Pop Art Pet Unleashed

Archive for April, 2008

We’ve got some amazing animals here in Colorado, and I’m not just referring to the moose, the wolves, and the bears! The story of Lulu who survived an explosion is all over the news here and has now gone national. Below is the story from Yahoo.

A dog was found alive and in relatively good shape after spending eight days trapped in the rubble of a building that exploded, critically injuring the pup’s owner.

Lulu, a Springer spaniel, was rescued Sunday after the owner of the business that had been housed in the two-story building heard her whimpering.

“We turned off the radio and started calling out Lulu’s name. Then we heard some yelping,” Brian Holt, owner of Good Times Adventures, told the Summit Daily News in Tuesday’s editions.

Lulu’s owner, Brian Mislanski, had been critically injured in the April 19 explosion and remained at St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver on Tuesday.

“I’m happy,” Mislanski told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He declined to comment further, but friends who are caring for Lulu said they took her to visit him — with permission from the hospital.

Veterinarian Christine Murphy said Lulu suffered mild dehydration and had some trauma to her left eye. She probably survived by drinking melting snow and eating food she found in the debris, Murphy said.

Good Times Adventures is a snowmobiling and dogsledding business. Mislanski, a company van driver, was house-sitting for managers who lived in the upstairs apartment when the building exploded.

Holt said he was sorting through about 6,000 square feet of rubble from the explosion when he heard Lulu.

“After 45 minutes of frantic digging, we found her laying in a crawl space under 15 feet of rubble,” he said. “She basically had a two-story building on top of her.”

Did you know that Animal Rescues and Shelters have become a very popular vacation destination among animal lovers in America? A few years ago we took a trip to Best Friends, the amazing animal shelter in Kanab, Utah; then last year on vacation we went to Pasado’s Safe Haven in Washington, which was truly heartwarming. Apparently, according to the story below from Yahoo we were being trend-setters! :

For most people the word “vacation” conjures images of relaxing in a tropical paradise, but for some animal lovers, their precious time off isn’t spent sipping margaritas. Fueled by a desire to make a difference, they’re using all, or part, of their vacation time to help improve the lives of homeless pets here and abroad.
One of those people is Crystal Hall, an administrative assistant who lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Hall’s last five vacations were spent at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, where she happily works eight-hour days filling food bowls, washing litter boxes and grooming cats.

“I think I have a bit of a cat addiction,” she says with a laugh. “I just love them and can’t get enough of them. It just makes me happy to see them happy.”

Labor of love

Hall isn’t alone. Each year, almost 5,000 volunteers make the journey to Best Friends, the nation’s largest no-kill shelter caring for abused and abandoned animals.

Located in the heart of the Golden Circle of national parks, the refuge is a short drive to the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon and Lake Powell.

Some people help for a few hours; others stay few days, said Barbara Williamson, a spokesperson for Best Friends.

“Some even end up moving here permanently so they can contribute their labor of love to the sanctuary on a regular basis,” she said.

Offering volunteer vacations wasn’t a formal idea when the sanctuary was founded two decades ago. Over time, though, enough people began showing up that a full-time staff was needed to handle the requests.

In the beginning, rustic cabins on the 33,000 acre ranch – built when the area served as a movie location in the 1950s – provided accommodations for folks who didn’t mind “camping indoors.”

Today, modernized cottages and a few RV spots provide clean, convenient places to stay for a nominal fee. Deem yourself lucky, though, to land a coveted reservation. The vast majority of visitors must stay in the nearby town.

Global effort

For an overseas adventure, World Vets – a nonprofit organization that provides medical aid to areas with limited or no access to veterinary care – might be the right feel-good trip for you.

Small groups of licensed veterinarians and technicians, as well as animal enthusiasts, fly to far-off destinations to work mainly on spay-neuter projects. Upcoming trips this year include Costa Rica, India, Mexico and Panama.

No prior experience is necessary. Volunteers are trained on location for tasks ranging from giving injections and applying flea treatment to capturing cats and dogs for surgery.

Even though you’re donating your time, the trip isn’t free. On average, expect to pay $600 (plus airfare) for hotel, local transportation and other related expenses.

World Vets director Cathy King, DVM, said most trips are designed as ongoing projects for maximum impact to both the community and animals.

“We don’t just go one time and do a project and leave,” she said. “We want to go and have a pretty significant impact through sustainability.”

In November, for example, a team is traveling to the tiny village of Tena, Ecuador, where mass poisonings control the burgeoning population of stray dogs and cats.

