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We are exited to announce the:

2012 OMD Calendar Model Search

Does your dog have what it takes? 

There’s only one way to find out!

All dogs that are lucky enough to have their dog-parents schedule them for a professional photo session by A Dog’s Life Photography at the fabulous Oh My Dog Boutique and Spa in Old Town Scottsdale on either September 18th or October 2nd will automatically have their photos submitted to the judges, which include representatives from some very high end pet product lines. Selected dogs will be photographed with the pet products that will be featured in the 2012 calendar published by Oh My Dog.

Who will be the next Susan Lanci dog?

Or the Bessie and Barney bed Representative?

Does your dog have the Face for Stella and Chewies?

For the low entry fee of $150 you will receive a professional 30 minute photo session, including 5 edited and web-optimized images (A $250 value!)

Want to really get the judges attention for a better shot at winning?? For an additional $50, Jackie and the OMD Styling Team will style your dog with Clothing, Accessories and Props to simulate a real model cover shoot. A complimentary high resolution, professionally enhanced and edited digital photo (valued at $100) is also included.

The 12 winning dogs will receive the following:

***PRIZES***

• Complimentary grooming and styling from the OMD team to get them looking picture perfect for their second photo shoot by A Dog’s Life Photography for their calendar page.
• The models will represent a retail pet product not only in the calendar but also on the Oh My Dog website, Facebook, in the boutique, and in the promotional video for the product.
• That model will also receive a digital copy of their calendar page and an 8×10 photo from A Dogs Life Photography.

Space is very limited. Call Oh My Dog Boutique at 480-874-1200 today to schedule you photo session!

Click Here to visit Oh My Dog Boutique and Spa’s website.

• Learn to recognize the early signs of fear in your pet.  Some animals run and hide, others may stick to their owners like glue, and still others may become aggressive.  If you notice your pet showing abnormal behaviors, especially during the loud noises of fireworks or thunder, pay attention.  The earlier you catch the fear, the easier it is to change their mindset.
• Try to avoid bringing your pet to a new or different environment at the time of the fireworks.  Allow them to stay where they feel the most comfortable and safe.   If you can confine them to a smaller space, like a bedroom or their kennel, even better.
• Create an environment that “ignores” the loud noises.  You can turn the stereo or TV up loud and close the windows/drapes.  If they can’t hear or see the fireworks, the chances are better that they won’t be bothered.
• Act like it’s no big deal.  Your pet will be looking to you when they don’t understand what the noises are.    The main point here is to remain calm and continue “business as usual”.  If you act differently, like pacing around the house worried they might get scared, that cues them to be afraid.  Try to avoid this.
• Give them ample distractions to pass the time.  Save a super yummy treat like a marrow bone or a filled Kong to give to them during the fireworks/thunderstorm.  If they are rewarded they are certainly not thinking about scary things!  Make sure it’s something that will take them a while to work on.  The longer they are focused on what makes them happy, the less time they have to be afraid.  It’s important to remember that timing is everything when it comes to the treat.  It’s best to give it to them right before the noises start.  If you wait until they are in full-on fear mode, they probably won’t be able to eat anything.  You can also use this time to freshen up on obedience and training.  During an especially loud thunderstorm, I’ll run Chloe through her commands so that she has a different distraction.  Of course she gets rewards for good behavior and we have the added benefit of extra bonding time!  Make the most of distracting your pet, you can also play fetch or use the time to practice your pet massage skills!
• Make sure that your pet has all its identification tags on his collar.  If micro-chipping is an option, I highly suggest this as an added backup measure in case he gets out of his collar somehow.  If he gets frantic, his actions become unpredictable.  Make sure you are covered for any situation that might arise.  Do NOT leave your pet unattended in a car, a backyard (whether fenced in or not), or tethered to a stake.

Keep your pets safe this 4^th of July by following a few easy steps and planning ahead.  For the health of your pet and for your own peace of mind, you’ll be glad you did.  Have a fabulous 4^th of July!

