April 25, 2008
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.”
March 26, 2008
At a Zen Buddhist temple in southern Japan, even the dog prays. Mimicking his master, priest Joei Yoshikuni, a 1 1/2-year-old black-and-white Chihuahua named Conan joins in the daily prayers at Naha’s Shuri Kannondo temple, sitting up on his hind legs and putting his front paws together before the altar.
It took him only a few days to learn the motions, and now he is the talk of the town.
“Word has spread, and we are getting a lot more tourists,” Yoshikuni said Monday.
Yoshikuni said Conan generally goes through his prayer routine at the temple in the capital of Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture (state) without prompting before his morning and evening meals.
“I think he saw me doing it all the time and got the idea to do it, too,” Yoshikuni said.
The priest is now trying to teach him how to meditate.
Well, sort of.
“Basically, I am just trying to get him to sit still while I meditate,” he explained. “It’s not like we can make him cross his legs.”
Source: Yahoo News
March 14, 2008
Dog Bark Park is home to Toby and Sweet Willy, the World’s Two Biggest Beagles. Toby, a 12-foot tall beagle statue, was built by Dog Bark Park artists Dennis Sullivan and Frances Conklin.
Sweet Willy, officially known as Dog Bark Park Inn, is one of America’s latest additions to the type of roadside architecture popular in the early days of automobile vacation travel when travelers would often buy gas, eat meals or stay overnight in a building that looked like something else. Remember coffee pot or teacup gas stations, milk bottle shaped restaurants or the shoe and duck houses? (neither do we) For today’s travelers Dog Bark Park Inn offers a glimpse into those bygone days with all the comforts of our modern days.
Treat yourself to a weekend getaway of discovery, relaxation & enrichment. Stay one or more nights at our famous big dog and take a one-day personal enrichment class such as candle making, soap making, or dutch oven cooking. And of course you can visit the Chainsaw Art gift shop and pick up a carving of your favorite breed - very cute!
Dog Bark Park is located in north central Idaho on US Hwy 95 at Cottonwood, Idaho. Visit their website for reservations today!
February 24, 2008
Notice anything?? We’ve been doing some remodeling - a lot of remodeling actually! PopArtPet.com, your source for custom, Pop Art style pet portraits has a whole new look!
We’re brighter and bolder than before, and featuring far more examples of our whimsical works of art.
And we’re featuring them in a manner that really displays the attention to detail in our portraits.
Our menus and navigation have also changed somewhat, but we think you’ll still find it user-friendly, allowing you to find the information you may need about our portraits and our process. We hope you enjoy browsing around, taking in the vivid colors and the eye-catching images, and we welcome you to let us know what you think!
February 12, 2008
Every chance we get, we try and remind our pet loving clients and friends to take lots of pictures of their pets. Currently we are working with an adorable threesome of Scotties whose parents shared with us that they have a tradition of taking photos of puppy’s first bath. What a great idea!
How cute are they?!
Even if you never feel the need to have a custom pet portrait created from your pets’ photos you will never be sorry to have lots of pictures of them; and starting a tradition is a great way to remember to take more!
Here’s another suggestion, every year on their birthday take their picture with the same toy; or take a picture of your furry kid in the exact same spot outside on a beautiful day in spring, summer, fall, and winter.
You can be creative, or keep it simple. You can make it something specific and meaningful to your family, or just to you and your best friend. Just take our advice, and take your pet’s picture please - often!
January 30, 2008
Super Sunday is coming up.. That’s right it’s time for Puppy Bowl IV on Animal Planet!!
Be sure and check your local listings so you catch all three hours of this year’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, Feb. 3rd!
What?! You’ve never heard of the Puppy Bowl? Well on Super Bowl Sunday for the past few years, Animal Planet has assembled the cutest teams of puppies you’ve ever seen, put them on a miniature football field, and let the games begin! That’s it, there’s no annoying commentary just hours of puppies, puppies, and more puppies, interrupted by the occasional flag on the play when somebody makes some “unsportspup like” conduct on the field and a ref has to clean up the mess. Last year there was a half-time show featuring a crew of crazy cats, and you can even go online during the game and vote for the MVP, Most Valuable Puppy.
It’s the best three hours of TV you’ll see all year, so don’t miss it!
January 20, 2008
For his book, The Intelligence of Dogs, psychologist Stanley Coren examined 141 breeds and discussed their performance traits with U.S. and Canadian dog obedience judges. He used “understanding of new commands” and “obey first command” as criteria in judging the responsiveness of dogs to commands.
When given a command five or fewer times, the following breeds performed the requested behavior 95% of the time or better: 
- Border Collie
- Poodle
- German Shepherd
- Golden Retriever
- Doberman Pinscher
Although the breeds below have many fine qualities to recommend them, trainability and a desire to please is low on the list. These dogs may take 80 to 100 trials to learn a new command and then obey the command 25% of the time or less:
- Borzoi
- Chow Chow
- Bulldog
- Basenji
- Afghan Hound
Source: USA Weekend
January 3, 2008
We were recently featured along with a handful of other pet portrait artists on Spoilspot.com. Spoil Spot is a site for all self-declared dog nuts! They are committed to scouring the earth to present “cool, new, and undiscovered stuff guaranteed to make your pooch happier and healthier.”
“Pop Art Pet
Forget about silly soup cans and get your pup into some pop art with these vibrant and fun Warhol-esque designs. Simply send in a picture of your pampered pup and the gallery will transform the photo into a contemporary pop art mutt masterpiece. The unique, quirky, colorful customized portraits come in the traditional 4-panel designs as well as many others. Available at Pop Art Pet.”
Coincidentally, according to Retro To Go, one of our favorite sources for all things Pop Art, B&Q, which is Britain’s oldest & biggest retailer of DIY and home improvement tools & supplies, has declared 2008 the year to go retro!
So apparently now, would be a very trendy time for you to make your pet into a Pop Art masterpiece!
December 30, 2007
We do love finding other artists out there creating custom pet pieces (mostly to add to our Kylie collection). Our most recent discovery, Cornflakegirl!
She makes adorable, miniature plush animals and dolls all by hand, and accepts custom orders too. So of course we sent her some photos of Kylie and look what we got..
It’s a rather good likeness, don’t you think?!
We love it!
We found Cornflake girl at one of our favorite places to shop online, Etsy. A showcase of all things handmade, etsy.com is fabulous! If you prefer original to mass-produced, check it out…
You can click the links below to see previous entries about other custom artwork we’ve had created featuring Kylie.
Other Plush Kylie’s
Kylie Sculpture
Glass Beads
Portrait in Oil
Kylie in Stained Glass
Other Kylie Art
December 17, 2007
It’s just days before Christmas, and you’re so busy with last-minute shopping, visiting friends and attending parties that you’re hardly at home. To ease guilt about not spending more time with your dog, stuff low-fat peanut butter or other treats inside toys such as a Kong, Orbee-Tuff Ball or Busy Buddy to keep her occupied.
Other tips:
- Some pets thrive on extra attention from holidayvisitors, but not all pets are social butterflies. Respect their right to be bashful.
- When you receive gifts, remove any ribbon and tinsel before displaying them. They’re enticing to your cat, in particular, and you don’t want him in surgery on Christmas Day.
- Many people add substances such as sugar, fertilizers or commercial preservatives to the water at the base of a Christmas tree that can harm pets if they lap it up. Arrange a skirt around the tree stand to prevent drinking.
- Don’t leave chocolate out for Santa. It’s dangerous for your pets (and Santa doesn’t need the extra calories).
- Include all family members in the big day. Pets, too, appreciate gifts!
Source: USA Weekend