In exchange for stopping the practice, World Vets members are launching a community-wide, spay-neuter program that includes surgical training for local veterinarians, public education and sterilizing as many animals as possible.

On these trips, though, expect to work more than play. Volunteers toil daily for 10 hours during excursions. And usually only a day or two is allotted for sight-seeing.

Still, that hasn’t stopped animal lovers from signing up.

“Because we’re working closely with the local people in these communities, it really gives you a different perspective of the country than you would get as a tourist,” says King. “For many people it’s the experience of a lifetime.”

You’d never know it by looking at this picture, taken just a few months ago, but our little Kylie is going to be

15 this week! Like many senior dogs, Kylie does have a touch of arthritis. We are avoiding putting her on a daily prescription because we want to avoid the potential side effects. We attribute her continued level of activity to the supplements we’ve added to her diet for years now, Glucosamine and Chondroitin, and the low-impact exercise she gets swimming every week. And we’re always on the lookout for the latest information and suggestions on how to keep Kylie active.

Now, based on our Vet’s recommendation we just added a supplement called Duralactin, which is dried milk protein – we’ll see how that goes. When the package of Duralactin arrived, it included 12 tips to help your arthritic pet so once again we decided to pass them along.

• Slip-free flooring
• A soft bed
• Ramps or cubes
• Glucosamine and Chondroitin
• Peace and quiet
• Massage
• Gentle, regular exercise
• Weight control
• Swimming
• Heating pads
• Proper grooming
• Omega fatty acid supplements

We will very soon be facing the always dreaded, moving. And we know from past experience that it can be very stressful on our little dog, Kylie, so we found the following list helpful. It provides ten tips to make your move a smooth transition for your dog or cat, so we thought we would share it with you.

1. Dogs adapt quicker than cats to their new surroundings but both can still be very excitable. Keeping pets out of the way during the move with a friend or relative can often be for the best as the sight of its owner packing can be very worrying. If this is not possible, keep them close by in a quiet room, preferably with their bed and a few toys.

2. Many pets do not travel well, so it’s a good idea to get them used to it prior to the move by taking them on short journeys in the car. Also help to reduce the chances of car sickness by not feeding your pet for 12 hours before the move.

3. Every year many animals are lost when their owners move house, so all identification tags will need to have your new address and phone numbers on. Collars should be kept on at all times just in case they get lost and try to return back to your old house.

4. When arriving at the new house, wait until everything is indoors before bringing your pet in. The idea is to keep everything looking as normal as possible.

5. The sight of familiar things, such as toys, baskets or a favourite rug, can be very comforting to animals on arrival in their new home, but your pet will still take time to adjust and will need plenty of attention as a result.

6. Cats have a habit of wandering off, so a travel basket could be the ideal solution. Your movers may be able to hire or lend you one. Try and have your cat inside the basket before the removal men arrive.

7. Smaller animals are much easier to transport, but still need to be well prepared for the move. Caged birds will normally travel quite well and will be happy with you in the car, but the journey needs to be short and they need food, water and ventilation.

8. Fish should be taken out of their tank and put into a proper container designed for their transport. These are available from any good pet shop. The fish tank should then be emptied, dried and protected with polystyrene packing for the journey.

9. Small animals like guinea pigs, hamsters and rabbits are best transported in well ventilated “chew-proof” containers made of metal or rigid plastic. Give them plenty of bedding, a little food, and water throughout.

10. If your move is set to take you overseas find a reputable professional moving company for specialist advice.

..And obviously to a large extent ALL of our clients are pet lovers, however some stand out more than others. Or to put it another way, some are crazier than others – of course we mean that in the nicest way!

Case in point, we are currently working on four portraits of five pets for a client coincidentally named Cat. Cat certainly qualifies of one of our craziest, pet loving clients! She loves talking about her animals and even told us how she has had all of her beloved pets over the years cremated so she can keep their urns in her home. The plan is when Cat herself passes away, and she has left specific instructions to this effect, they will all be blended and buried together. Now that’s love!

In the meantime Cat has flattered us with the task of immortalizing Rebound & Pilgrim, two lovely cats, as well as Muckluck the Malamute.

This was Cat’s reaction when she received the first three portraits:
ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SATISFIED with all three pictures. My vacillation worked in my favor although you may still be getting over the jitters from my “That pic for sure, no this one, oh God I hate it, no this one, yes, definitely without-a-change-of-mind this one. Oops.”..
I saw the client proofs on your site and am convinced your latest effort for me is the best example of your excellence. :) No favoritism at all because they were my 4-legged children.
We are also working on a custom pet portrait for Cat of adorable Akita puppies, Zoey & Hachiko. It’s taking a little extra time because the original photo we had to work with required a lot of extra attention. Our artist has been diligently working to enhance the detail and capture their natural cuteness!

