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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 * previous years of blog entries have been archived.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.

another session with big boy James ~ {Toronto pet photographer}

16 January 2012 – 11:14 am

some of you may remember James from his first scruffy dog session last year.  like a lot of scruffy dog clients, James’s mom Justyna couldn’t get enough, and wanted even more photos of her big, handsome boy …

their first session took place here on scruffy dog territory … so this time i headed into Toronto to shoot James on his own turf … a.k.a. Squirrel Central.

with squirrels running amok in his park, it became a matter of positioning myself accordingly to the squirrels.

and here’s just a little slideshow of James’ sessions …

thanks for being such a model, James.  i hope you enjoy your gallery Justyna.

By illona | Posted in clients & sneak peeks | Tagged , , , , , | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

another facebook recap ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

11 January 2012 – 8:46 am

as usual, i bring you the latest sneak peeks from our current clients on the scruffy dog facebook page … and it was a bit of a Yorkie week, with two shoots of two yorkies!  so, why not start with some Yorkies?

Harley and Nahla were back for a second shoot.  you can see their summer shoot here.  these two niblets reside in California, so watching them deal with the snow was fun … and doesn’t Nahla look like a little winter princess?

this was a Starter session added on to Harley and Nahla’s summer Standard.  because of the cold, these little guys lasted about 25 minutes, but we got a ton of gorgeous photos from these two.  they really knew how to strike a pose.  maybe they’ve lived in Hollywood too long?

and with the coming of the new year, it was time for resident mcscruffy matea to “hand over the reins” for the 52 Weeks for Dogs project on flickr.  merrick is this year’s model.

i shared another photo of the spectacular Indy, whose photoshoot from the fall is still in the post-work stages … a girl can’t get any privacy!

and then gorgeous old man Dante, whose shoot also is in the post stage …

and this shot i thought was funny … imagining Dante yelling at someone out of frame.

then the resident merrick mcscruffy … this shot was taken with a new point-and-shoot … my purse camera.  along with some new appliances that beep a lot, merrick turned his back to the new Nikon down in the studio as he’d just had it with all the beeping!

this mcscruffy is far more comfortable with the big cameras …

and we asked facebook followers what was their pet’s favorite new toy received over the holidays …

then there was baby Harlow, another client whose shoot is still in the post stages. how cute is she?

and then … more Yorkies!  these two are Darla and Enzo … catching a few rays …

and you don’t need a doorbell if you share your life with a Yorkie!

and a little fun in the autumn leaves …

Enzo did well with a little fence-post posing at the end of our shoot while the moon came up …

i hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s facebook recap.  if you’d like to see more of these kinds of client sneak-peeks and SDP photos even sooner, join the scruffy dog facebook page and follow the fun as it happens!  see you there!

By illona | Posted in facebook images recap | Tagged , , , , | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

our weekly facebook recap! ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

7 January 2012 – 12:30 pm

oh yes, we’re a little behind on providing you with your facebook recaps.  things have been supremely busy here at scruffy dog headquarters … we’re working hard on re-branding and a new logo for SDP, developing albums for a lot of fall clients, and still working to catchup with the post work on so many of our fabulous fall sessions.  sometimes i wish there were thirteen months in the year, and i could have an extra one just to catchup!

and it seems lately that i don’t even have time for regular blog entries, but i swear, we’ll get back to those soon!  you just might be enjoying the fall colours in February, that’s all.

in the meantime, here is a sampling of the images you may have missed on the scruffy dog facebook page.  as always, if you’re wanting the latest and greatest that SDP has to offer, including daily photos, news, and chat, you’ll want to follow the SDP facebook page by “liking” it.

first up, here’s a little belated holiday cheer … merrick goobernuts mcscruffy showing off not only his elf hat, but also his newest trick!  now, i assure you, i’m not into teaching my dogs “tricks”, but rather more useful tasks like picking up around the house and getting their dinner blankets out each evening. but merrick loves the challenge of any kind of learning so …

next up, we have young Rico …

and, since a lot of the SDP followers are aspiring photographers, i often share a little post-work sampling.  this is adorable Gus’s before-and-after …

and then Gus himself … the boy of many expressions …

and sweet baby Maggie, the Portugese Water Dog and born model …

then we had young Henry … retriever in training …

and Bisou and Scout … two sweethearts who came from Toronto to take advantage of our locations here …

our girl matea had to have some dental work … two root canals.  since one was an upper canine, we opted for root canal instead of extraction of the dead tooth since a root canal is less invasive and requires no real healing time.  however, at ten years of age, the anesthetic took her down hard.  next up, she needs a button tumor removed, but with this tough girl, we’re hoping it can be done with only local.

and finally, our own mcscruffy in the tunnel of trees, wishing everyone a happy holidays!

stay tuned for more facebook updates … or get them directly from the scruffy dog facebook page!  hope you all have a fabulous, scruffy weekend.

