Slice of Nice

Get this card in our store for Valentine's Day! Click on shop.

  It’s a great sign isn’t it?  I found it at Michael’s one year and Duncan was kind enough to model it for me.  I wanted to do this picture because I’ve always seen all those videos where they are holding up signs instead of speaking.  I thought it was great that Duncan could finally “speak” with words.  I Love You is definitely what Duncan wanted to say, well, that and “do you have any cookies”, but I couldn’t find that sign.

So, this picture became one of Slice of Nice’s Valentine’s cards for this year!  The inside reads: Be Mine.  You can pick it up in the Slice of Nice store here.   We can send it out for you or send it to you so you can give it to your Valentine!  And remember if you use this as part of your Valentine’s experience you will be supporting the National Canine Cancer Foundation also!

Alot of people that I talk to about what I do are always amazed that I find dogs easier to take pictures of than people.  We always have a great working relationship, but we do have our fair share of out takes.  So, between now and Valentine’s Day, I’m going to share several of the potential shots for our V-Day line up and some of the out takes for your fun and enjoyment!  We’ll start with the prep shot for this card.  This one was taken right when I brought the sign home, as you can see, Duncan wasn’t quite in the modeling mood at the time…

Prep Shot for the VDay card

You can also see the patch of hair that is missing on his leg, this was for an IV.  In January 2007 he had his spleen removed because he was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma.  We were hoping to get it all out by doing the removal, but Hemangiosarcoma Cancer is very aggressive and it had already spread.  Duncan’s last formal photo shoot was this Valentine’s one.  He fought the disease as long as he could and we lost him March 2007.  This is one of the reasons that we feel very strongly about supporting the National Canine Cancer Foundation.  A Cancer diagnosis is a very devastating one because most owners don’t know that dogs fall victim to it.  Duncan was our third Canine Cancer diagnosis and while we knew who to turn to and what to do, we still lost in the end.  If you have any questions about a Cancer diagnosis, please feel free to contact me.  While I am only a photographer, I can point you in the right direction of questions to ask your vet, how to find out some good information and things like that.  

Visit the Slice of Nice store and get your Valentine’s Day cards!!

Poor Riggs, he loves his balls.  As he patiently waits for the girls to finish their make overs so we can play ball, the hair just keeps piling up.  So much so that he rolls his slobber soaked balls into the hair and can’t get it off!  And so it goes, the Hazard of Hanging Around the Grooming Table too long!

To finish my grooming discussion we are going to look at the most noticeable piece of grooming on Emma.  I just don’t understand all these people who own Goldens who LOVE to have their dog’s ear hair LONG.  In the conformation ring, you are supposed to be able to see how the ears are set on the head and just how big (or not) they are.  When you have excess ear hair, you can’t see a thing and only have nightmares of mats behind the ears!  Ok, well, maybe that’s just me.  

Pam is a perfect example of someone who LOVES Golden ear hair.   Her heart dog was Grinnin’ Gilbert.  Pam is one of the hard working Golden rescue people in this city and she fell in love with this rescue boy.  She felt his trademark was his hairy ears!  It’s even immortalized on a hand painted blue jean jacket!  Anyway, one day several of my conformation friends and I got together and did a grooming fund raiser.  We met several Goldens that day of all shapes and sizes.  And Pam brought Gilbert for us to do.  Arlene and I agreed that he had way too much ear hair and we really needed to do something about that.  It was when she picked up Gilbert that I found out that she LOVED the ear hair.  I felt really bad about, even as I was admiring what a good job I had done.  Thankfully Pam is one of those people who says, oh well, it will grow back, instead of never talking to me again.

So, I guess what I am saying is that it is personal preference, but my preference is nicely trimmed ears!

Emma has a TON of hair on her ears.  In the picture above, the one on the right is finished and the left still needs to be worked on.  Here is just how MUCH hair I took off Em:

This is off just ONE of her ears!  I told you there was alot!  She took me so much time to get the ears and feet done that I didn’t get to Wiggly Wrigley today.

Tomorrow, the hazards of hanging around the grooming table too long!

Saturday was the day, the long awaited day.  I don’t know who was looking forward to it more, me or them?Ok, well, it was me.  The Slice of Nice models love to be brushed and fawned over but they are never quite sure if they are going to get a manicure or not and I think that is what spoils the whole makeover process for them. 

Before we get started, here are the before pictures:

Since the models and I are almost always working, I try to give them spa days on a consistent basis.  However, I have gotten behind after spending a month in Texas helping my Mom and Grandmother out.  The models probably could have made a pretty entertaining reality show while I was away and they were trying to talk Gary into doing things for them.  I heard they tried to tell him that they were served food three times a day instead of only two.  Though that was unsuccessful I have noticed that they follow him into the kitchen every time he goes and that I have considerably less room on my side of the bed at night!

