Adopt a Cat Commercial

Many of you know I am a supporter of rescuing and I saw this video promoting "adopt a cat" so I had to share it. We have dogs in my house so I tend to post more about dogs but I am a proponent of any kind of rescuing. I think this adopt a cat commercial is brilliant. The man in the video is Paul Preston. He lives in Atlanta and his sister Helen volunteers for this rescue, Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelters. His sister came up with the idea and thought her brother would be perfect to cast. I think she was right.

So many rescues struggle to get their adoptable pets noticed. I've started photographing pets that are available for adoption in hopes of proving better images for the public to see. I believe that better images of dog and cats that are available for adoption will help the pets get adopted. This afternoon I'll be photographing a dog that is looking for his forever home. I'll share those images soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F_8qaQ3DD0&feature=youtu.be

I read an article about the commercial that said it took about 30 minutes to shoot. If only every rescue had the capability of producing this type of media attention. I think a lot of cats and dogs would find their forever homes.

Halloween and your Pet

This weekend many of us will celebrate Halloween and many of us will include our pets. I am photographing a dog Halloween contest and parade on Saturday at Social Pet in Pineville from 11-2pm. Come on out. I photographed the event last year and had a great time.

However, keep in mind that not all pets like to wear costumes. My yellow lab Willow doesn't like to wear anything. If it is raining and I put a coat on her, she freezes and won't move. She doesn't like the rain either but apparently she'd rather get wet than wear a raincoat.

If you try to dress up your pet for Halloween and you get a similar reaction from your dog, perhaps you should forgo the costume. My other dog Moose could care less about having a costume or coat on. However if he is around other dogs who have on costumes that even remotely resemble something he'd like to put in his mouth, he will. That's another thing to think about if you have a crazy dog like my Moose.

Something else to remember: make sure your dog can't get in the Halloween candy. Chocolate isn't good for dogs - it can be fatal if enough of it is consumed and the wrapping that is on a lot of the candy can cause blockages. Keep the trick-or-treat bowl and your kids' stash out of your dog's reach. Your kids will be happier about that too, right? :)

On Monday evening my neighborhood will have a Halloween party in the cul-de-sac. There will probably be a few dogs there although I'm not sure if they'll be dressed in costumes. This is our 2nd Halloween with Moose. This year we are forgoing handing out candy because Moose is a lot to handle with all that candy around and the doorbell constantly ringing. We'll give out our candy at the neighborhood party. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Do Dogs Remember Each Other?

I'd love to know if dogs remember each other. I did a BARKography photo session earlier this week with Baxter, a dog that used to live in Charlotte and now he lives in Florida. I was introduced to Baxter and his family through my neighbor Tiffany. I'd done a photo session with Tiffany's dog Jack and when Baxter's parents saw the photos, they wanted to have a session with Baxter and they wanted to have photos of the 2 dogs together. The dogs used to play together all the time when they both lived in Charlotte. I did an early morning session with just Baxter and later that day, I met up with Baxter at the Mint Museum and Jack joined us there. Seeing the two of them run around and play was a lot of fun.

I've been thinking about it a lot since then and I wonder, do dogs remember each other? I have no scientific reasoning behind this but I think they do.

I know there are studies about a dog's memory and many say dogs don't remember things but I tend to question that. I think they remember certain things or events. When we rescued our black lab Buddy, he cowered if you lifted your hand over his head. I feel pretty certain he'd been hit in the past - he had to remember that and seeing a hand raised over his head made him remember being hit in the past, right? I can tell you over the last 6 years of his life, he was never hit again.

When Baxter and Jack saw each other, the first thing they did was sniff each other. There were a few other dogs around so they sniffed them all too but then they ran around together and played. I even captured a quick pic of Baxter giving Jack a little lick on his nose.

I do think dogs remember each other. Perhaps it has something to do with their sense of smell. Perhaps they remember the dog's scent. Seeing Baxter and Jack together was really sweet. I'm so glad I was there to witness it.

If you want to see more photos of Baxter, head over to my BARKography blog where I wrote a post about our time together.

