contemporary, lifestyle, on-location animal photography

our weekly facebook recap! ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

January 7, 2012

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.

Facebook Comments

2 comments

michelle bradshawBeautiful work illona!!!! The b&w of Maggie is gorgeous!!!!ReplyCancel
KarenI prefer teaching practical task related skills too. I like the sound of the getting their own blankets. I’d love to know how you got that one working. I did enjoy watching your 2011 slideshow, Illona.ReplyCancel

darn fleas ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

January 5, 2012

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!

Facebook Comments

6 comments

MelissaAnother raw-feeding, no/low-vaccines “Mom” :). In addition to cleaning and bathing, I use food-grade Diatomaceous earth (mixed with water and sprayed) as a preventative. I’m in a “flea hot zone” and have been very lucky as we’ve never had a problem. I know that it was probably a difficult decision to use chemicals (we’ve seen an influx of fleas that seem to resist the chemicals). Good luck with the flea-war!!ReplyCancel
CrystalI’ve found that the two most effective flea preventatives are to vacuum frequently (daily or every other day regularly, 2-3 times per day if there is an active flea outbreak) and bathing the dogs once a week if they have fleas on them, using a few drops of neem oil mixed into their very mild shampoo, then using a small amount of vinegar to do the final rinse. It appears to be at least as effective for my household as the chemicals, which tended to not work effectively all of the time.ReplyCancel
Tucker's MomWe are the same way with flea treatments – and we’re also raw-fed and minimal vaccines (only after titer testing except for rabies which we can’t get out of because its state law) – and so far, knock wood, we haven’t had to treat in over six months. Sorry you did, but sometimes it is necessary.

Happy New Year!ReplyCancel
Michal od wirtualnycGive him garlic, it’s anty-flea.

greetings from Poland.
MichalReplyCancel
JulieFlea infested here this winter in Washington state too. It’s the first year I’ve had to treat the dogs in winter. Pink is definitely is Matea’s color.ReplyCancel
JustynaSo poised and pretty in pink 🙂ReplyCancel

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

January 3, 2012

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!

Facebook Comments

2 comments

illonathank you so much, Christi, for the high praise. but seriously, you’ve got lots of pet photographers out your way. Seattle’s got a few, no? i don’t want to start naming names because i don’t want to appear as though i have favoritism … but there are lots out there. although, i’d love to be able to come out there to shoot. what gorgeous landscapes!!

sigh … i need to get this show on the road some day.ReplyCancel
SweetpeaOk, so how long a drive ya think it would be if I jumped in my jeep here in WA state & drove clear cross to you with my fur gal???????
DANG. You so seriously ROCK!
Howhowhow am I gonna get there, cuz my gal really needs YOU to take her picture?!

Thanks for the stupendous slide show…!
Christi & Isla, way out on an island in western WashingtonReplyCancel