It takes maintenance to stay a white, fluffy powderpuff! Soleil, the Bichon Frise that I painted this week, goes to her hairdresser twice a month to keep her quaff beautiful. Unfortunately, when you a re white, fluffy powderpuff, it is also very easy to get dirty!
Soleil’s mom, Bev says that Soleil is known around the neighborhood as the cutest, most cheerful, affectionate, and sweetest dog. She is excited to see everyone from neighbors to the yard maintenance crew to delivery people. And, Soleil’s friends aren’t just limited to people, she has many doggy friends. Most recently she has become good friends with a cat named Scout. Soleil loves giving kisses and she is good at it: in April she won third place “best kisser” in the Ahwatukee Dog Show out of about 150 dogs there that day. Bev reports that Soleil is kind of the “goodwill ambassador” of their Tempe neighborhood.
Soleil loves going on daily walks with her Grandma Jill (Bev’s sister). These walks give her a chance to see all her friends. One of her favorite games to play is catch where she throws the ball back to Bev (I would love to see that) and she also likes a good game of up and down the stairs with the ball.
Soleil has her “Baby”, a stuffed dog toy that she has had since she was little. She loves Baby and carries her around before bedtime. Bev warns, “Don’t ever try to take her Baby away or she’ll never forget!”. This is true; one time when Soleil’s Uncle Joe was doggy sitting he, he decided to play a trick on her and hide Baby. Well, Soleil has neither forgotten or forgiven this incident and whenever Joe comes over, Soleil runs to get Baby not trusting that Joe won’t play his trick again.
When painting Soleil, I wanted to capture her powderpuff essence. The challenge here was painting the edges of her silhouette, where Soleil meets the background of the portrait. I am really happy with the result. I love the way the portrait turned out; I think her powderpuffiness was definitely captured, and I am especially loving how her eyes turned out! Bev sent me several really great photos to work from, and the photos even had some pretty flowers in the background and everything! However, I decided to “zoom in” with the portrait and have Soleil’s face take up almost the whole frame as opposed to having lots of background in there too.
As evidenced by the take-home bag above with Mocha’s {very silly} photo on it, Mocha had her teeth cleaned today. She had never had her teeth “professionally” cleaned before; and although it is not an inexpensive trip to the vet, it is a very important one. The American Veterinary Dental Society reports that 80 percent of dogs show signs of oral disease by age three. Yikes! Dental problems are quickly becoming dogs #1 health issue. Plaque builds up which can lead to gingivitis. Furthermore, tartar buildup can lead to periodontal disease, which in turn may lead to infections of the heart, kidneys and liver.
Regular brushing at-home is key to good doggie dental health, as well as the occasional assessment of whether a more thorough cleaning at the vet is needed. Your vet should be more than happy to give you a little demonstration on the how-tos of dog teeth brushing, if you aren’t sure what that looks like. Or here is a {slightly goofy} good video on how it’s done:
Hard kibble is also known to better for dogs’ teeth over soft food because it has been shown to help scrub the teeth as the dog eats. There are also numerous dog teeth cleaning chew toys and treats out there, my advice on those is to use caution … remember my post about healthy dog food? Check the labels and see what is in that dental chew.
My opinion on the best plan of action: healthy hard kibble and regular home-brushing with the occasional cleaning at the vet. No other fancy treats, chews, etc. should be needed.
John has a 1972 MG Midget — this super-cool and adorable little convertible — we affectionately call her Midgey, or at least I do. During the Spring, Summer, and Fall John likes to drive it as his daily driver and in the Winter Midgey stays safely tucked away in storage.
Sometimes we take a drive in Midgey just for the heck of it, John, Mocha, and I. It is only a two-seater, so Mocha has to sit behind us near the roll bars. It is a little akward, but we all get comfy and it works. Then we cruise around.
Well, yesterday evening we (all 3 of us) went to get Midgey out of storage. I had to follow John home in our other vehicle, so I let Mocha take my place in the passengers seat. She borrows the passenger seat from time-to-time when it is just John and her tootling around. Well, I have to say — they looked so darn cute. I have seen them in the car together before, but I don’t usually have the opportunity to snap photos.
This time, I did get to snap some photos… Mocha had just the most fun little adventure. She like to lean to the side so the windshield doesn’t get in the way of her sniffin’. And, the exhaust makes her sneeze. When we got home, Mocha just went right to sleep (it was only 8pm); I think her little adventure wore her out!
Look at those smiles! This is my little family.
Mocha is a little unsure about the sounds the engine makes, so she is just making sure John is coming back.
Mocha’s looking a little concerned as she realizes I am not going with them in Midgey.
Her hesitation about leaving me behind is soon forgotten as the wind blows through hear hair.
Just a guy and one of his girls driving along. The furry brunette is riding shotgun and the blonde is following in another vehicle. If you saw this scene humdingin’ down the road, wouldn’t it just make you smile?
Oh, and here is a looksy at our “menu” of treats we’ll have available on Saturday:
If you live in Durango, I do hope you’ll stop by! And, if you don’t live in Durango, but would like to help out by making a cash donation, please contact me.
After my posts about the good and bad about dog foods, another resource fell into my lap. I can honestly say that this is not a route I would go for all Mocha’s meals, but I find the information very helpful and the point of view highly refreshing – preparing your pets’ food like you do your own. Just like we should not be eating processed, packaged foods, our pets shouldn’t either. Dr. Donald R. Strombeck has written a whole book about it, Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: The Healthful Alternative. He also offers information on his website.
According to Doody’s Publishing Club, Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: The Healthful Alternative “presents important concepts in the nutrition of healthy pets and special considerations for pets with various medical conditions and an extensive listing of recipes for home preparation. This is a useful guide for pet owners and a valuable reference for small animal veterinarians serving clients who wish to feed a home-prepared diet to their pets.” In addition to information, the book also contains recipes.
So if you are looking for an even more healthful alternative to dog food beyond bag of dry food, organic or not, check it out.
Rachel Ray also has a whole selection of pup-friendly, homemade food on her site. You’ll be surprised as her recipes sound more like people food than dog food. I would eat most of this stuff! View Rachel Ray’s Pet Friendly Recipes here.
Also fun to check out, PHYDOUGH, bake or take-home treats for your pup sold out of a delivery truck in Burbank, CA. I love this idea! I just wish I could get some for Mochie to try!
Have any good leads on healthy dog food? Share them with me so I can share them with everyone else!
A full and proper post about Wolf, the pup behind the portrait, is still forthcoming, but in the meantime I wanted to share the side-by-side of the portrait and the photo I worked from. In talking with Brian, who commissioned this portrait of his dog for his Mom, we had decided the best way to “crop” the photo for painting was to not show the windowsill towards the top of the photo, but to add the rest of Wolf’s paw that got cut off in the bottom of the photo.
Wolf’s portrait is an 8×10″ and I am thrilled with how it turned out. The pillow and chair made for a gorgeous background in my opinion. And, as always, the super-cute Wolf sleeping on the chair (which I am told this is how he often snoozes) was captured as such a fabulous photograph, it made my job painting that much better. I always say, I owe the result of my portraits in part to the photograph-taker; a great photo to work from really makes the portrait!
I hope to post some more information about Wolf soon, so we can all get to know this Husky guy little better! So, stay tuned….
And, unrelated but oh-so worthy of sharing, I highly recommend checking out the first two chapters Jillian of The Noisy Plume has published on her blog. I love all things Plume, and in fact I painted Farley as a token of my appreciation for Jillian and her awesomeness. If you have not heard me gush about Jillian before, then check her blog, The Noisy Plume, out for yourself, or watch this video, “Quintessential Me” (don’t you just love the word quintessential? I do – I could write a whole blog post on that word!) And if you watch “Quintessential Me” watch for Jillian’s shout-out to her pups; I am totally with her on the pack. Did you know Mocha and I are a two-lady wolf pack? True story.
So, anyways, back on topic, Jillian’s blossoming story, seen in these first two chapters is right up my alley.
Phew! I apologize for being MIA for a few days. I was in Phoenix, and on this trip I decided to severely limit my computer use, so I worked on my computer for only a couple of hours a day and on only most pressing matters. That resulted in my only getting one video (the “Pit Bull Blues” video) and one blog post up while I was there (about hypoallergenic dog breeds).
Mocha and I drove home from Phoenix today and now find ourselves comfortably nestled back home in Durango. I was excited to finish The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society on audio book on the drive home. I had started to read it over a year ago and couldn’t get into it. Then, a friend of mine read it and gave it glowing reviews, urging me to pick it up again. I did, and then decided to finish it audibly on the drive home. Wow! I ended up loving this book! I had to do a little research this evening on Geurnsey; I had no idea this little channel island existed before reading this book. The book has a very intriguing plot with WWII, a little mystery, some love stories, a book club, and some lovable characters. I am definitely suggesting this title to my book club.
Once I got home from Phoenix and got all unpacked, I worked on finishing up a portrait of a Husky named Wolf while Mocha napped. I had started the portrait of Wolf before I left, and had to finish up the background. I still have a couple of last minute finishing touches, but the portrait is 99.9% finished, as you will see below. And, I hope to have a blog post up about Wolf sooner than later.
Now, I am going to try and relax the rest of the evening. With John gone (in China), I have a tendency to do nothing up sleep, eat, work, and run. How about a little reading time on the couch? That is what I am talking about.
Some dog breeds and mixes are considered hypoallergenic because they are more compatible with allergic persons than others. Allergens from dogs are usually proteins in the saliva and dander. Not surprisingly, breeds shed a considerable amount are usually not hypoallergenic. According to some speculation, the size of the dog may play a role as well, along the lines of, the larger the dog, the more allergens he/she might give off.
According to Wikipedia, here is some information about dog breeds and their hypoallergenic qualities:
