Pop Art Pet Unleashed

Archive for the ‘Did you know?’ Category

We are obviously animal friendly around here but did you know we try to be earth friendly too? We have started a new single stream recycling program for our home and office but our biggest challenge is being environmentally conscious when shipping our portraits. Obviously they are fragile and need to be handled and packaged with care, and we need to use very specifically sized boxes so we have to purchase them new.  And most other packing materials are not recycle-able and not even bio-degradable. So for these items we do the next best thing, a little real world recycling… We obtain our packing materials through craigslist and freecycle.com.

Fortunately more and more people are becoming aware of craigslist and freecycle and are using them to keep things out of landfills. Especially after moving, lots of people will post that they have boxes and other packing materials for free to anybody who wants them. We have acquired bags & bags of bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and paper to fill our boxes and securely ship our one of a kind portraits to our clients. So if you order a custom pet portrait of  your own you may find the package filled with some paper and some plastic pillows, or some other combination of nice cushy materials keeping your masterpiece protected.

Whenever possible we will REuse a box too, so if we happen to get a conveniently sized shipment from amazon, your portrait may arrive with a familiar smiley face on the box! And it definitely will arrive with a sticker reminding you to please Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle what we’ve sent to you.

Just doing our little part for the planet and hoping you will too! So remember next time you need to pack or ship something check your local craigslist or sign up with freecycle.com!

Everybody knows Ben Stein’s a pretty smart guy, but did you know he actually knows the secret to happiness? Of course the answer was obvious… it’s dogs!

He’s a genius!

Did you know that February is Responsible Pet Owner Month? Ehow.com provides the following steps to follow so you can participate:

Step 1: Make an appointment with your veterinarian or low-cost clinic to have your dog or cat spayed or neutered, if you haven’t already. Spaying and neutering not only helps control animal population, but it can also protect dogs and cats from various diseases, including cancer.

Step 2: Encourage friends and family members to get their dogs and cats spayed and neutered. Check your local phone book or the Internet for low-cost spay/neuter clinics in your area. Make a list of the low-cost clinics and give them to any friends or family members that are struggling financially.

Step 3: Train your dog; this is extremely important. The Number One reason for dogs ending up in shelters is behavior problems. By training and socializing your dog you can greatly reduce the chances of your dog ever getting lost or ending up in a shelter.

Step 4: Feed your pet a well-balanced and nutritious diet. There are many quality dog and cat food choices on the market today. With a little research you can find a lot of information on food, and the food that would be best for your pet.

Step 5: Clean up after your dog. Whenever you take your dog for a walk or to play at the park or beach, make sure you bring some bags to pick up after your dog. Needless to say, it’s very irresponsible and unhealthy to not clean up dog waste (aside from being against the law).

Step 6: Groom your dog on a regular basis (although some dogs don’t require as much grooming as others). A Pit Bull, for instance, has a short coat that does not require any clipping. A Bichon Frise requires grooming on a weekly basis. Keep your pet’s coat clean with regular trimmings if he requires it, nails trimmed, ears clean and teeth free from plaque and tartar.

Step 7: Give your pet plenty of exercise and feed a proper diet to protect against various diseases. By feeding a nutritious diet you can boost the immune system, which will help keep your pet healthy and vibrant.

Step 8: Let your dog live in the house with you. You need to provide shelter for your dog; dogs are extremely social animals and need contact with their human “pack.” Isolating your dog from the household is detrimental to your dog’s mental well-being. It is unfair to get a dog and then banish her to a backyard kennel.

Step 9: Make sure your pet has up-to-date identification tags on his collar. Check them every once in a while, as pets (dogs especially) do have a tendency to lose their tags. It’s also important to make sure the information on the tag is up-to-date.
………….

Sadly spaying and neutering rates in America are way down. Even with all we now about the benefits, and about the volume of homeless pets filling shelters and being euthanized every year, fewer pet owners are choosing to have their pet sterilized. We encourage you to please make the responsible choice, and please encourage your friends with pets to do the same.

PS: Pictured above is a friend and very responsible pet owner, with her gorgeous, greyhound rescue, Khai! Photo taken by Cow Dreamz Photography of Phoenix.

Since our name is Pop Art Pet, obviously our specialty is custom portraits of your pet in that quintessential Pop Art, Warhol-esque style. In fact our classic four-panel design is by far the fan favorite. But did you know we also do beautiful work on our Traditional Style portraits?

