You’re not going to want to miss this.

Need a unique gift for your dog-lovin’ friends and family? Here’s your opportunity to shop our product line live and in person. BowWow Gift tags, Note-cards, Individual Cards, Memo Pads and Framed Prints will be available for you to choose from. Our new product Puppy Paws Productions’ Calendars will make their debut exclusively at this show. So, if you’re not a fan of online shopping, stop on by and meet the team in the flesh and fur.

We heartily support Rescue Organizations.There are many unidentifiable mixed breeds in need of forever homes.  There are also a vast number of breed specific rescue organizations to choose from if you are seeking a particular type of look and temperament to match your lifestyle. That being said, we were fascinated by the combinations of pooch genes available out there and if being the proud owner of an all American Mutt is not in your cards, we offer this list of currently “fashionable” dogs. Yes, Virginia, these are real dogs.

Saturday August 8th found us in beautiful Cardiff by the Sea as a vendor at the fourth annual Dog Days of Summer Festival. Wall-to-wall dogs and their humans  strolled the “grass carpet” to find a wide array of dog products, services, organizations, and rescue foundations with adoptable dogs. A dog obstacle course provided a fun challenge for our canine companions and the Kids Zone hosted among many activities, a booth where children could craft a paper puppy headdress. There were various contests from Cutest Puppy and Best Dog Trick to Best Beachwear and Best Kisser. Raffles and Silent Auctions provided numerous opportunities to win fabulous dog-related and non-dog prizes. Glorious sunny weather in a lovely California coastal town provided an ideal environment to celebrate our love of our pets.  This fun friendly community event with lots of  doggy and human meet-and greet encounters was a Fido feel-good festival that we will repeat. Don’t miss this outstanding dog-love fest next year!

Now, don’t get me wrong…there is nothing I would rather do, with the exception of being a professional traveler like Samantha Brown (sans the camera crew but Travel Channel funded). But just because you love every inch of the creatures, does not necessarily mean you can convey every hair accurately.

While I am not a portraiture or trained fine artist, the goal nonetheless, is to put somewhat an accurate rendition of  my subject on paper. It needs to resemble a dog, not a pony (as has on occasion horrifyingly occurred.) The company is after all, Puppy Paws, not Horsey Hooves. There are times that the pooches make themselves real in fifteen minutes. Then, there are times the  furry kids play hide and seek for three days. So it would be accurate to say, that in creating my pooches,  patience and dogged determination are requisites.

Not unique to any artistic endeavor, is the challenge of presenting an expression that is wholly unique or different. I actually  find it true though, that there really is nothing new under the sun…so, you see this additional dilemma?

Despite my enjoyable observation of dogs, when it comes right down to it, to capture them for a moment on paper hardly seems to convey the immeasurable joy, playfulness, and loyalty they bring to our lives; much less, their many  facial expressions, postures, tail positions, etc.,etc., etc.. So one develops a rather narrow compulsion, an addiction of sorts, to do it again and again and again in the pursuit of expressing everything under the sun you feel about your obsession. Unless you find yourself exclusively in the company of dog-o-philes, this can be a bit limiting in general conversation.

Another hurdle I face at the drawing board is the reality that the many glorious colors of shiny coats I pet, cannot always be accurately reflected in the color palette of even the most sophisticated of Prismacolor sets. There are only so many hues of brown, black, gray, and blond colors available. So, I must trust that you will  indulge my use of suggested tints and shades.

Now, I don’t mean to cast aspersions about my fellow dog aficionados, but I do need to point out a certain elitism that makes it particularly formidable to fulfill my occupation. That is, that your own breed is primarily what you respond to (or will prompt your purchase, anyway.) For as much as you may consider yourself an all-around doggy person, my Mutts, simply are not as much in demand as my Scotties. While I appreciate the distinctive difference in breed appearance and some seem to be easier to draw because of those distinctions (Dachshunds, Beagles, Boston Terriers, for example), I always thought that doggy-people were more liberal, if you will, in accepting the “EveryDog”.  One of the most common questions I get is  “Do you have a _________ (fill in the breed)?” Would you have asked Georgia O’Keeffe to paint a chrysanthemum instead of a poppy?

Now people,  the American AKC lists over 150 breeds and there are over 400 breeds in the world, not including the hybrids.  I’m drawing as fast as I can. So if you don’t yet find your Chinese Crested “Cuddles” represented, shoot me an email and I’ll see if I can bump them up to the top of the list of yet to draw. Meanwhile, our pack still needs to survive on the present ever-expanding collection. Would it be so terrible to order a card whose breed is not your own? I know you generous dog folks are capable of transcending  these prejudicial fences.

To conclude, while not always a walk in the park, the truth of it is, I do what I love, and love what I do. What could be better than that?
With that said, I need now to literally take my company to the park for a walk.

If this is your virgin NSS Show like us, you’ll feel a tremendous granite boulder lifted from your weary shoulders when you’ve finally finished packing up and shipping off the materials for your trade booth. You might also, after your initial elation, feel an enormous Tsunami of trepidation.

After all the research and competitive pricing you’ve done to choose your shipping provider, the civil engineering feat of fitting it economically into the costly temporary home you purchased for it’s trip (it’s kind of like a 5000 piece monotone puzzle),  the physical exertion of packing (and likely re-packing a few times or more), the strain on your neurons of what to do about the odd large bulky-sized items that there seems no packaging available to man for, the measuring, the weighing, the shipping paperwork and labeling, the  emotional loss you felt when you handed it all over and said “farewell” (which you meant literally),…after all that… these ominous looming questions may remain:

Will we ever see our precious creative fragile unique pieces in the Big Apple? Will they arrive on time? Will the pricey transportation “experts” realize the value (not to mention the emotional value) of their cargo and treat it tenderly? Will it survive the journey even though we packed our cartons with sixteen miles (we measured that, too) of reinforced packing tape apiece? Did we get the street number right or invert our booth number when we labeled?

Most importantly, what the heck did we forget that we have to somehow now cram into our baggage-fee suitcases?

When all is said and done and we have secretly blessed the items and sent them good energy for a successful journey, it seems the leap-of-faith (or insane) thing to do is assume that all will go well and expect to be re-united with your Babies (or Puppies, in our case) at Jacob Javitz  the week of the show.  At which point, you will have survived your frantic last-minute preparations, your flight from wherever you are that makes driving to the City (much less, driving in the City) just plain crazy, and a New York City cab ride.  At that point, setting up the booth should be a piece of cake.

Stay tuned to see if our glass-half-full outlook is realized.

Good luck fellow exhibitors and if my Carton No.3  doesn’t make it (the words -  corrugated cardboard smithereens – come to mind) can we please borrow someone’s scissors?

We are proud to participate in this fundraiser for Canine Companions for Independence in San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park. Stop by our booth and meet the illustrator of our whimsical Puppy Paws Productions’ pooches.

The 14th Annual Del Mar Ugly Dog Contest held Sunday March 8th at the Del Mar Fairgrounds was a wonderful and waggley event enjoyed by dogs and their humans alike. From 11:15  AM through 3:15 PM dedicated judges scored a parade of entries for contests ranging from the cutest puppy to the best St. Patrick’s Day costume as well as the ugliest dog.  Clever and imaginative costumes and props were in abundance,  cutie patooties pranced and played and  humans proudly displayed their pet’s good looks, talents, or unique markings. Pet specialty vendors and services booths provided plenty of products and resources for Fido-lovers. Included in the mix of vendors were national companies like Petco and Natural Balance, as well as local entrepreneurs such as Dogtopia, Ruby & Bee, Lulu’s Mom, and Leash Your Fitness. If you missed this annual fundraiser to benefit the the Helen Woodward  Animal Foundation and Rancho Coastal Humane Society be sure to put it on your priority dog list next year. This event is guaranteed to generate some genuine giggling and grinning.

Here’s what y’all are planning for your pet in the upcoming year. Thanks for sharing your intentions for what we hope will unfold as a fabulous year for Fido.

1.   Exercise my dog more

2.  Train more regularly

3.   Groom my dog more often

4.   No more table scraps (yeah, right)

5.   Get dog’s teeth cleaned

6.   Keep up vaccination schedule and licensing

7.   Resist adding to the overflowing toy box (right, again)

8.   Arrange more play dates

9.   Contribute to Rescue organization

10. Volunteer at an Animal Shelter

‘Tis the season to be jolly and we hope that you are finding much joy in your pets follies. As it is Carmelle’s first Christmas with us, we are excited to share our traditions and Christmas rituals with her. Pepper is particularly looking forward to teaching her how to rip open the gift wrap of her presents, a skill she developed expertly through the years. In the spirit of giving, this Holiday Season Puppy Paws Productions has been pleased to contribute to shelter and rescue animals in need. We have donated boxes of Christmas cards and gift tags to the Holiday gift baskets of the San Diego SPCA,  Helen Woodward Animal Shelter in Rancho Bernardo, the North American Dachsie Rescue organization of Chicago, and the PAWS Animal Shelter in Tinley Park, IL. Our Christmas wish is that all the big-hearted fur-persons that need forever homes be united with loving humans that cherish them.

Have a pawsitively outstanding Holiday Season.

How I Unwittingly Gained a Big Sister

Get your handkerchiefs out and cue the violins….

You think it’s a walk in the park losing the humans you owned for five years? I am not sure what I did to be sentenced to the Big House, but it wasn’t pretty that month I was incarcerated in that noisy slammer. There was a lot of endless howling night and day. The wardens only let me out of my cell occasionally and you wouldn’t believe some of the ruff riff raff in the exercise yard. It’s true what they say about prison chow…nothing to write home about. But then, I didn’t have one of those anymore, anyway. ( See…I knew you would need a hankie.) I was about as low as a Basset Hound’s belly until that nice lady from the Baja Rescue Group put up the bail to spring me. I wasn’t so sure what would come next. She took me to her house along with some other fellow inmates and let me stay with what seemed to be her personal pack. I slept a little better. The next thing I know I am in a big Park with my chain gang and the lady’s friends are talking up my redeeming characteristics to humans passing by. A gentlewoman came by, admired the brown spot on my head and took me for a walk. Afterwards I napped and before you you know it, I was on the road again in her car. She really seemed to like me and I got the sense we weren’t headed back to the Halfway House. Instead she deposited me at what appeared to be her den where I met the measured curious but disapproving glare of a big black Senior Top Dog. I have literally worked like a dog to mind my P’s and Q’s and exhibit my most polite behavior to ingratiate this squatter and used my Cocker good looks and charm to my advantage with the Mistress. Eight months later I am still here so I finally believe my probation is really over. Mistress promised me that I will never ever have to leave. Given the great chow, choice of soft sleeping spots, trips to the park to see new friends, and Pepper’s thawing to me, I am thrilled with my turn of fortune and my nub of a tail is in constant wag-motion. I feel safe and wanted again. Pepper is actually rather nice, once you get to know her and I appreciate her sharing her good fortune with me. She has even taught me the security detail of the place and on occasion has defended me from park bullies. I never knew how terrific it would feel to have a Big Sister watch your tail. I even have a VIP VP career now with Puppy Paws Productions. I report to Pepper who has been teaching me the ropes. I am so proud of my Big Sister and though she is very selective about her inner circle, I suspect as Sally Field said…”she likes me, she really likes me!”