You don't have to be an animal lover to love this video of Surf dog Ricochet (Rip Curl Ricki's) and her inspirational journey from service dog training, to turning disappointment into a joyful new direction, to surfing with quadriplegic surfer, Patrick Ivison, to fundraising for charitable causes. She is currently leading a fundraiser for a six-year-old boy named Ian who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a horrific car accident that claimed the lives of his parents. If you'd like to help Ricochet help Ian, please go to http://www.ripcurlricki.com. To follow her on Facebook... search for "Surf Dog Ricochet." What a wonderful story to brighten your holiday or any day for that matter!
Looks like Sophie's going to be a ham. She really took to the camera room for her first "Watch Me Grow" panel portrait. While we were at it, we did Billy's final portrait. I'll post the panel as soon as I can get to it.
After my Florida photographer friend Britney Fullgraf read my post about our new puppy, Sophie, she emailed me a link to this hilarious "singing corgi" video. Thanks Britney!
Yesterday Jim left the house early to do some "errands." When he returned, I was busy at the computer. He came up behind me and said, "Merry Christmas." I was absolutely blown over when I turned around and saw a very cuddly 7-week-old corgi puppy in his hands!
We named her Sophie, and she is wonderful! The rest of the day was shot as we watched to see how she would adjust to her new home, the other fur kids, Clemmi and Billy, and to us of course. Not to worry: she's already in charge of everyone. She's fearless and not the least bit homesick . . . went to bed in her crate without a peep. She probably will try to chew up everything we own, but otherwise she's off to a great start!
Although she is a purebred Pembroke, Sophie has a tail. We learned from the breeder that many of her colleagues are electing not to dock the tail. Here's a link to the breeder's website where you can learn about this decision. Just scroll to the bottom of the page. I'm posting some snapshots of Sophie's first day at home: I believe she is going to have good corgi ears, and we think Sophie's tail becomes her!
Tomorrow we'll do her Sophie's "Watch Me Grow" panel picture, and finish Billy's third-and-final panel photo. Should be fun!
Things have been pretty sad around here lately. Several weeks ago our 9-year-old Corgi, Mitzi, died suddenly. In retrospect, I think Mitzi died the way most of us would want to script our last moment on earth: doing what we loved best. In Mitzi's case, she sprinted off the deck to chase a motorcycle on the road that runs outside our fence and made the long dash to the end of our backyard fence, and then fell over dead, no doubt of a heart attack.
Mitzi was very particular about the vehicles she chased along the path she managed to wear down over the years; she never bothered with cars or trucks, only motorcycles and snowplows. I think she thought it was her mission in life to banish them from our road.
Of all the dogs we have had, Mitzi was the most difficult of all to photograph. The minute she would see you with a camera, she would flatten her ears so hard that she didn't look anything like a corgi. The snapshot below is one of the few pictures I managed to sneak of her with those ears in full corgi position.
The only studio portrait I ever succeeded in making of Mitizi by herself is the one on this calendar we used as a new product sample to show to clients. I shot one, and that was it. Down went the ears!
I made the calendar photo the day Jim and I did last year's Christmas card photo. If it were not for Photoshop, her ears would have been flat as a pancake.
I'm so glad we have this silly portrait, especially since we made a wall-size version of it to display on an easel during the Christmas season . . . just because it made us laugh to see how preposterous the three dogs looked. I know it will make me smile when we bring it out in several weeks.
Meet Charlie Yancy. Charlie is the goldendoodle of Foster and Helen Yancy, who live in Plymouth, Michigan. Helen is a wonderful friend and a fabulous photographer/artist who is available to create exquisite watercolor interpretations (such as her portrait of Charlie, shown above) from photographic images captured by Persnickety Pet Portraits. You can learn more about Helen's artwork by visiting the Boutique section of our PersnicketyPetPortraits Gallery. Just click here.
A really wonderful Rhode Island photographer, Sally Swart, is a Corgi parent: And here are her two Corgis—Maxwell and Ruby—who are all dressed up for Halloween. I'm quite sure that our Corgi, Mitzi, would not be nearly as accommodating. Thanks to Sally for allowing me to post this darling photo!
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David Koster commented on January 22nd, 2010
Congratulations, she's beautiful!