Not only is this style of custom pet art beautiful, it’s a little more affordable than our Pop Art or Comic style pet portraits.  Our Traditional Style art is also more forgiving when it comes to the quality of photo required. This is helpful when we are doing memorial portraits of beloved pets who have passed on and there aren’t many pictures for us to choose from, or when a client is purchasing one of our portraits as a gift and doesn’t want to spoil the surprise by requesting bigger better photos from the pet lover.

So even though our Pop Art pet portraits are cute and kitschy, consider instead a tasteful Traditional Style portrait for a timeless masterpiece of your pet! And remember, you can order right now and receive our extra services – laminate and gallery borders – for free! Visit our Specials Page for details and order today.

Did you know that the ASPCA, and other animal rescue and welfare groups nation wide are working independently to let the public know that October is Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month?

The struggling economy has meant more animals than ever are in need of homes. Shelters in the US are sadly overfilled with dogs, that have been found running loose, discovered abandonned in homes that have been forclosed on, or surrendered by their previous owners. So if your family has the time and resources to expand and include a new loyal, loving member, this month is the time to visit a shelter near you. The ASPCA can help you find one: http://www.aspca.org/adoption/shelters/

And with the vast amount of information about adoption and animal care on the internet, you will be able to make an informed decision about the right dog for you. For example, dogtime.com provides a questionnaire that will profile your personality and recommend the best breeds for your lifestyle. Click here to check it out and take the test!

Many shelters also now use similar methods to help you find a loveable Mutt with the winning combination of personality traits for your family! And during the month of October many animal rescue groups will also be running specials and discounts on adoption fees as incentive to find as many forever homes as possible for the millions of dogs in need.

Please help!

Did you know that in one of the many example Art Galleries on our website  you can Zoom In, way in, and see how much detail the full-sized completed portrait really has? Coincidentally we call this gallery, “Zoom In“.

Just by looking at the examples of our artwork on the website you can tell our Pop Art style designs are very vivid and bold; our Traditional style works are soft yet dramatic; and our Comic Art is really, well.. comical. But just based on the online images, which are only a few inches wide it’s difficult to see how detailed the canvases really are.

But in the Zoom In gallery you can go from this..

to this..

in about three clicks!

And it happens almost instantly, no slow downloading required. The zoom function allows you to click on any area of the image to enlarge, and the arrows at the bottom help you navigate around. It’s very cool functionality and just another way for you to see what we can do with photos of your pet!

Click here to check it out!

We fount these statistics for 2008 on the website for the Humane Society of the US and found them very interesting.
Did you know?…

Dogs
* There are approximately 74.8 million owned dogs in the United States 
* Thirty-nine percent of U.S. households own at least one dog
* Most owners (63 percent) own one dog
* Twenty-five percent of owners own two dogs
* Twelve percent of owners own three or more dogs
* On average, owners have almost two dogs (1.7)
* The proportion of male to female dogs is even
* Ten percent of owned dogs were adopted from an animal shelter
* On average, dog owners spent $219 on veterinary visits (vaccine, well visits) annually
* Seventy-five percent of owned dogs are spayed or neutered

Cats
* There are approximately 88.3 million owned cats in the United States  
* Nearly 34 percent of U.S. households (or 38.4 million) own at least one cat
* Fifty-six percent of owners own more than one cat
* On average, owners have two cats (2.3)
* More female cats are owned than male cats (73 percent vs. 63 percent respectively)
* Eighteen percent of owned cats were adopted from an animal shelter
* Cat owners spent an average of $175 on routine veterinary visits
* Eighty-seven percent of owned cats are spayed or neutered

These statistics were compiled from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) 2007-2008 National Pet Owners Survey.

We would really like to see that percentage of dogs and cats adopted from an animal shelter go way up.. So please when it comes to pets, ADOPT, don’t shop!

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.

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.

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.”

Did you know we have a whole site dedicated to doing people portraits?

We recently helped create an awesome anniversary gift for a lovely little family by transforming a simple photo into something special.

We did a simple background and a soft technique to design this traditional style portrait. But we can also do Pop Art of you or your family for that whimsical Warhol-esque look.

Just check out Pop Art Go and consider art that is uniquely you!