yourself what role my equipment plays. Certainly I will tell you, so that you will know that although we have much danger to face, we are well equipped to deal with each challenge as it arises.

You see, mother, the Aether Collectors draw energy directly from the Aether itself. The very darkness of space brings energy to power my mounted head lamp as well as my respirator. The Cousteau Anemone is the very latest in breathing technology; it allows me to leave the protection of the airship proper and venture directly into interplanetary space. At first it was eerie to watch the respirator do its work, as it behaves much like a real sea anemone, waving its tendrils trying to trap food. Our mask pulls oxygen from the particles of aether all around us as we float in space. If we find ourselves in an area low on this vital gas, our gorget is designed to store aether collected by our Sentinel helmet.

The lenses of my mask have been designed to aid me in seeing organic heat signatures from potential enemies of the Gryphon. As you can appreciate, space is very dark, so having an eyepiece to detect thermal sources is a great advantage.

It is a wonderfully-crafted and well-designed system, Mother. You need not worry about me; I have been extensively trained and I have at my disposal a litany of modern equipment to serve and protect my needs.

I am afraid, Mother dearest, that duty calls me away from this letter. I hope that it reaches you in good health and spirit, and that you will think of me every day as I think of you. As we are soon to reach interplanetary space, this will be the last correspondence I will have with you until our return. Please take good care of yourself and give my love to the twins, Charles and Priscilla.

I love you all.

Your devoted son,
Winston.

Skull Respirator: First Casting

Once the silicone rubber mold was cured I cast the skull in a gray urethane resin.



Next I took the original plastic jaw and reshaped it so it would fit around the gear teeth.



Next I will fabricate the top of the skull, and figure out how best to punkify this skull so that it looks more mechanical.

More New Photos

Here are a couple more new photos from this weekend's photo shoot.

The Firemaster helmet and respirator

The Underground Explorer with canister and straps

Phew, Cabana's Okay

Yesterday, we went to my husband's company picnic. Cabana came with us, along with her tie-down stake. For the eating part of the picnic, I found a nice, shady, somewhat debris-free patch of grass, a short distance from the picnic tables where we were sitting, and secured Cabana there.

In the car ride on the way home, we noticed that Cabana was drooling. Not just a little, but big gobs of thick saliva. The whole underside of her face and neck was soaking wet. At first, I thought it was that she had just had a big drink of water--but even at home that evening, she was like a leaky faucet. I could see the drips of drool falling off her jowls as she sat.

I called my puppy group leader, and she told me to check Cabana's gums, teeth, throat, for anything that might be lodged there. I couldn't find anything. I didn't think she had swallowed much, other than a bit of grass, because I had been watching her fairly closely at the picnic.

When I looked it up online, there were tons of reasons why a dog might have excessive drooling--a cracked tooth, something lodged in the throat, poisoning, eating a frog (!). We decided to check back in with my puppy group leader in a hour. If things were worse, then we'd take Cabana to the emergency vet.

Thankfully, after Cabana ate dinner, she seemed much better. The drooling lessened, and Cabana acted perfectly normal. This morning, Cabana did have some very dark poops, so I guess she did eat something that upset her stomach. But other than that, she is fine.

I have always been so grateful that we haven't had any reason to take Cabana to the vet (and now that Guide Dogs has a bunch of new rules and regulations about vet visits, I've been doubly glad). I feared that our luck had run out last night--but phew, medical disaster was averted.


On another topic, here's a photo of my daughters, coming back from walking Cabana. Dogs are MUCH more willing subjects than daughters, as you can see how they did everything possible to NOT allow me to get a good photo of them. But I get the last word, since I posted the photo anyway!!

Pachydermos Photo

I have been shooting new photos today for the upcoming Oxford show and I thought this one of Pachydermos is particulary good at revealing its elephantine characteristics.

Skull Respirator: Molding the Skull

Here the skull has been glued down to a board and I've put plasticene in the eye and nasal cavities, plus all around underneath where the rubber might flow and lock onto the skull.

This is the skull with a paper cup around it, hot glued to the board, in order to keep the silicone rubber from leaking out. The rubber is a viscous blue liquid that is starting to fill the cup.

My plan is to cast this mold in resin, then add hardware to it and modify it so that it looks steampunk. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, how I accomplish that is a bit vague at this point.

Only Five Days left for Writing Competition!

There's still time to enter my steampunk writing competition. But not much time! Create a story about this helmet and gas mask and you might win a prize ($75 value).

Skull Respirator: Concept Sketch

I've been asked for a concept sketch, which is a reasonable request. The way I work is with a kernal of an idea, and not a lot of detail. I start with something—in this case the plastic skull—and work from there. I only need to see the next step to take in order to proceed. After each addition or alteration I spend some time studying what I have so far, and develop the next idea based on that.