To get started I brought out the tools needed for a model makeover:

  Once a creative, always a creative, with the camera that is.  I just couldn’t resist spelling out LOVE with the tools of the Golden grooming trade.  I believe that when you do consistent grooming it is an expression of love for your furry family member.  For Goldens, the basic tools are thinning shears, regular scissors, two different stripping knives, a comb, a brush and of course COOKIES!  Occasionally you need a mat breaker too.  And if you are giving a manicure, clippers or a dremel.  Don’t even get me started on that new Pedi Paws products, that’s an entirely different rant post on that product.

Anyway, Casey was first up on the grooming table.

You can see all the hair on her ears, she has what we call “slipper feet” (long hair on her feet) and then because she is spayed, she has all this fly away hair on her body.  Casey is pretty fast to do since her coat really isn’t that long in comparison to Emma’s.  The hardest part is the spay coat fly aways.  You could spend a ton of time stripping out her coat to make them all go away.  Or you could cheat and use your thinning shears.  But, I guess I’m not that patient of a person because I just take some of them off and try to keep the rest brushed.  The only problem with leaving the spay coat is that it mats easily and Casey speeds up that process when she rolls in the dead grass!

Casey’s photos today will illustrate the before and after of foot grooming.  This is where I started on her because for me it is the fastest place to finish.  The part that you don’t see is that I have to cut all of the hair off the underside of her foot.  Why?  Because for her, it’s like when your sock gets folded over in the wrong place in your shoe and you can’t do anything about it.  Also, sticker burrs and rocks can get caught in the hair.

The foot on the left of course is not trimmed.  If she were a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel this would be a correct look.  However, being a Golden Retriever the one on the right is correct.  But now I have one more problem that I need to attend to, NAILS!  Her nails are way too long.  If they are left to grow it will cause her to have major foot problems.  I don’t like doing nails on the same day as grooming because then the kids won’t like getting up on the table.  Plus, it’s a bit stressful when you have dogs that aren’t necessarily that fond of it.  It will have to be something that I do over the next couple weeks with the dremel in short sessions.

Casey finished her make over in fine form and inhaled several blueberry cookies and received many a kiss during the treatment.  The therapist (me) did some off key singing to her iTunes playlist while enjoying a Coke.  I think I got carried away while I was grooming.  I had too much fun Twittering the whole thing from my phone.  Yes, I was doing progress reports and photos from the phone of my progress.  While at the same time taking pictures with my Canon.  If you would like to see my Twitpics from the day - look on the right hand side of the page and you’ll find them.

Next post:  Ears with Emma!

It’s the first weekend of the New Year and that always signals the start of the dog show season.  The first show for a lot of West Coasters is in Palm Springs at the Polo Fields.  We made it to this show last year and we decided to rent a motor home for this show.  Well, apparently we didn’t plan enough in advance, because although we had this beautiful view at sunrise, it was also quite a hike from where the actual show was taking place.  And yes, I forgot key things at the RV, more than once.

 Wrigley and Emma were the ones we showed at this show last year.  Gary and I have developed a good system of getting the dogs ready.  He gets them ready and I show them in the ring.  Some how, I think I got the better end of the deal.  

Riggs looks like he sees a pretty good lookin’ girl!  His pre-show routine is very ‘diva’-esque.  He has to be the first one on the table.  All eyes must be focused on him and I especially cannot be fawning over another dog within his site.  We have varied from this routine in the past and I have suffered once we stepped into the ring.  

This was only the second show that Emma had attended.  She was in the front of the line and as you can see, she was also scoping out the crowd.  Emma is very much the look at me dog.  However, I don’t think it’s the conformation type of beauty show look at me.  I think she likes to RUN FAST and RUN HARD, while people look on and applaud.  This is why she will get agility titles first!  But, look at her coat!  There is just so much of it and it looks so pretty!

If you have not had the chance to make it out to a conformation show, it’s a very neat experience.  You can find your favorite breed of dog and see several of them there.  If you are looking to find a new addition to your household, I recommend visiting a show first to see all of the breeds.  And after the breeds that you like have finished showing, you can talk to the breeders about what type of dogs they really are.  Here you will get a true answer of what the dogs are like, as most conformation people are serious about their breed and improving their breed.  But enough of my soap box for now, if you have questions about finding the right dog, please email me for some tips and pointers!

Alas, we have had to miss this year’s Palm Springs show because we are tending to my Mom who has been in the hospital.  Gary is taking care of the dogs while I am here in Texas helping out.  I miss the dogs, there’s nothing like a good kiss and cuddle from the dogs to relieve stress.  And yes, Gary, I miss you too.  :)

Merry Christmas!

This is Bella and Duncan.  Bella is the one that is giving you the big Christmas smile!  Stephanie brought over her crew of 5 wild dogs for a photo shoot and this is the best one of the lot.  I’ve really enjoyed Bella’s smile!  So, in the words of Bella and Duncan - Have a Weinerful Christmas!