obese highway dog.

I saw an obese dog trotting along the 34 East median at 5:30pm yesterday. The dog was so enormously fat I was able to see him from far away. I decelerated from 80 to 60 because I didn't want to kill another animal with my car.

What did I observe about this dog from my car?

1. He was an obese black lab.
2. He looked oily, so he probably smelled.
3. He was a smart dog and appeared to be super-aware of all the cars passing him.
4. He was wearing a collar.
5. He was a happy dog at that particular moment and was wagging his tail.
6. He had a big, brown thing hanging out of his mouth.

When I passed the dog I saw that the stick hanging out of his mouth was a deer leg. Old guy had been chowing down on frozen venison and wanted to bring some home. It was pretty funny. He probably does stuff like that all the time, no wonder he's obese. Kibble at home, carcass on the road.

I've been seeing stuff like this for the past six months, domestic dogs leading a feral double life. It has inspired a series of paintings called "cadaver dogs." Domestic creatures can become feral pretty dang fast. Each painting features a domestic dog paired with an abstract tangle of the creatures they were consuming when I saw them. The paintings are becoming more narrative and I should have one posted by Monday.

Bon appetit.