Category: Three Dogs

Pictures of your dog are a dime a dozen, but portraits are special.

Mary Schreiber, a local artist and Three Dogs Training student, does wonderful pet portraits. Here’s a sample of her work!

Diesel-BannerOvernight it seems as if everyone’s got a camera on them at all times.

I’ve got one in my iPhone, one in my iPad – and just about everyone else is in the same boat.

The ability to easily take photos has led – at least in our house – to having thousands and thousands of pictures or movies of our dogs, but it easy to mistake volume for quality. Good ones are taken mostly by chance or lost amidst the mediocre.

There are times when you want something truly special that by its nature speaks volumes on your feelings about your dog while it captures the pure essence of your dog. Maybe I’m just showing my artistic background here but to me that means a portrait.

For me, the human hand captures a quintessential element that pixels and Instagram just can’t hope to match.

Mary Schreiber, is a local artist offering pet portraiture. Here’s a sample of some of her work:

 

I have seen Mary’s work in person and it is quite lovely and soulful.  I suspect her love of animals is embedded in the work and if you enjoy the work here, please feel free to contact her:

Mary Schreiber
Email: mschreiber59@gmail.com
Phone: 914-548-5388

Here are her submission guidelines:

  • You supply the photographs, and the more photos, the better (within limits). Photos are best when taken in natural light without a flash.
  • Initial payment is 50% of the commission price when work begins. You pay the final 50% when the work is complete.
  • Guarantee: if you are not happy with the piece Mary will gladly keep the art and return your down payment.

Portraits are rendered with Prismacolor ® colored pencils on high quality acid-free paper.

Her pricing schedule is as follows:

$75.00 – 8” X 10” head and shoulders
$100.00 – 8” X 10” full animal
$125.00 – 11” X 14” full animal

Her prices do not include matting or framing. Please contact her for price quotes on other sizes.

 

Pinball versus Stick

Pinball takes on his foremost nemesis: a stick in our backyard.

Finally a sunny and comparatively warm day we decided to combine some fun outside for the newest addition to the family, Pinball, along with a chance to test out our newest gadget – a Flip camera.

Pinball was the only member of Callie’s litter – the only boy in the litter – who wasn’t adopted from the shelter right away.  When she died it seemed right to bring him here.  He seems to be liking it – or at least the stick.

Enjoy!

Time for Three Dogs to grow

As of this date, Three Dogs Training is now officially Three Dogs Training, LLC.

As part of the ongoing changes we mentioned earlier this month, we’re happy to announce that we’re now Three Dogs Training, LLC.

With my over two decades of dog training experience and over ten years in business, the exciting things that we have scheduled in 2010 (and beyond) required taking this step to allow Three Dogs Training to grow.

I can’t wait to share what we’ve got planned for this year, but sometimes surprises are fun – and worth the wait!

We’ve been Yelped!

Our first review on Yelp! and it’s a great one!

Earlier I mentioned that our new website has a lot of really cool bells and whistles that Lawrence set up in the background.  I was playing with one of them this afternoon when I stumbled on something that really made my day.

In looking through our Google logs I noticed that Dennie, a student in one of our positive reinforcement basic training classes (along with his pup Heidi), wrote a really fantastic review of Three Dogs Training on Yelp.

Thanks, Dennie!

 

Happy Birthday, Boo!

We wish Boo a very happy and healthy eleventh birthday!

It was eleven years ago October 31st that Boo joined our family.

There was no way we could tell that this little black and white ball of fur we saw in a stripmall fly-by-night pet store would turn into the incredible dog he did.

His mother was probably ill while pregnant, which left him with cerebellar hypoplasia – a disorder which is caused by the cerebellum not being mature at birth – that was immediately apparent in his jerky, stiff movements and overall lack of coordination.  His other symptoms gradually made themselves known as it was clear that he was partially deaf, progressively lost his eyesight, and suffered from a number of cognitive disabilities.

Despite all of those hurdles, he was was able to trooper his way through training and eventually passed his Delta Society evaluation to begin his career doing therapy work.

There he was:  a small puppy thrown away in front of a pet store, who could barely stand or walk and who would take over a year to housetrain, but he was the one who gave a family their son back and made national news doing it.

As much as we love him, he’s also a powerful reminder that we can’t overestimate an animal’s ability to exceed our expectations (or prejudices) based on their origins or pedigrees.  Every dog, whether they’re from a shelter, breeder, or a stray has within them the same potential to shine.

(Editorial Note – I had intended on posting this on Halloween, but that little bit of snow we had left us without power until just recently.)