The name “WaterDog Studio” was chosen because I love animals, with a special fondness for amphibians of all kinds. When I was growing up, I would spend hours at the edges of ponds and streams interacting with newts and salamanders. I spent a lot of time in Easter Oregon as a kid, and the ranch hands would call the aquatic phase of these amphibians “water dogs.” It’s a common colloquial name for these sweet creatures, especially in their aquatic larval stage.
The current mascots of WaterDog Studio are Trixie and Rajah, two beautiful Axolotls. Axolotls are a type of Mexican salamander that never evolves out of its fully aquatic larval stage. Axolotls are also known as – you guessed it – water dogs. Trixie, my leucistic (which means light in pigmentation) Axolotl, is featured on the pages of this site. Rajah, my wild-type, is still a bit camera shy.
These fascinating creatures are a perfect mascot for my studio. They prefer their tanks to be in cool, dark places, so my dimly lit, water-themed basement studio is perfect for them. I couldn’t ask for better companions to keep me company in what I often refer to as my “secret underwater lair.”
In case you were wondering, “Land-O-Newts! Records” also has a mascot, a Japanese Fire-Belly newt named Dr. Steve Tanaka. For more on him, and Land-O-Newts! Records, click on the link above to visit the newt-themed sister site and record label of WaterDog Studio, and catch up on the shenanigans there.
