the true story
Hey everyone, thanks to those who were aware of the source of the photo and for making it known (tons of people all over the net use it without credit) - they belong to my girlfriend Melissa Wolff and I. Or I should say belonged sort of - very sadly the dark one, Chewie, died about a year ago. Newie, the white one, is still alive and well and just past his 5th birthday (yes, we made a new pic, i'll post it if people want. And thanks to everyone who voted for us in the card contest - can't believe that lame bulldog with the tiara on won, i think it was rigger.
As for the hat issue, they are in fact wearing the hats - we found that when we give them a treat, they are just so occupied with eating it they just stand still and eat - so we set up the scene, put em down, gave em treats, popped the hats on real quick, and snapped the pics! Of course if they weren't eating they wouldn't put up with it, but they tolerate it for treats. In fact, if you guys check out
http://www.chinformation.com/newiephotos.html you'll see Newie wearing many other types of hats. The site overall , chinformation.com, is really great too, done by Melissa. Anyway glad you guys all love the pic!
-Rich Routh