[sung to the tune of "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath]

She's my hungry bear
She's the little dog with the golden hair
She'll just sit and stare
Anytime I'm eating and I won't share

Nobody feeds her
She just stands there and pouts
(do do do-do-do do-do-do do-do-do)
She's gonna starve soon
Of this she has no doubts
(do do do-do-do do-do-do do-do-do)

Hey there, hungry bear
Your bowl's full of pheasant and ground-up hare
Ain't no cheese on there
So you walk out with your nose in the air

Yes, the following message is canned, but I hope you'll read it anyway...

Bill here. I just entered Ella in the Orvis Cover Dog Photo Contest

Now I need your vote to help me raise critical funds for the Canine Cancer Campaign.

To enter the photo contest, I submitted this picture and wrote a few nice words about Ella. The Orvis panel of judges will decide which lucky dog will appear on their catalog cover, but you can vote for this photo online to help raise funds for the Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) Canine Cancer Campaign. Orvis and Eukanuba Dog Food have teamed up with MAF to help save countless dogs from suffering and premature death. Votes only cost $1, and Orvis and Eukanuba, together, will match your contribution to the Canine Cancer Campaign up to a total of $30,000. So, every dollar you donate becomes $2 for the Canine Cancer Campaign.

Please go here to vote for Ella's photo to help fund life-saving cancer research.

I'd appreciate your vote and donation today, but if you'd like to enter your own dog in the contest, then please do - we can handle some friendly comPETition! And if you want to stay on top of how Ella is doing in the contest, visit the Search Dogs page and search for Ella by name.

Enter your dog in the contest and donate to vote today. You may enter the contest until January 24, 2010.

Sincerely,
Bill

Ella's been having a rough time of it lately. Between thunderstorm season and fireworks season, she's been afraid to go outside after dark, and until recently she was starting to balk earlier and earlier in the day. (Yes, balk,, not bark.) We've been working with her very carefully to bring her anxiety level down, and it seems to be working.

I just hope she doesn't start shying away from the dry cleaners. Ella loves running errands in the car, and the dry cleaners is one of her favorite places to go. It's also one of our favorite places to take her, if only because it's one of the few businesses we frequent where we can bring her in with us. Usually Ella and I park in the lot out back, then walk around the corner to the front door. Ella knows where we're going, so she likes to dash ahead—around the corner and in through the glass door, which is usually propped open—while I brace myself so the tug on the leash doesn't dislocate my shoulder.

Okay, it's not really Ella's fault. It's not like she's a bird or something, attracted to her own reflection in glass. The door is usually, like I said, propped open. This afternoon Ella dashed ahead of me, like usual, and I cleared the corner of the building just in time to see her slam full force into the glass. I swear to God, she accordioned like a cartoon character.

She bounced off, shook her head, and seemed to be fine. But even as I was wincing and kneeling to make sure she hadn't broken something, I was wishing I had the whole thing on video.

I am easily distracted as a driver or pedestrian by beautiful creatures on the sidewalks. I'm not talking about girls in their summer dresses. I'm talking about dogs. Like the pair of huge, gorgeous English sheepdogs I guy was walking ahead of me yesterday, and which I furtively (and unsuccessfully) tried to snap a picture of. Or the reputed wolf-dog in the neighborhood I've heard reports of, and which Laura met this morning. Paint me jealous!

A few weeks ago, I was driving home from taking my mother to Midway Airport at the end of a week-long visit. I had run a few other errands (which included picking up a special-order copy of ccfinlay's The Patriot Witch from the Book Cellar) when up ahead I saw a young woman walking a stunning medium-sized terrier down the street near Winnemac Park. I slowed the car a little. I didn't spare a glance for the woman. I was just thinking to myself, "Wow, now that's a beautiful dog."

When I got a little closer, I realized it was our twice-a-week dogwalker taking Ella out for her midday stroll. I had to laugh at myself.

I would like to see someone create one of those quizzie thingies to help people tell whether their dog is a Democrat or a Republican. I'd do it myself but I don't have the bandwidth.

The question occurred to me this morning as I was getting Ella outfitted for her morning walk with Laura. (It's 5 degrees Fahrenheit here, with 16 mph winds, so even the dog gets a coat.) Here was our sweet little dog rolling on her back and making tiny grunting noises while I tried to get her harness on her, but she's also the animal who can't see her upstairs neighbor Bear without seizing his neck in her jaws and trying to put him on the ground.

Her brown eyes looked so alien flicking behind their screen of tawny fur that I suddenly found myself wondering, "My God, what if my dog is a Republican?!" I mean, who knows what her political views might be if should could express them? She's fiercely bonded to her family, of course, and tender with us, but the moment the Other shows up on her turf she's quick to put him in his place.

If Ella were a Republican, of course we would love her anyway, but she's made me wonder whether conservatism might be more a product of our biological animal natures and liberalism an expression of our civilized side. Probably not, but maybe the elephant and donkey aren't really all that distinct from each other as symbols.

The actual date was Sunday, but it's never too late to wish ellapup a happy fourth birthday. Here's a shot of Ella reclining in the manner to which she has become accustomed on her back yard throne.

We bought her a big rubber treat ball for the glad occasion. It has a sort of simple valve where you insert treats, a maze of chambers inside, and an exit at the opposite pole. The dog bats and rolls the ratting ball around until the treat works its way out the exit. It's a ton of fun.

And here's a picture from the front stoop this morning, with Ella holding tight to her other present:

It's name is Weasalmonkey, and it squeaks.

Here's a photo Laura took with her birthday camera at Montrose Dog Beach here in Chicago:

I'd say, for best effect, check it out in its original size.

ellapup had only a small part in the "First of May" project, but this is how she spent her first of May.

Ella contemplates global warming:

Ella doesn't quite understand the concept of looking at the camera. Not that I'm complaining!