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Welcome to the scruffy dog blog . . .

... home of Ontario's premier pet photographer. 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 several 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 * previous years of blog entries have been archived.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.

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

camilla and sarah ~ {Waterloo, Ontario pet photographer}

20 December 2011 – 11:37 am

strap yourselves in and make sure you’ve got the safety belts on tight because you’re about to take a ride in ultimate cuteness, the likes of which you will not have experienced before!

now, some of you who follow the scruffy dog facebook page will already have seen a couple of sneak peeks of these two darlings, but now you’re going to get to see a whole lot more!

we had so much fun at their shoot … well, perhaps not Vince so much, as he was designated as the chair-sherpa …

so this is Sarah …

and this is Camilla … a.k.a. Cammy.

and anyone who thinks that these two look alike couldn’t be more wrong.

Camilla is a foxy little girl …

… and Sarah is rounder

… with your typical corgi poof-rump … “does my butt look big on this boardwalk?”

you’ll see a lot of these looking-up shots since these two girls were pretty determined to stick near me.

still, we were able to get them out exploring …

Sarah is actually afraid of cameras …

… she’s skittish of a lot of things, even the sound of Velcro, and that fear was immediately noticeable as i took the gear out of the car.  in fact, she tried to hide in the scruffy dog mobile.  but with a few tricks and working with her energy, i was able to bring her around pretty quickly and she ended up being a bit of a poser.

these girls definitely love balls …

and that Camilla has a lot of giddy-up …

and check out that ski-slope tongue!

but Sarah’s no slouch either …

thanks for a fun afternoon, Jennifer and Vince, and for sharing not just your two little darlings but also your grandfather’s gorgeous property.  i’m looking forward to working on your big canvas and album!

By illona | Posted in clients & sneak peeks | Tagged , , , | 5 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

little lolli grows up ~ {Toronto, Ontario pet photographer}

19 December 2011 – 2:03 pm

with a heavy fall shooting schedule and now the post work on those dozens of sessions, we’re woefully behind in blogging.  in fact, the guardians of the next few scruffy faces you’re going to be seeing on the SDP blog have already received their full galleries and are in the midst of ordering …  yeah, that far behind!

i’m sure a lot of you will remember little Lolli from her puppy shoot last winter …

well, she’s grown up … just a little.

and although this little girl still goes like stink …

… she’s more able to multi-task … running, carrying a stick, and — what is not so readily visible — working on her complex math equations, all at the same time!

we started with some shooting indoors …

then, off to the great outdoors!

when Lolli’s parents mentioned the location they were considering, i was psyched … i knew Lolli’s colour would look fab with the red bricks!

and like any well-respecting retriever, Lolli has grown to love balls.

and b-i-g sticks …

i’m hoping Maria doesn’t mind me sharing a photo of her on the blog.  i don’t often post “owner” photos, and actually don’t often take this kind of “posed” shot, but i liked this …

and i loved Maria’s red boots.

as always, variety is big with a scruffy dog session, and this blue wall was a nice splash …

thanks for a fun afternoon, Maria and Andy.  i can’t wait to get working on Lolli’s Best in Show album!

By illona | Posted in clients & sneak peeks | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment