Dog Photography is a fun way to procrastinate err...pass the time....

"Black & White Study of a Black Dog"
Banshee, my black GSD
(c) Dog it May Concern LLC

Just a quick snapshot to remind people I'm still alive! And finally fully recovered! So back to writing and soon to the posting!

To Dog It May Concern X-posting

I have for the last couple of years written about my dogs on another blog. It's called "To Dog It May Concern" and it began as me writing letters to my dogs (and never naming names) about their strange, rude, comical and outrageous behavior. It has since evolved to be a sort of platform in which I talk about my dogs, share stories about them and even talk about dog culture as a whole from time to time.

The other day I happened to write a piece for the blog inspired by my real life events dealing with an ancient 15 year old dog, Nutsy. I've had Nutsy since he was 8 months old when I adopted him from the shelter. I am now 30 years old. You can do the math on how big a part of my life this dog has been. Literally, half of my life has been spent with him. But now that he's old I find myself in a whole new position as his caretaker. And it occurred to me one morning at 4am as I stood outside in the freezing cold and snow just how far people go for their beloved pets as they age. In my life as a dog trainer I've seen it dozens of times, the owner who makes absurd monetary, time and life sacrifices to care for their old friend. Sometimes to the point of unhealthy extremes, but always with the best of intentions and the most heartfelt desire to make old age easier on both human and dog.

And that sometimes those sacrifices and those sleep deprived nights can feel awfully lonely. Because you think in the back of your mind; "There's no way any sane person would do this..." But the truth is; we all do it. We've all done it. And you and I will probably do it again. So with out further interruption a link to the post, so you too can feel not so alone in the universe when you're standing in the bitter cold at 4am making sure your old dog goes potty.

To Dog It May Concern: When I'm a thousand years old I hope I get to Eat a lot of Red Jello

I know a lot of you who follow my twitter account  (@Dean_Ocean) have already read this. But in case you don't have twitter or facebook (which seems like a really weird thing...) here is the link again. Feel free to spread it around to your friends, family and loved ones struggling with an older pet.

Pine Nuts

Well, this is the point at which I guess I tell you a bit about myself. I suppose I should have maybe done this as my first post, but I am non-traditional if anything.

So as most of you know my name is Dean Ocean, a lot of people (especially online) call me Pine. There is a long drawn out story involving Chris Pine and the fact I look almost nothing like him as to why this is. I am a writer. But I also train dogs until this writing career thing I have takes off and can fill in all the gaps in my income.

I grew up in Northern Idaho on a family own and run horse farm. Even though I was raised here in the States in the quintessential farm boy style, I was actually raised by Brits. As a result I have a very British sensibility about life and everything else. I was a rodeo stud, and played baseball up until High School. I was actually raised to be a horse trainer, and worked doing such through college.

In college I initially studied Criminal Justice with the intent of going on to grad school and becoming a Criminologist and working for the FBI. In short, I wanted to be Fox Mulder. But as time went on it became increasingly obvious I wasn't enough of a people person to tolerate being a cop. I did however have a talent for writing. I once wrote a 9 page (was assigned to be 10 pages minimum) term paper in the span of 4 hours and received a 97% on it (I wasn't docked for the short pages, but rather a few grammatical mistakes in terms of commas and such.) Growing up I had always been the kid with the imagination overload. My action figures rode horses and went on epic adventures crossing genres (Star Wars figures often played with Star Trek and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.) It didn't really surprise any one when I announced I was switching majors and going to become a writer.

My father staunchly disapproved. He didn't think being an artist was a suitable way to make a living. He was a failed actor and felt the same fate would befall me, I assured him I was far too good a writer to fail. Little did I know my Peter Pan Complex would get in my way quite often.

I ended up studying creative writing, and just to make sure I was extra unemployable in the real world I emphasized Screenwriting.

I alternate between down right arrogance and crippling insecurity. I am an introvert who masquerades as an extrovert just to make sure no one has a clue what I'm really thinking. I say what I mean, and I tend to mean what I say. I'm not a funny man, but I often do absurd things.

I have five dogs. They are the single most driving force in my life, both as motivation and aggravation. There are two cats, one of which only has one eye. The other of whom is increasingly strange. I also have a betta fish named Alan Tudyk and two frogs named Elwood and Whitehead. Oh the dogs are Nutsy, Bodie, Sissy, Sully and Banshee. They range in ages from 15years to 1 year old and vary in sizes from 47 to 85 pounds. The cats are Hawkeye and Cpt. Jack Harkness, the weird one insists on a title.

I currently don't have any horses to my name, but frequently ride other people's here and there. My favorite hobbies currently include long distance biking, hiking, camping and swimming in natural ponds, lakes and rivers. I am also a fan of anything that could potentially get me killed, which explains my recent undertaking of the sport bouldering (I'm not very good at it, this leads Pepper to a very understandable concern for my well being.)

The most important humans in my life are my mum, who lives close and is a constant support. And my roommate Pepper. Along with my closest group of friends who alternate between finding my charming and exasperating when I turn into a hermit and refuse to be social in favor of spending my nights in front of my computer writing. I took a vow of celibacy three years ago a heart break left me soulless and heartless. I occasionally take a dance into the world of dating, but usually quickly back out of it again. I enjoy being on my own, with only my dogs to answer to (and Cpt. Jack Harkness when he decides he's starving.) I spend as much outside as I do in front of my computer, and not enough time sleeping.

And that is basically me, Dean “Pine” Ocean in a nutshell. I'm nothing fancy, but I am sometimes amusing with alternating rounds of delusional genius and paralyzing insecurity. Questions? Comments? Concerns? 

I am also freakishly obsessed with the Zombie Apocalypse. This is a self defense mechanism as the only thing more scary than zombies, is spiders. And no one, as of yet, has invented a suitable way to deal with  a spider apocalypse. And with that thought I will not sleep, ever again.