Pop Art Pet Unleashed

Archive for June, 2009

July 4th is next weekend and it can be a very stressful time for pets. We found a variety of great tips from experts on about how to prepare your dogs and cats for the upcoming noisy festivities, including exposing them to loud cd’s with thunder or fireworks noises for several days prior:

The Fourth of July is next weekend, bringing with it sparklers, Roman candles and loud fireworks. Several fireworks and pet companies are encouraging people to prepare their pets for the loud noises.

Phantom Fireworks, based in Youngstown, Ohio, advises that pets might experience stress and anxiety when they hear the bangs and whistles of fireworks.

Janet Tobiassen Crosby, a doctor of veterinary medicine and writer for the Veterinary Medicine Guide, said pets are at risk when they hear loud fireworks and become upset.

“Animals that are frightened or stressed can hurt themselves and possibly escape if left alone,” Crosby said. “And the results can be fatal. Frightened animals running loose are in great danger of being hit by a car.”

Fireworks.com advises people to consider moving their pets inside when setting off fireworks. 

British Web site Canine Concepts suggests pet owners desensitize pets to loud noises by playing a compact disc with thunder or fireworks noises for several days leading up to the holiday. While the CD plays, the owners can distract their pets by playing with them, training them or giving them a chew toy.

If a pet becomes stressed, Canine Concepts recommends not comforting the animal, because that can encourage unwanted behavior it exhibits while stressed. The Web site www.canineconcepts.co.uk offers more information.

Phantom Fireworks has created a K-9 Calming Vest for the Fourth of July holiday. The vest fits snugly around a dog to give the animal a feeling of safety and security.

The vest comes in different sizes and retails for $36. The product is sold at fireworks.com and in Phantom Fireworks.

The company also suggests feeding pets an hour before fireworks begin going off and feeding animals snacks while explosions are happening, as well as using music or the television to drown out the sound and playing with the pets.
————-

Whatever you think will work best for your animals, we encourage you to consider their concerns before you plan to celebrate with your patriotic pet!

We are never afraid to pressure our clients into taking new, better photos of their pet for their custom pet portrait. Sometimes they get frustrated, which is understandable since dogs and cats make really lousy models. But we always tell them, “The better the photo the better the portrait.”

We explain it is not for our benefit, it is for theirs. After all they have purchased a significant, sentimental piece of art that they are going to have forever.

As an example of what our artist can achieve with a really high quality photo check out Toby. Current client, Cathy, had really great photos of Toby for his Pop Art Pet portrait. Click on the thumbnail below to see a larger version – the original was actually huge, which is also a huge help to us.

The lighting is great, the photo is perfectly focused, and so detailed you can see individual hairs. And take a look at the excellent results our artist achieved as a result.

Look how much detail we were able to maintain?

Click here to see all of Toby’s proofs.

So, if you order one of our custom portraits of your pet and we ask you to please try to take better pictures, please don’t take it personally. We just want every portrait we do, to be the best it can be, and to do that we need the best possible photos. Besides, as we always point out, its never a bad thing to have more pictures of your pet!

Did you know that most every Major League Baseball team offers events for you to take your dog to the ballpark? Now you can share America’s Favorite Pasttime with your favorite four-legged friend! What better way to spend a summer day with your dog?

They give them a variety of different names like, Atlanta Braves Bark in the Park on Sept. 6th; St. Louis Cardinals Pooches in the Ballpark; and San Francisco Giants Dog Days of Summer. Several other cities have home teams that simply host “Dog Day” or “Pup Night.”

Then there’s Petco Park, home of the Padres in San Diego where they host Adoption Sundays! At Sunday home games all summer they showcase local shelters and the pets they have available for adoption. What a great idea! Go Padres!

So if you’re a baseball fan, or just a fan of doing stuff with your dog, you should check your favorite team’s website for dog-friendly games near you.

Who looks out for soldiers’ pets when their work carries them away from home to look out for us?  We found this article in the Denver section of examiner.com about a wonderful volunteer organization called GASP that does just that:

The men and women of the U.S. military are often forced to rely on family or friends to care for their pets while they are away fulfilling their patriotic duty.  For someone without loved ones willing or able to help, or when even the best laid plans go awry, dropping off his beloved pet before leaving for war has often been the only alternative for some soldiers.

For more info: If you are a soldier in need of a foster home for your pet, or if you would like to donate or volunteer your time to help soldiers’ pets, you can obtain more information about Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet at guardianangelsforsoldierspet.org.
———-

If you’d like to find out how you can help with a donation or by volunteering as a foster family for a soldier’s pet, please visit GASP’s website.

We have been ashamedly absent from the blogosphere for quite some time now. Sorry about that, but you know sometimes you just need a break!

Anyway we’re back with a ‘Did You Know?’ feature on a little-known section of our own website..

Did you know that the best way to see what Pop Art Pet can do with your pet’s photos is to visit our Before And After Gallery?

This section of the site shows off a varied selection of our custom pet portraits from photo to finish. When you initially visit the page you’ll see the finished artwork, but by mousing over the image you can see the original pet photo we had to work with to create it.

After

Before

After

Before

The complete gallery includes examples of our Pet Pop Art, our Comic Style and our Traditional Style pet portraits to give a unique perspective on all your options for your custom pet portrait.

But now that we think about it, perhaps it should be called the “After & Before Gallery.”