Moose and the dog sitter

I am a dog sitter and when we go on vacation to Hilton Head like we did last week and take Moose and Willow with us, we have to hire a dog sitter. No joke! This dog sitter hires a dog sitter WHEN the dogs are on vacation WITH US! And that's because of our crazy Moose.

We were hoping that his separation anxiety would be better this trip but no, he didn't like being left in the house alone. He isn't destructive but it stresses him out. I'd love to have a doggie cam set up to see what he does but actually when I think about it, that might break my heart to seem him stressed.

So, Moose didn't get left alone very much in the house. Luckily (or not so luckily for me), I'd planned to do quite a bit of work while we were on vacation. I have a ton of back office type of work that I need to catch up on so I'd planned to knock some of it out on vacation... and I did. Moose was happy to have me around.

We did plan to go out to dinner a couple of nights while we were there so the dog sitter came and stayed with him. He's a funny dog. As soon as she got there and we'd go to leave, he followed her back into the house, perfectly content that we were leaving as long as someone was there with him.

Yay for the dog sitter and for her helping us and The Moose while we were on vacation! Do your dogs require special attention or treatment when you're on vacation?

See Spot Run Dog Walking & Pet Sitting

To all my dog walking and pet sitting clients, I have exciting news: I've launched my BARKography website and you can click the link to check it out.  If you do, please let me know what you think. This means several things. I no longer have to share my dog walking and pet sitting website with my photography site. Because I've spent a lot of time marketing the new dog photography business, it was taking over the See Spot Run site. No more. :) The dog photography piece is still really important but so is the dog walking and pet sitting. It always has been. So now I get to blog about dog walking and pet sitting things here and I can blog about the photography side of the business on the BARKography site. If there is a downside, it is that I now have 2 blogs. Yikes..... :)

I recently saw a post from a friend on my facebook page that was an article she shared about a pet sitter leaving a dog in a car and the dog died. The pet sitter was found through an online site. Here are my recommendations for finding a pet sitter:

1. Ask your friends and family for a referral. If you have friends who have dogs, ask them who they use as a dog walker or pet sitter. Contact that person and see if she (he) covers your area. If she doesn't, ask her for a referral. I get a lot of referrals and sometimes the person lives outside of my service area. I will always refer them to someone else. If it is someone I know well, I will tell them that. If the person has pet sat for me before, I will tell them. If I don't know the person well, I will tell them that too.
2. Ask your vet for the front desk staff at your vet's office for a referral. Ask them how they know the person.
3. Interview the pet sitter. Seriously interview them! (I would interview them as if you were hiring someone to care for your child. My dogs are my children and they are treated as such.)
4. Check the pet sitter's references. Really call them. Really check them out. Ask questions like: how long have you known her, how many times has she pet sat for you, were there any problems, how did she correspond with you while she was pet sitting for you, how frequently did she correspond with you, etc. Ask questions. Lots of them.

As a pet sitter, it breaks my heart to read the stories like what I read this morning. It breaks my heart for the family of the dog. I don't like the black mark it leaves on my industry either. There are good pet sitters out there. Do your research and find them. You'll have to plan ahead as this process will take time. Your dogs are worth it, right? Trust me if you find the right pet sitter, she'll appreciate your efforts and your dog will too.

Pet Photography Project 52, week 32: Lens Flare

For this week's pet photography project 52 week challenge, we are examining lens flare. I'm so glad this is the assignment for this week because I have an image and I would really like some honest feedback on it. I took this 3 weeks ago. My mom was looking at all of the images from this photo session and she saw this one and audibly gasped. Now, she is certainly biased when it comes to the photos I take. I like this image but something doesn't seem quite right and I don't mean the fact that her front paw is cut off although maybe that is part of my issue. Does this image work? What would make it better? If you took this at a session, would you show it to the client?

Here is another photo from this same session. I found the raw file while searching for the image above and just edited it now. I didn't edit it before because I didn't think it was good enough. Your thoughts? (Seriously, honesty is what I want. :))

Here is another of The Moose.

Be sure to check back next week for some super exciting news!! :) This is a blog circle. Click the link at the bottom of each post and you'll see the other photographer's take on "lens flare." Next up is About A Dog Photography in St. Cloud MN.