Blog Ring

The house is currently dogless. Such a weird empty space with no snores, sighs, grunts, crunches of bones or wagging tails. Odd to not drop a bowl of food, do potty breaks, share snacks or having a walking companion, since there has always been a dog in my life since 2006. 

Since we are waiting until the summer break to pick a dog, there is ample times to think about which breed to pick.

Here are options we’re considering:

• Rottweiler
  – Owned & love the breed! (Ought to hear me squeal with delight in meeting or seeing a rottie…)
  – Strong willed, aloof with strangers, they can be total doofuses and very loving if treated well
  – Not a dog for everyone, rotties need leaders and ample socialization – lack of can lend towards a pushy, naughty adult
  – They work well in family dynamics, though being big they can knock over children
  – Find as a rescue or from a breeder who focuses on temperament vs bulk and head size

• Pitbull
  – Owned and love the breed!
  – Pitbull isn’t actually a breed! The actual breeds are: American Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier & Staffordshire Terriers
  – Happy, loving, laid back, smart, people lovers
  – They have a tendency towards dog aggression and reactivity to other dogs, can be curbed with ample socialization & training
  – Great for hiking and lounging buddies, may not be great in social situations with other dogs (depends on the dog)
  – Opt for a rescue as pitties & pittie mixes tend to make up a large amount of puppies and dogs found in shelters

• German Shepherd
  – would be a new to me breed
  – they are smart, active, strong, protective, a great companion for all activities
  – tend to be shedders and blow out their coats twice a year (dog hair doesn’t bother me)
  – need ample training and socialization to be a well adjusted dog – love to have a job
  – can be a bit nippy & bitey (can be corrected with training) – this comes from them being HERDING dogs!
  – Adopt (often many shepherd mix dogs available in shelters, sometimes purebreds) or find a reputable breeder

• Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
  – new to me breed
  – smart, watchful, happy, friendly, talkative, chill to moderately active
  – can be stubborn and require a strong leader
  – In the same family as the Bernese Mountain Dog
  – BIG dog, can weigh easily over 100 lbs but they hardly drool!
  – Strong & love to pull, they were bred for general farm work from watchdog to cart pulling
  – Have a double coat and shed, though less than huskies, labs and shepherds are prone to
  – Long duration for house training, could take up to 6 months
  – Very rare to find in rescue, breeders often have long wait lists

• Mutt from a shelter
  – super variable as per what’s at the shelter though I would avoid: super high energy dogs, most small dogs, doodles, labs & lab mixes, huskies 
  – I have a mega soft spot for pitties, pittie mixes and shepherd mixes
  – The ideal age range would be puppy to a 2 year old dog

Eenie, meenie, miny, mo… I don’t know!

Having had a rottie and pittie in the past, they make the list though I’d like to have something a little different. Kris’s son LOVES german shepherds, but I’d like to wait a little before adding a shepherd into our family so the two can grow and train together. 

Tons of research into Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs and I found myself falling in love with the breed. Their look, their personalities, a laid back but fun loving dog with a sleek coat (Berners are too fluffy for my taste, plus they’re rather short lived) – and I knew that a Swissy was going to be a future dog in my family. The quest into breeders began, all in casualness as introducing another dog with Bender was most likely not going to happen (he was super particular about dogs he liked).  Continued to collect information, figuring that it would be a couple more years before we’d be adding a new dog into the mix. Unfortunately, the liver disease Bender was living with peaked and turned into liver failure in February, meaning the movement into a new dog was sooner than anticipated. An application was filled out, we’re on the list for a Swissy!

What about a mutt? I love mutts! Both Mick & Axel were mutts! With waiting until the summer to add a dog into our family I have only been looking lightly at available dogs. 

If I adopt here are the places I’d adopt from:

• Tri County Humane Society / St. Cloud MN (Axel was from here!)
• Hawk Creek Animal Shelter / Wilmar MN (This is where Bender was from!)
• Ruff Start Rescue / Princeton MN, foster based rescue
• Secondhand Hounds / Minnetonka MN, foster based rescue
• Underdog Rescue / St. Louis Park MN
• Pet Haven / Minneapolis MN
• Animal Humane Society / 3 adoption centers!
• Unbreakable Pit Bull Rescue 
• Save A Bull of Minnesota
• Minnesota Pit Bull Rescue

That’s only a small amount of the rescues in Minnesota! Most likely Tri County Humane Society would be my first pick as they are in St. Cloud.  If you want to add a new family member to your home, I would def check out a local rescue!

What would be your choice for a breed of dog?

This is a blog circle and will drop every Friday! Next up visit Carol Mudra of Apawture Studios in Milan, Italy as she shares some fun info on one of her favorite American dog breeds, the Catahoula Leopard Dog.

Looking to add a pitbull into your family? Below there are 5 places you can adopt a pitbull in St. Cloud MN.

But first…
Did you know there isn’t actually a breed called a pitbull?

Pitbull is a term that get put upon bully style dogs and can include the terriers – American pit bull terrier and American Staffordshire terrier – along with American bulldogs, boxers, Staffordshire bull terriers, cane corsos and other blocky headed bully type dogs. Which makes adopting a “pitbull” a bit more of a variable as they may be full American pit bull terrier, mixed with assorted other dogs or not even have a drop of bully breed within them!

Variables aside, if you’re adopting a dog coined a pitbull, who has the look of a bully breed there are somethings you will need to know:

• They can be total buttheads and you may not click right off the bat, but once you do you’ll be besties
• They are smooshy, loveable, great snugglers, snore, and love to lounge as much as hike in the woods
• They can have a high prey drive – cat friends need slow intros
• Pitbulls can be dog reactive or dog aggressive which means no playdates & dog parks, proactive walks, no new dogs to the household
• There is a ton of stigma around them. People will move out of your way when you’re walking, put space between themselves and your pitbull and lift or move children out of range of your pitbull.