In this early sketch I've laid out the basics of my initial idea. This is likely to change as I go along, and I hope to end up with more of a mechanical look than is represented here. The lower right sketch shows a side view of the respirator

Here is a sketch I did today just for this blog, to show my latest thinking. I don't need or use sketches much for a project like this. The Underground Explorer started with a child's plastic astronaut helmet, and only a vague idea of what to do with it. The Defender was similarly constructed, starting with the Darth Vader helmet. I create organically and watch the project unfold, which I find much more enjoyable than someone handing me drawings and saying, "Make it look like this". And you, dear reader, get to watch it unfold with me.

10 Things at 10 Months!

Cabana is 10 months old! She weighs 51 pounds--she's sweet and petite! Here she is at the same spot on the pier at SB Lake, now and when she was just 4 months old. Same silly sit and expression!

If you're not a puppy raiser already and are considering it, here are 10 things that I think it takes to be a puppy raiser. Although I'm not an expert, having been raising for only 8 months--nevertheless, here's my list:

1. Time - It requires that you give the pup some time each day, to go on walks, to do puppy handling, to play games, to train, to snuggle. It doesn't have to be hours and hours, but it is a daily commitment.

2. Lifestyle - Puppy raisers can have a myriad of job or life situations, but it needs to be one that is conducive to having a puppy around. If the puppy will be going to work with you, you'll need to work in a place where that will be okay. Other household pets are allowed, but of course, they shouldn't be aggressive toward the new pup. Many students have been given permission to take their puppies to school with them. The more you can keep the puppy around you during the day, the better training and exposure you can provide.

3. Repetition - As with a toddler, you'll need to be willing to do the same things over and over and over. It can take a long time for the pup to "get it", whether it's potty training or walking nicely on leash. Cabana loves to play tug-of-war, which can get a bit old! But she loves it so much, and even though it might be boring or we may not always feel like it, between the 4 of us in our family, we try to play it with her a couple times a day.

4. Ability to multi-task - This one is important. With a puppy around, you have to be able to do and think about several things at once. For instance, on a grocery store outing, you'll need to be able to find the kind of cereal you want while keeping the puppy from licking or knocking things over on shelves, navigate around people and objects, watch for tempting items on the floor (gum, candy, sticks, trash), anticipate the behavior of your puppy, and make an appropriate correction or give praise as needed.

5. Thick skin - You and your pup will attract a lot of attention wherever you go--so get ready for lots of stares and comments. Your puppy may do embarrassing things, like pee in the middle of the shopping mall, or try to lick someone's ice cream cone, or have a conniption fit in the middle of the park. And people can say and do thoughtless things. You'll need to roll with the punches.

6. An open heart - It's a challenge to be able to open your heart 100% to a puppy while knowing you're going to have to let her go.

7. Confidence - Your puppy needs you to be the pack leader. If you don't take charge, your puppy will--and that will make life difficult for everyone. I didn't have any prior experience with dogs, so the way I gained confidence in the beginning was by taking in as much information as possible. I read books about dog training, watched The Dog Whisperer and any other dog-related shows I could find. I watched other puppy raisers at group meetings and asked TONS of questions.

8. Family support - Everyone in the household needs to be on the same page. Even though only one person in the house may be the actual puppy raiser, the others should have general knowledge about what is allowed/not allowed. Being "on duty" 24/7 can be exhausting, and I don't know how I'd do it if my family members weren't here to support and help me.

9. Creative problem solving - Sometimes, it takes a bit of creativity to make things work for you. The crate, baby gate, tie-down and ex-pen are great tools, which can give variety and options, depending on the amount of freedom the puppy can handle. For example, I get a lot of work done while using the ex-pen as a barrier in my garage.

10. A dog blog - While not a true requirement, I have found dog blogs indispensable on my puppy raising journey. The past 8 months would all be a big blur if I didn't have this blog to look back through, and the support I receive here has been invaluable.

Did I forget anything crucial? If so, feel free to comment and add on.

For more information on being a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind, click here.

Skull Respirator: Teeth and Crown

After designing the gear that will become the teeth, and also the "crown" which will sit on top of the flattened off skull, I cut them out of acrylic sheet.



The two layers of teeth and three layers of crown will be aligned with brass pins. The acrylic is clear with a tan paper backing that I've left in place.

I've mixed up two-part epoxy gel, and glued the acrylic pieces together. The epoxy comes with one part clear and one part blue, which when mixed together turns clear.

Here I've epoxied the teeth and crown into place on the skull.

Thumbs Up

Earlier this summer, my husband hit his thumb with a hammer, while building my wonderful vegetable planter boxes. A few choice words and a couple months later, it's still in the healing process. The nail is growing out, exposing the bottom of the dead nail.

This morning, Cabana kept sniffing and sniffing his nail, probably able to smell the dried blood between the nail layers. It reminded us of how some dogs have the ability to sniff out cancer and other unseen ailments. She even gave his thumb a few tender licks (Cabana isn't usually a big licker).


Then, she came over to check out my thumb nail! After finding nothing interesting with my thumbs, she went back over to my husband's and gave it some more attention. Wouldn't it be fascinating to know exactly what's going through her mind?!