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Welcome to the scruffy dog blog . . .

... this is where the photos of scruffy dog photography meet the heart and soul behind all of those fun and whacky photo shoots and the long hours of digital editing that go into your dog's images ... a behind-the scenes peek at the madness of a pet-exclusive pet photographer, and her two trusty sidekicks. for more details on us, check out the "about" section at the bottom of the blog.

what you will find here is the past couple of years of blog entries -- selected client shoots, sneak peeks, news and announcements, promos and specials, as well as info on canine health and general dog chat. * previous years of blog entries have been archived.

so, grab a cup of jo, give Rover an organic, free-range beef tendon to gnaw on, and enjoy the photos and ramblin's.

thor & indy ~ {Toronto pet photographer}

1 February 2012 – 8:02 am

here at scruffy dog we’re still working on the post production of a number of our fall sessions due to the extremely heavy shooting schedule last season.  and even while some clients’ galleries are up, and orders are already being processed, we’re woefully behind in blogging the amazing sessions we’ve had … with dozens of sessions, unfortunately, never making it to the blog.

wherever i can, i’m trying to make room to do up a blog entry here and there, but right now it’s only a dream that i’ll get even a fraction of last fall’s sessions onto the blog.

some of you who follow the scruffy dog facebook page will already have seen a few of these images of Thor and his little sister Indy … and they would have made an appearance in the facebook recaps posted intermittently here on the blog … but since they’re among my favorites from the session, you’re getting a couple of repeats.

Thor is a repeat client from several years ago.  it was so amazing to see this big guy again as he was one of my most memorable sessions early on in scruffy dog history …

and wee little Indy … well, need i say more?  “hey, lady, down here!”

how adorable is this little sweetie?

and those wee, undersized legs work just fine when it comes to keeping up with her big brother …

and how utterly handsome is this big guy?

and this boy can move!

although it’s been my experience that long-haired doxies can be a little on the shy side, i think this little girl actually believes she’s a great dane as well …

we had a lot of fun at one of our favorite locations, and then made our way to the red caboose …

thanks for a lovely session with your two, Jennifer, and sharing them with me.

these two are certainly a couple of my most favorite scruffies …

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our client consults ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

25 January 2012 – 3:39 pm

one of the included features of any scruffy dog session and package is the client consult … some one-on-one time here at the studio to go over your images, see them full size on a properly calibrated monitor, and review the various fine-art products and high-end Signature scruffy dog albums.  clients also have the benefit of our experience and guidance as to which products are best suited to their home decor and which images would work best for the big, framed canvases which have become synonymous with SDP.

of course, it’s also your opportunity to meet the scruffy dog sales team … er … the resident scruffies …

… and while here, clients enjoy a specialty coffee from our new SunCafe single pod brewer.  trust me, when we decided to purchase a coffee machine for our studio guests, we did our homework, and are proud to say that SunCafe is 100% Canadian, like everything else about scruffy dog products … and these Kienna pods are earth-friendly and biodegradable vs. all those plastic and foil “cups” that other single-serve machines throw into the environment (recycled or otherwise).

of course, we have cold drinks as well … we’re stocked.

yup, here at SDP we aim to please …

NOTE: we do not allow the sales team to serve hot beverages.

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another facebook recap ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

21 January 2012 – 12:31 pm

once again, the following images come to you care of the scruffy dog facebook page … if you’re not currently following SDP on facebook, you might want to reconsider!  … loads of fun, daily photos, client sneak peeks, before-and-after captures showing some of the work going on around here at SDP headquarters … yeah, and scruffies … lots of scruffies.

first up, some feet … a few people thought these were vizsla feet, which makes me realize that although we’ve shot hundreds upon hundreds of dogs, we haven’t had a vizsla client in the past couple of years!  but these particular feet belong to big, Rhodesian Ridgeback James …

James is a repeat client, so some of you might remember him from his shoot last year …

then there was my girl matea.  people are always asking me what kind of dog she is; if you want to learn more about this gorgeous girl of mine you can find her fuller story here.  she had to visit the vet this past week with the intention of having a tumor removed from her hind leg/foot.  however, as suspected, it was infected, so we have to give her time for the infection to go down before we have it removed at the beginning of February.