And the stigma holds throughout conversations with people. There is the belief that a pitbull will just one day snap and attack its owners (nope), that their jaws lock (also nope, but they do have a strong bite), their brains swell and it makes them go crazy (nope) and it’s unsafe to get a pitbull from a shelter or rescue because you don’t know their history (it’s totally safe to adopt a pittie).

As in adopting any dog, it will take time to get to know your pitbull and his or her personality.

Are you ready to adopt a pittie?

Here are 5 places you can adopt a pitbull in the St. Cloud MN area:

• Tri-County Humane Society
  – In St. Cloud – now in a brand new shelter! They TONS of homes for pitties and many other dogs and cats every year!
  – See the available adoptable dogs
• Ruff Start Rescue
  – based in Princeton, they are a foster rescue with each dog living with a foster family until they find a forever home
  –  See the available dogs
• MN Pitbull 
  – foster based rescue focusing on rehoming pitbulls and bully breeds, and helping other breeds too
  – see all the available dogs
• Save A Bull MN
  – based in Minneapolis, they focus on finding forever homes for pitties and bully breeds
  – here are their adoptable dogs
• Underdog Rescue
  – a foster based rescue who help not only pitties find new homes but all breeds
  – see their available pups here

Good luck finding your next pitbull family member!

Next pop over to Angela Schneider of Big White Dog Photography in Spokane, WA, and the specially abled rescue dogs of Idaho. to learn about rescue dogs in Idaho! Make it around the blog ring to see all the rescue dogs!

Colorful.

At the current moment its not found within the landscape of Minnesota as we just had a brush with S-N-O-W and the grass is merely getting into green garb. There are sprinklings of tiny blues as the very early risers – Siberian squills – are dotted in our gardens. (They have also found their way into the grass…). Otherwise there are no inklings of the vibrant summer colors to come. Cue the creative quest of finding color.

What is color?

Color the characteristic of visual perception described through color categories, with names such as red, yellow, or blue. Found in the visible spectrum of ROY G. BIV – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo & violet!

Color comes in varying hues, tones and saturation and is found everywhere there is light. (The human eye cannot see color in darkness, only when there are hints of light – cameras have the ability to “see in the dark” with long exposures, and light sensitive sensors.)

Orders of color!

Orders of color head into the days of color wheels and school aged art. There are 3 main orders: primary, secondary & tertiary

• Primary Colors: Red, yellow, and blue – these cannot be made by other colors. These are considered “pure colors”.
• Secondary Colors: A combination of any two primary colors. Purple, green & orange!
• Tertiary Colors: A combo of a primary color and secondary color. IE: blue + green = turquoise.

Some ways to use color: color schemes!

• Complimentary colors – directly across from each other on the color wheel
  * blue & orange / red & green / yellow & purple etc
• Analogous colors – colors next to each other on the color wheel, usually a set of 3
  * blue, green, yellow / yellow, red, orange / red, purple, blue etc
• Monochrome colors – not black and white, but an image with a single color tone

Let’s get colorful!

A single color (tans & browns are still colors!) Could be considered monochromatic…

We found a some colorful spots – a train car with graffiti and well placed puddle. A mural on the back of the wedge building (this mural has been there for many years). Then the tight alley with a giant butterfly.  Color all around!

Wandered around town for more color. Lots of monochromatic options for bold color. We could use some more murals around town. Or more colors of buildings! (Lots of browns and rusts from the bricks!)

And one complimentary color set! (Red & green!)

Next up visit Linda Perdue with VP Shoots Photography specializing in photographing pets and their families in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and see what she found for color! Loop through everyone until you land back to us!

Welcome back into Fridays! The snow has departed, the mud and the mid spring browns have arrived. Browns and muds usually aren’t the requested backdrops for portraits (pair them with golden hour and they are STUNNING!), so what to do instead of portraits?

Remember the details that make your dog! And to add the challenge we’re going to focus on the details that aren’t part of your dog’s face! (This fits into the weekly theme of  “No Faces”!).

Enter in butts and toes! Butts have swirls of fur and tails attached to them. Toes can be freshly covered in mud, tucked neatly in in a sit or lay or completely relaxed while your dog snoozes. Embrace the details as we wait for the leaves, grasses and flowers to emerge here in Minnesota!

Tips for photographing dog butts:

• Look for swirls and patterns in the fur
• A relaxed tail will help camouflage an anus
• Avoid making the anus a large element of your image
• The 3/4 angle will help turn the butt away from you slightly for less anus
• See if you can use the angle as a look over your dog’s shoulder as they watch squirrels (or see if you can get their attention for the suave over the should look)

Tips for photographing dog toes/feet:

• Get in close and play with different angles (looking down, ground level/eye level, looking upwards
• Can you find a pattern, texture or color that mimics your dog’s fur?
• Or can you find a pattern, texture or color that is a complete contrast?
• Take advantage of sleeping dogs to get super close “beans” images plus images of paw pads and the fur between toes

(The black dog is Axel and the brown and white dog is Bender! They will both be 10 this year!)

Other details non face details of your dog you can photograph: ears, tails, knees, grey hairs and coat colors. Get in close to give each element proper emphasis.  What other elements of your dog can you think of?

Next visit Jemma Martin of JM Photography, specialist pet photographer in Suffolk, UK who prides herself on capturing the character of your best friend, to see her take on no faces! Read through everyone until you end up back here!