~Laura

Chloe at the Greyhound Gathering, Kanab Utah,  May 2010

References:

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_HolidayFireworks.html

http://dogs.about.com/od/dogbehaviorproblems/a/fireworks-phobias-in-dogs.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_2362778_ease-dogs-fear-fireworks-.html

Our rescue group photo program was developed to provide you with some super-awesome, high-impact photos to help promote the adoption of your dogs and your rescue group at absolutely no charge to you.  This program can even help to raise funds for your organization! With the photos that we take of your dogs, we create photo gift items and set them up on a page dedicated solely to your rescue group on our gift shop at www.dogrescuegifts.com.

Even more great news…. Laura Sand (amazing photographer and Photoshop whiz!) is taking over all of our private clients. This means that Susan Schmitz (the owner of A Dog’s Life Photography) is now devoting 100% of her efforts towards building out this program and helping rescue groups!

You’re not a dog rescue group? Guess what… We are now expanding our program to ALL ANIMAL RESCUE GROUPS! And we are in dire need of photos of different types of animals. Cats, bunnies, reptiles, hampsters… you are all welcome to join! We REALLY need photos of baby animals and we will open up our schedule for special photo shoots for your little ones.

To take advantage of this opportunity, you must be able and willing to bring the adoptable animals to our studio at 40th St. and Indian School. If you rescue large animals, contact us anyway and we will try to get out to you if you are local.

We will only be taking on one rescue group for each specific dog/other animal breed and there will only be 2-3 photo session days scheduled per month. So, ACT NOW to get in on the action! Click Here to get on the photo session calendar.

Here’s the scoop:

You will receive:

• At least 5 professionally edited photos of the dog that is being photographed in different poses. All photos will be on a plain white background to allow for easy integration into your website, blog, marketing materials, etc.
• Low resolution photos with a transparent watermark will be provided for you to share on your website, social networking sites and blogs.
• High resolution files with only a small copyright notice that is not obstructing the image of the dog will be provided for use on your printed marketing materials and adoption ads.
• 20% of net proceeds of sales of items on our gift shop and on our private stock photography library that depict photos of the dogs that were provided by your rescue group.

You are allowed to bring in one dog per month that is currently up for adoption.  You can use the photos to promote the adoption of the photographed dog or to promote your rescue group as long as the following rules are followed:

• You can share the low resolution watermarked photos with the world. Do whatever you want with them!
• You can use the high resolution photos to promote your business or non-profit by placing the photos on print publications and/or you may securely integrate them into your website layout in a manner that does not allow anyone to right click and copy the photos. You must keep our copyright notice in place on the photo in any type of usage.
• You cannot share the high resolution photos with anyone outside of your organization by email or by any other form of electronic transmission. (feel free to use the low resolution watermarked photos for this).
• You cannot place the images on any products or any print on demand items (Café Press, Zazzle or similar services) that are being sold for a profit. This type of usage requires the purchase of an enhanced license.
• You cannot use the photo to create a logo for your business without the purchase of an enhanced license.
• You cannot use the photo as a reference for artwork that your or someone else does without our permission. Permission may be granted as long as you have the artist change the image up quite a bit so it is not a clone of the photo and it is not being resold for a profit or in any fundraising raffles or silent auctions. This type of usage normally requires the purchase of an enhanced license (current enhanced license fee is $100.00). This fee will be waived on a case by case basis.

ADDED BONUS - If you are a volunteer for a rescue group, you are eligible for a 20% discount off of our private photo session fees.

On a side note… We are asked to do a lot of photo calendars each year. Due to the extensive amount of work that we put into these calendars, we have limited it to two per year. So, get your requests for 2011 in as soon as possible! Our calendar fee is $1000.00 or $500.00 plus 30% of net proceeds of all sales. (You can always plan on bringing in one dog a month for photos and use them to create your own calendar).

We look forward to working with you in the coming year!

Many thanks to Craig Outhier for the great write-up!

Rose of Rose Duncan Design just started helping us out with some new designs for our gift shop. We are excited to have her helping us out and are looking forward to many cool new designs. Visit her webiste at www.roseduncan.com to see a portfolio of her work.

Proceeds from Rose’s first design featuring Lexi the one-eyed Pug will benefit the Arizona Pug Adoption and Rescue Network (APARN).

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Pugs are prone to eye issues and APARN sees many of them entering into their rescue group. Please visit their website at www.arizonapugrescue.com today for more information on how you can foster or adopt one of the many pugs in need of fur-ever homes.

These food and beverage thermos bottles and holders are new products and will be added to the other sections of our gift shop soon. Try them out with this new design on them by visiting our gift shop today!

Large Thermos bottle keeps 34 ounces of your liquid hot or cold. And with its vacuum insulation, the temperature stays constant for even longer.

Small thermos bottle with a built in straw that kids and adults love. This 12-ounce Thermos bottle keeps beverages icy cold.

Perfect for lunch bags or picnics, this durable Thermos food container is small enough for easy transporting and it’s big on convenience.

Keep checking back on our gift shop to find some great gifts for yourself or a friend. The holiday season is coming up soon. Give a gift from A Dog’s Life Photography’s gift shop and help to save the life of a rescue dog!

We have hundreds of dog stock photos to be used in your personal or commercial web or print projects.

Check out our new blog at www.dogstockphotos.org.

Check out our new Facebook page by clicking below

5. Train them. Teach them the rules.  Become the leader of the pack.  Be consistent in your messages so they are clear on what’s expected of them.  When the same behavior leads to the same consequence (whether good or bad) the message will be received.  Just think of them as speaking a different language.  You still have to communicate in order to live peacefully.

4. Do at least one “dog thing” a day with them. Get silly.  It will make you smile.  Have fun with it.  You need to play too.  Throw the ball, get down on your hands and knees and play with them, go for a walk, whatever it takes for him to just be a dog.  In my house we do this funny thing.  Greyhounds make this great howling noise called a “roo”.  Maybe you’ve heard of it.  It basically sounds like you would think only they hold it out at the end, “roooooooooooo…”  Very cute!  So we all do a group roo each night lead by yours truly.  It’s funny to watch them.  Each dog has its own voice.  They get to let pure instinct take over for a moment.  It’s really helped bring my super shy old girl out of her shell.

3.  Feed them. Have one person at a time feed them for a little while (say two weeks or so), then switch it up.  That person should feed them around the same time and in the same location for every meal.  When your dog has to rely on that person for their food, he starts to pay attention to them more.  It’s like earning respect in the dog world.

2.  Snuggle with them. Feel their energy.  Let them feel yours.  Touch them.  Take a moment to stop what you are doing and just pay attention to them.  It will bring your stress level down.  I swear.  You can actually notice a difference.  In addition to that, as alpha it is important to acknowledge them.  Perhaps in the past they’ve had to resort to doing negative things to get your attention?

1. Show them that they make you happy. Get that high pitched, over-excited-cheerleading-tryouts voice.  Clap your hands.  Say their names… you get the idea.  Let them dance around in that glory for a few seconds.  Really stress the fact that they are the best dog you have ever known.   Then when you’re done, give them each a treat.  Making the alpha happy is what they live for.

I know that there are a million things in each day that we have to do and sometimes things like this get lost in the shuffle.  What has happened in the past is over.  Your dog lives in the moment.  It’s never too late to start.  He is very adaptable and with positive motivation and lots of love and support, your home can be a calm and peaceful place once again.  Just be patient… and consistent.

~Laura

Meet Lacy!  She is one of our Poodle Models and is owned by Lou Murphy, President of the AZ Poodle Rescue.  She was such a cutie to work with!  Very food motivated!  If you have a dog like that, you are really in luck!  You can teach them anything.  See how well she does “sit”?  She’s also ready for “shake”.  She’s adorable.

The following information is based on my own personal experience with my dog that has CAH. You must consult your own veterinarian for the specific needs of your dog. There are many different forms of Hepatitis in dogs that require a different form of treatment. Do not follow the advice below without the approval from your vet!

According to my vet and much research I have done over the internet, one of the keys to managing copper toxicity Chronic Active Hepatitis is to drastically reduce the amount of copper in your dog’s diet. To maintain control over this, I have been feeding my dog a diet of half homemade low-copper foods and half Innova brand dry dog food. She was initially on strictly a homemade diet when she was first diagnosed. This diet consists of chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, rice, green beans, hard boiled eggs and flax oil. If you are making your own food for your dog, you may want to click here to see a list of the copper content in common foods. Once her liver levels were under control, I decided to add in some kibble to give her teeth something to crunch on and to give my kitchen stove a bit of a break! I chose Innova because I had heard that it was one of the best foods with the lowest copper content. My dogs love it and Misty’s liver levels have remained under control for as long as I have been using it.

Even though Misty’s current diet has done wonders to keep her CAH in check, I have decided to completely change it. Why fix something that isn’t broken? Two reasons…. 1.) Cooking homemade food for your dog is a pain in the ass. 2.) I found some premium dry dog foods with a much lower copper content than Innova.

I have been on a quest to find a convenient yet comparable substitute for the homemade diet for several years now with no luck. I have looked at dehydrated foods, raw foods, canned foods and freeze-dried foods and all of them seemed to have either a copper additive (good for most dogs, not dogs with CAH) or they had organ meat in them (organ meat is high in copper).  While exhibiting at the 2010 Phoenix Pet Expo, I stopped by the Pawsitive Foods booth to see if they had any suggestions for me.  They gave me a brochure on N-R-G dehydrated dog food. I was excited to see that the Optimum Diet line did not contain a copper additive nor did it have any organ meat. Woooo Hooo! Perhaps this is the homemade substitute that I have been looking for??

A few days after the show, I got a call from Pawsitive Foods. Not only did they remember to follow up with me, but they also took the time to search through all of their available foods and prepare a breakdown of the copper content in each of them for me. Click here to read a recent blog post describing their remarkable customer service. Here is the breakdown that they gave me of premium dog foods and their nutrient contents, sorted by copper content lowest to highest:

After reviewing this data, I decided to give the Great Life Grain Free Chicken dry dog food a try because it has half the copper content as Innova. I also decided to switch out the homemade food for the NRG dehydrated food. I didn’t want to make this switch all at once because it would upset my little girls stomach too much. Also, I wanted to introduce one new food at a time so I could tell which one was the culprit if she started showing any CAH symptoms. I decided to start by switching out the dry food. I weaned her off the Innova after about 4 days and she is now on 1/2 Great Life dry food and 1/2 of homemade food. I think it is going pretty well so far except that she is very gassy! Peeee Ewwww! She isn’t gobbling the dry food up like she did with the Innova. She picks out the homemade food first and then leaves the dry food for a while before she goes back to it. This is very odd for her because usually her whole bowl is empty in 30 seconds flat then she proceeds to hover over the Chihuahua’s bowl to snatch up any leftovers when she is done.

I’m going to give it a few more days to see if she develops a taste for the food and whether her intestines calm down on it before I try the switch over to NRG. I’ll keep an update going on this blog post so those of you that are looking for the perfect diet for your dog with Chronic Active Hepatitis can follow the results and make your own decisions with the guidance of your vet.

Here’s a photo of my Misty Blue looking happy and healthy.  She’s missing most of her hair because she also has Color Dilution Alopecia (also common in Blue Dobermans) but it doesn’t seem to bother her much.

Update 7/10/10  – Misty is totally on 1/2 great Life dry food and 1/2 NRG Optimum chicken dehydrated food and she is doing just fine. She still doesn’t seem to like the taste as much as her previous diet but I’m hoping it grows on her. Life is so much easier now that I don’t need to spend a half a day every other week slaving over a hot stove for her (although she is worth it!).

5. The stretch that the yoga pose is named after… downward facing dog. The stretch to end all stretches.  Watching them enjoy every moment and get the most out of it just makes me smile.  This stretch takes precedent over everything.  If I call them to come and get a treat they will prolong the reward if a stretch is in order.  Love it.
4. Dreaming in their sleep. Now I don’t know if greyhounds as a breed are more prone to this but I certainly have never seen dogs dream the way mine do.  Little whines, twitching feet… who can resist?  I just hope that those dreams contain a million running bunnies to chase!
3. When they squeak that squeaky toy. Squeak, squeak, squeak… so cute!  They are learning that their own actions are causing a reaction.  They take joy in making the noise.  It reminds me to take pleasure in the simple things.  There’s definitely something to be said for being easily amused!
2.  When two or more of them play together. Super cute!  When “siblings” break out into a spontaneous play session there is always laughter to follow!  The play bow, the tough act with teeth showing… it’s a game of chicken.  Who will be the first to pounce?  In my house it’s usually the puppy that will not be able to contain herself and then it’s like tag.  There they go, running like maniacs all around my living room.
1.  The pure joy they get when you walk in the door. My old girl, Sashi,  just lights up when she sees me.  Her ears perk up and she does this little prance.  Her excitement is barely contained.   They are so happy; I swear my dogs are smiling.  It is easily the highlight of my day.

As I sit here and think about these, I can’t help but smile.  I hope that you are able to share these fantastic moments with your fur kids.  Its times like these that help ease the pain of everyday living.  I don’t know how non-dog owners do it.  My stress level decreases tenfold once I am back in the company of my animals.  It’s a symbiotic relationship.  The true definition of unconditional love.

~Laura

Bodhi and Sashi lounging in Susan's backyard.

I only had a few minutes before the doors opened at the Pet Expo so I quickly asked Julie if she could take a look when she wasn’t busy to see if she had any food that didn’t have any copper added to it. (Dogs with copper toxicity Chronic Active Hepatitis cannot metabolize copper and it builds up to toxic levels in their liver. This is the reason why she has been on a homemade diet for so long.) Later in the day. Laura stopped by their booth and they gave her a huge bag full of samples of some dehydrated all-natural foods that she thought might work for Misty. We thought that was super nice of them and I was excited to give them a try!

A few days later, I received a message from Julie with a long list of high quality foods that they carry. They listed out the nutrients and sorted by copper content. She and her husband had taken the time to go through every bag of food, figure it all out and type it all up for me. WOW! Not only did they remember to follow up with me, they completely went out of their way to make sure that I had all the info I could ever need.

The outstanding customer service did not stop there! There were numerous email conversations back and forth about which one would be the best food for my dog. Julie from Pawsitive foods was incredibly helpful and eager to make sure that I was 100% satisfied with my choice.  We finally decided on the right food for Misty’s needs, a combination of Great Life chicken grain-free kibble and NRG Optimum Chicken with Vegetables and Oats.  Then. get this… SHE DELIVERED IT TO MY HOUSE!! I was blown away. When I asked why they deliver (because it must take up a ton of their time), she said that they want to make sure that their customers are getting their money’s worth. They just charge enough to cover their gas to get the food to them. You also have a choice to come pick it up from them or have them ship it to you.

Seriously… these people are awesome. You must give them a try. Check out their website at www.pawsitivefoods.com  or give them a call at 602-689-9895. You won’t be disappointed. If you have dogs with special food needs, they will stop at nothing to get you what you need. They are super knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating.  And they support local rescue groups, too!

I will be posting the list of dog foods and their copper contents along with Misty’s progress on the new foods in a separate post. If you found this website because you were searching for answers about CAH, you will probably want to check that out. In the meantime, click here for more info on Chronic Active Hepatitis and how Misty has managed to live with it for so long.