Pet Sitting: emailing Joy

Are you a pet sitter or do you help a friend or a neighbor to take care of the dogs some times? If you have pets, you know how it feels to go out and leave your furry kids at home. Oh! if you could only take them with you everywhere you go…

Last week, I was pet sitting a friend's dogs and I sent her a picture of them relaxing after lunch. She was so happy to receive my email! I was emailing pure joy for her (and peace of mind).

With today's smart phones it's really easy to email pictures or videos. Do you do this? Do you send pictures or videos to the dog's parents while they are at work or on vacation? If not, try it. It will be a nice way to surprise your friend or neighbor.

10 Things I Love about Winnie

This post was really difficult to write! How can I choose only 10 things I love about Winnie?
I could write many, many more… but 10 is a good number for this blog.

1. I love when Winnie wakes me up and ask me to go out with those beautiful and sweet eyes, how could I say no even on a Sunday at 6 a.m.?
2. I love to have Winnie under my desk when I am working and I find inspiration just by watching her so relaxed.
3. I love when Winnie barks at the garbage truck in the morning, I know she is protecting our home from strangers!
4. I love Winnie's face when I bring home a new toy and before I open the bag, she knows there is something special for her inside the package!
5. I love to hug her when she jumps to my bed and she could stay there for hours…
6. I love when she wags her tail and gives me kisses, lots of kisses!
7. I love to walk her at the park where she loves to smell the flowers, the grass and some trees here and there where other furry friends "wrote" a message.
8. I love when she gets so excited at feeding time, jumping and spinning at 360 degrees.
9. I love how she listens to me when I talk to her, I know she understands...
10. I LOVE to have her in my life. She is part of the family. We are her pack. I am so blessed!

Pet Sitting 16 Paws

Last week I went to a friend's home to watch her dogs. Pet sitting is really fun and keeps you in a happy mood. Dogs are like kids and they make you feel young and energized!

My friend Norma has 4 dogs. When I met her she had only Cinnamon and Reina but some weeks ago she rescued Leo and Sandy. They were alone on the street. Leo was in bad shape and Sandy was just a puppy with no one around to take care of her.

Now she has 4 happy dogs that get along really well. These some of the photos I shoot while pet sitting the little angels.

Sandy the puppy.

Cinnamon.

Leo.

and this beautiful Chihuahua is Reina.

I love this family!

Wednesdays with Winnie

This is the first post on the series "Wednesdays with Winnie". Every Wednesday I will post photos of Winnie my dog. I want to dedicate one day a week to blog about her and what a better day than Wednesday since it starts with the letter "W"

I will be sharing photos, what she likes, what she does, or anything "Winnie related". A space to write how sweet she is… after all, it's all about the dogs!

Enjoy the pictures and write something about your dog on the comments below.

Flower Power for Pit Bulls

Every time I go to the park or the beach I see some beautiful Pit Bull dogs. They are sweet and deserving of love like any other dog. Many organizations and people fight to change the perception that they are dangerous by nature.

This is the case of French photographer Sophie Gamand who created a series of photographs named "Flower Power, Pit Bulls of the Revolution" to show the dogs in a different light.

"This project started as an excuse for me to discover more about pit bulls. Like many people, I admittedly had prejudices against them. But as an active volunteer with many rescue groups, I often came in contact with pit bulls and was slowly warming up to their sweet nature. I decided to confront my apprehensions and explore their soft side in a visual way."

Sophie portrayed them like hippies from a fairy-tale character, feminine and dreamy. To do that, she approached some rescue groups that happily collaborated with the project.

To read more about this and enjoy the rest of the beautiful photographs, go to her website.

Book: The New York Dog

Capturing the smile of a dog in a photograph is something that dog lovers do all the time. I often carry a camera with me to photograph my dog Winnie and other dogs I see at the park or the neighborhood. Some weeks ago I watched a video class at Creative Live with photographer Rachael Hale McKenna and I was hooked. The patience and the kindness she has to create photographs with animals is amazing.

Her new book "The New York Dog" is on bookstores now. I just ordered mine and I can't wait to read it. This is a description of the book:

"Following in the paw prints of The French Cat and The French Dog, The New York Dog showcases Rachael Hale McKenna’s signature photographic style in the Big Apple. Capturing both the atmosphere of the city and the personalities of its canine residents, Hale explores the life of the New York dog from many angles, showing dogs taking walks, riding in taxis, lounging in extravagant apartments, shopping in boutiques, visiting spas, dining in restaurants, and much more. From purebreds on the Upper East Side to loveable mutts in Queens, The New York Dog celebrates the wide variety of dogs that live throughout all five boroughs of this great city."

If you want to see Rachael in action, enjoy her video.

To get awesome tips for photographing your dog, read this post from the Design Sponge blog about Rachael and then... get those wonderful pictures!