merrick gave his own opinion in regards to the computer issues we went through here at SDP headquarters … a complete overhaul and upgrades of all the studio software.  what an ordeal …

and little Indy and her big brother Thor.

here’s a shot of my boy from earlier this summer when fellow photographer, Brian Douglas, and were checking out some possible locations …

and while on the subject of resident scruffy merrick, here’s a little video clip of this boy overcoming his fears of the new LG laundry machines.  these new appliances (along with some other new appliances in the house), with all of their new beeps and trills and songs, had taken the goober to a level of anxiety that caused him to shut down.  in spite of turning off all of the alarms and indicators on every appliance, the damage had been done … if we so much as opened the laundry room door, this boy would fly upstairs and not come down again.

so, the other day, when he seemed to be in a more daring mood, actually stepping into the laundry room briefly before trying to take off again, i decided to do a little work with him.  it was a major step in the right direction. (and let me qualify, i do not endorse putting pets in your dryer! this was a much-needed exercise to help a formerly abused dog conquer his fears.)

what an amazing boy this goober is.  we’ve all learned so much from him and his rehabilitation.

also on the facebook page, we shared a before-and-after, which a lot of SDP facebook followers seem to love.  here is monster boy, Thor…

this was Thor’s second shoot with SDP.  he was one of our clients very early on in SDP’s history.  we find him with a few more white whiskers, but with the same awesome spirit, joy for life, and … well … same flappy jowls and drool.

i just love these two together … big Thor and his wee little sister Indy …


and finally, another shot of the goober … this one taken with the Nikon V1 … a new addition to the SDP lineup of cameras.  although not intended for client sessions, it’s a fun little camera to carry in one’s purse.

hope you all have a great weekend!

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rosie, ebony and champ ~ {Waterloo, Ontario pet photographer}

20 January 2012 – 11:26 am

as i settle in to start work on a couple of large canvases and a 12×12 Best in Show album for three fabulous scruffy models, i thought it high time to share a blog entry about these guys.

for those of you who follow the scruffy dog facebook page, you’ll have already met Rosie, Ebony and Champ.

first up: little Rosie …  as someone whose own life has been touched with a senior jack russell, i might be just a little biased … but i love this girl.  even before arriving, i was told that this 12-year-old madam doesn’t always do well with new people coming into her house and can get a little nippy.  all i can think is that Janice has been inviting the wrong guests over for coffee.  ;)   handling the situation the way it should be handled, working with the dog’s energy, working at her timing, and generally letting her choose the pace, this amazing little girl was posing within minutes and pawing at me for attention.

then there’s four-year-old Champ …

this stunning tripod hails from death row in a shelter in Kentucky.

and then there is the lovely 10-year-old Ebony …

both Ebby and Rosie were adopted from the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane society.  and like my former old man Morley — adopted at 9 yrs of age and almost making it to 17 — little Rosie was adopted at 6 years and is going strong. gotta love those JRTs.

but at 10 years of age Ebby is no slouch either!

i had a lot of fun with these three on the beach in spite of the heavily overcast conditions …

and what can i say about Janice’s boots?  as soon as she grabbed them at the house, i already knew they were going to feature in a few shots.  i think i might need to find me a pair of those!

but even before we got the beach, we had some fun in the field.  and one of the main reasons that November is one of my favorite months to shoot in is the long grasses.  and of course, any shoot is extra special when the model brings her own mascara and eye-liner.   good girl, Rosie.

and that eye-liner didn’t even smudge or fade during our session … even with all the running!

and just because he’s a tripod, don’t underestimate Champ’s athleticism!

… or his abilities to search out a vole in the long grass.

like a lot of scruffy dog clients, Janice had fallen in love with the tunnel-of-trees location.  she had visions of this location featuring in a large canvas, and the first image in this blog entry is just one of the big canvases Janice has ordered at a 24×51  dimension.  i can’t wait to see it.

even though i have photographed Ebony in the past, and Champ was new to the family and still learning a lot of commands, and Rosie was an admitted nipper, it was Ebby who posed the biggest challenge in this session.  this girl always looks sad.  coupled with slight camera-shyness, it’s almost impossible to get Ebby’s ears up.  but we did!

thank you, Janice, for sharing your three awesome scruffies with me … more than that, thank you for adopting!

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