By illona | Posted in facebook images recap | Tagged , , , , | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

darn fleas ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

5 January 2012 – 12:57 pm

well, i’ve heard it was a bad fall for fleas. but then, i hear that just about every fall, and every fall finds us flea-free.

as some of you know, here at scruffy dog headquarters, we’re raw-fed, low-vaccines, and no chemicals unless absolutely required … and that includes topical treatments that may not be needed.  as always, i’d rather treat as needed vs. using a bunch of chemicals as a preventative for something that may never be an issue.  this decision is based on my own experience with my dogs over the years, as well as having researched a lot about the treatments, side effects, and actual cases of reactions.

so, with fleas, i’ve used Advantage maybe once every two or three years.  about six weeks ago, we found a flea on the goober.  for the next hour i was like a monkey picking through his hair, only to find ten more!  and running a flea comb through matea i was shocked to find a couple more of the little buggers, but also a lot of flea poop.

over the weeks, i take time out to search for them on the scruffies, believing i could stave off any impending infestation “manually” … and while the numbers of fleas were no more than two or three a week on merrick and one or two on matea, and even though we ourselves have not been bitten in spite of the goober nestled between us all night every night … last night i’d had it.

so, out came the Advantage, and all three of them were treated (even though Aslan did not appear to be carrying a single flea).   trouble is, matea’s coat is far too thin and after applying the dastardly chemicals, she sat for a couple of minutes waiting for her treat, while we did the other two … and by the time i got back to her, the chemicals — applied to the back of her neck and top of her shoulders — had run all down her back!  and two minutes later, she’s wanting to lick it.

so all last night she wore her Back on Track “blanket”, but it’s not to be worn more than 8 hours … so, today she is sporting a lovely T-shirt …

so pretty …

tomorrow morning i’ll take it off and bathe her back so that there are no more chemicals that she can reach.

of course, no resident-scruffies blog entry would be complete without the goober … so here he is …

hoping you’re having a fabulous first week of the year!

By illona | Posted in about us | Tagged | 6 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

thank you to all of our 2011 clients! ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

3 January 2012 – 5:04 pm

2011 has been a great year here at scruffy dog photography. Even if it didn’t start out with a bang — the winter months offering very few great “snow” days, and the spring months being rained out — we still managed to fit in a record-breaking number of shoots, with some truly amazing dogs (and cats!).

And while our trip out east in the spring was pretty much a wash, and we had to cancel all of our pre-arranged sessions out there, we did manage to capture some memorable and unique shots of the resident scruffies on the beaches to bring home with us.

But the year would be nothing without our amazing clients.  2011 brought us such a huge variety of models, from seniors to puppies, and clients from as far away as California and New York City, as well as commercial clients on a global level.

Business-wise, we have made some big moves as well this year … trademarking the “scruffy dog” name in several countries, and even as I write this we are on the verge of rebranding, so stay tuned for that!

With enormous thanks to our clients and friends, followers and supporters, we were once again nominated and won the “Best Pet Photographer” category in The Toronto Pet Daily‘s Readers’ Choice Awards for the second year running.  This, along with wins in the categories of “Favorite Photographer” and “Favorite Photography Studio” in the Kitchener-Waterloo’s Readers’ Choice Awards, makes 2011 a pretty stellar year all around. And of course, there’s no way this could happen without the incredible support, word-of-mouth, and generosity of all of you.

But when I look back on the year of 2011, it will be marked more by the tongue-lolling, tail-wagging joy in so many of the scruffy faces I met and had the absolute pleasure of photographing.

We would be nowhere without our clients … and to show our appreciation, I have compiled a video of our 2011 clients. With the number of 2011 scruffy clients far exceeding 100, it took everything I had to choose just one photo from each shoot (for those of you with multiple shoots last year, you will find your dog appearing twice in the video). I hope you enjoy this 2011 retrospective!

Enjoy! And thank you for being a part of the scruffy dog family!

By illona | Posted in about us | Tagged , , , , | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment