Archive for the ‘Did you know?’ Category

Did you know the average pet owner spends forty minutes each day with their pet?  That is according to The Book of Times: From Seconds to Centuries, a Compendium of Measures, by Leslie Alderman. The book takes a closer look at how we Americans spend our days.

And interestingly while the amount of money we spend on our pets each year as a country nearly doubled between 2001 and 2012 – the amount of time we spend with them has remained relatively constant.

But this post we found on Mother Nature Network has 3 simple suggestions on how to spend more quality time with your fur kids (without calling in sick):

“..Pets thrive from the attention of their owners.  And study after study has found that time spent with pets equates to better health for people, too.  So why not invest a few extra minutes each day to showing your favorite furry or feathered creature some love?  Here are three ways to fit more time with your pet into your already busy schedule.

Capture little moments.  You don’t need hours of free time to show your pet some love.  Talk to your pet while your doing chores around the house.  It doesn’t matter what you talk about, just be sure to look in his eyes and let him know he has your attention.  Use your evening TV time to brush or dog or let your kitten snuggle on your lap while you read to the kids.

Practice makes perfect.  Too busy to toss a ball in the backyard?  You can still give your doggie some attention by taking advantage of your time while making dinner, folding the laundry or doing paperwork to help your pet practice his obedience skills – assuming he has some skills to practice in the first place.  He can practice sit-stays, lay-down-stays, and even fetching a rolling ball if these are skills you’ve worked on before.  Keep the sessions easy and light – just enough to give him a skills refresher and let him soak up some attention.

tagalongLet her tagalong. If your dog or cat enjoys a change of scenery, consider taking him along in the car or on a walk the next time you have to run a few quick errands.  Just be sure that your errands won’t leave your pet behind in the car for an extended period in the heat or cold.”
The article ends by posing a question, “How much time do you spend with your pet each day?”

We were wondering the same thing.. is 40 minutes an accurate average estimate?

Let us know…

Did you know the expression that dogs are “man’s best friend” dates back to 1869? It was coined by a lawyer giving closing arguments after his client’s dog, Old Drum, was shot by a neighbor.  Old Drum was known around the area of Warrensburg, Missouri as “an exceptional hound, with a fine nose and a thundering voice” and the lawyer, George Vest, who was representing Old Drum’s master had this to say to the jury:

Gentlemen of the jury, the best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter whom he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us—those whom we trust with our happiness and good name—may become traitors in their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolute, unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world—the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous—is his dog.

Gentlemen of the jury, a man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow, and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.
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Mr. Vest won the case! And the statue pictured above still stands outside that courthouse in Old Drum’s honor.

We found this story on Field & Stream’s website, where you can read it in its entirety. Then be sure to give your best friend a big hug!

Did you know that we can apply our unique breed of art to things other than your pets? It’s true! We have an eclectic collection of other “stuff” which we have Popped, for lack of a better term.

Here’s a few things a favorite customer submitted recently for our artistic technique to be applied.

We think this qualifies as what they call, Found Art, photos of everyday objects, beads or even rocks, from a different perspective. Then to make it more interesting, we come in..  and  voila! Art!

Wanna see some of the other simple subjects we’ve already turned into  objets d’art? Check out the Pop Art Stuff section in our Custom Art Galleries for everything from cars, to calliopes, to ordinary vacation photos turned awesome!

It could give you some great ideas for a gift for a collector or for updating your own decor with something a little more personal than what you mind find at the mall.

Interested? These are all considered custom works for us so you can’t just order on the site, but please get in touch.. we’d love to see your project ideas!

Since it’s obvious that most people like to wait until the very last minute to do their Christmas shopping (Btw, if you procrastinators are still wondering about a custom pet portrait check our Holiday Ordering page – if we can help you we will!), we thought it might be helpful to know when specifically the last minute is to do your shipping!

Did you know its varies a lot between the major shippers? The dates below were posted by Gizmodo:

USPS

Ye Olde US Postal service has a handy list of deadlines to ensure your extremely considerate and

reasonably priced gifts reach their recipients by Christmas Day:

First Class Mail: Dec 20
Priority Mail: Dec 21
Express Mail: Dec 22
Parcel Post: Dec 15

So if you’re extremely tardy (or forgot about a poor neglected aunt), you’ll have up until the 23rd to save face.

FedEx

FedEx Express packages can be handed off up until the 23rd, giving you some super radical proscratination, should you need it.

FedEx Ground or Home deliveries, however, will need to be turned in by the 17th (or 13th, if you’re shipping to or from Hawaii or Alaska)

From FedEx’s own “Last Day to Ship” chart, however, it does appear that there’s a hail mary, same-day shipping option for the 25th. But that better be the greatest gift of all time, or the antidote to some flesh-eating bacteria, to justify what we imagine is a pretty steep shipping fee there.

UPS

If you want your box of cheer to arrive by the Big Day via UPS, you’ll have up until the 23rd to use next day air.

Merry Shipping!

There’s no question that microchip technology for pets was an amazing advancement in helping to recover lost animals and get them home. But there are some drawbacks. For example, it will only be of help if your missing dog or cat ends up in a shelter or a vet’s office where they will have access to a scanner. And even then there are multiple manufacturers of chips and scanners so not all scanners work on all chips. Plus there have been some medical reports of tumors forming at the injection site for the chip.

Did you know that now there’s a new concept in lost pet tracking that avoids these issues and guarantees they can help you find your lost pet in six hours? Smart Tags is a network that works for you when your dog or cat goes missing notifying area shelters and vets and shelters, and providing a central contact point for anyone who locates your pet.

You just set up an online profile with your pet’s description, medical requirements, photos, and of course all your contact information. Then as soon as you report your pet missing they spring into action and provide an instant search party!

All your pet needs to do is wear their rather attractive tag – in your choice of style. Or better yet, order the one with Best Friends Animal Society logo on it and they receive a donation of 25% of the proceeds.

Check it out, there’s a great informational video on their site. And keep in mind 90% of lost pets that are returned home are wearing a tag!

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.