If someone you know is a crazy pet lover like Cat, please let them know where they can get a custom cat portrait or dog portrait created from their pet’s photos.. Pop Art Pet!

We found these in the most recent issue of Doggie Aficionado, and since we’re constantly campaigning for our pet parent friends and clients to take more pictures of your pet, we thought we should pass them along.

These tips are definitely directed at taking photos for the family album, which is great, but we thought we should add some suggestions for taking a perfect picture for a custom portrait of your dog (or cat).

(1) Have one of your dog’s favorite toys on hand. – Not only can toys keep him or her occupied between shots, you can also capture some fun shots of your pet at play.
* For a great portrait you can use your dog’s favorite toy to get their attention, and if you can make it squeak you may even get the ever-popular head tilt. Although it our experience, treats typically work better for this. And we’re not talking about some old dry milkbones, if you want a big smile try some sliced cheese or sausages!

(2) Use the right lighting to reduce animal red eye, which is more likely green or yellow. – Red eye is worse when you’re using your camera’s built-in flash, so try to use natural lighting whenever possible. When natural light is not an option, use the brightest, indirect light available indoors.
* We also tell our clients that lighting is key and that natural lighting is best. Good lighting results in great contrast and the best chance for your photo to be well focused. The best way to take your pet’s picture with sufficient natural lighting is outside but not in direct sunlight, so a cloudy day or shortly after sundown are ideal.

(3) Be prepared to use a relatively fast shutter speed. – You know your pet loves to move, so unless you want tocapture him or her as nothing more than a blur, you’ll need a fa st shutter speed to freeze the animal’s motion.
* Most people don’t really deal with shutter speed at all these days especially with digital cameras. Our most important requirement where camera settings are concerned, is always use the highest quality / largest file size setting so we can work with a really big image.

(4) Don’t photograph your pet from human eye level. – Avoid this extreme angle by lowering your tripod or sitting on the floor to shoot from your pet’s eye level. This is the best way to capture their true personality.
* We totally agree! When was the last time you saw a portrait of a person looking up?

(5) Try taking a picture of a family memeber holding your pet. – Try to capture the loving interaction between you and your dog or cat, it makes a really touching shot. Plus it allows you to help hold them still!
* Yes this can make for a memorable moment in your scrapbook, but for a portrait it’s best to let your pet pose alone. If you really need human intervention to keep them calm, have them sit while an assistant keeps a hand on their back. As long as nobody is in front of them, obstructing the photo then we can probably remove them from the background.

We provide lots more helpful suggestions for snapping and/or selecting a great shot of your pet for a portrait on our Photo Tips page, and again remind you that you can never have too many pictures of your pet!

Around here we are huge believers that a healthy diet is the key to your pet’s overall health and long life – and nothing is more important around here than Kylie’s health and long life! That’s why we were very happy a couple of years ago when we found “The Honest Kitchen” pet food. It’s an all-natural, dehydrated, raw food made with human grade ingredients. Kylie loves it, she even wrote about it in her blog! I can’t tell you what a relief it was during the pet food recall crisis last year to have the peace of mind of knowing we didn’t have to worry. We recommend it to all our pet parent friends.

So we were very happy to find this article on slashfood.com which furthered our positive feelings about The Honest Kitchen:

For the folks at The Honest Kitchen, quality control means tasting your own product – even though it’s marketed for the four-legged crowd.

The company’s employees attend weekly meetings – often with their dogs poised by their sides – where both humans and animals carefully taste both individual dehydrated bits of the organic dog and cat food mixture, as well as the final product, to make sure the pets are getting nothing but the best.

The company got the OK from the FDA to use the term “Human grade pet food” on all of its labels. According to a rep from the company, the food is “probably a little bland by most human standards,” but compared to what they imagine ordinary pet food to taste like, “really quite delicious!” (That answers the next obvious question: do the testers taste their competitors’ food, too?)

Even the packaging is appealing and atypical for animal food – multicolored boxes with enticing names like “verve,” “force,” and “embark” that aren’t a far reach from the packaged granola available for humans. They also make treats and supplements.

Yes, it sounds a bit odd at first, but after the recent horrific incidents of dogs becoming ill from tainted dog food, it’s nice that a company takes this much care in producing a quality, safe product for their best buds.