3 Quarters Today

My Life, my photography, my passions

Dogs In My Life

Day 93/365: Cat on the Porch

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Day 93: Cat on the Porch
Day 93: Cat on the Porch

Another trip to the mailbox and a stop at my neighbors house, her cats will be a common subject as the weather gets nicer.  It was a drab overcast day and I was disappointed with the original picture. No sun, no oomph, so I worked some photoshop magic.

Photoshop CS2 Notes: Regular adjustment layers with smart sharpen, then went in and decreased the lighting, bumped up the contrast, and added a warming filter. What a difference! After adding some additional sharpening on the face and whiskers and  I was happy.

SOOC (Straight out of camera)
SOOC (Straight out of camera)
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Day 85/365: Dog Toy Testing Continues

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Brody seems so happy, and he is, happy to destroy any squeaky dog toy that comes into the house.  If you read his previous toy escapade, you will see he is quite the toy enthusiast and he’s at it again, another dog toy test, another day with fluff littering the living room. Mighty Dog Toys are promoted as being tested by tigers (watch videos here) and encourages the consumer to rethink durability. 

Day 85: Brody's New Toy
Day 85: Brody’s New Toy

I signed up to be a toy tester with MyDogToy.com to save money, they are half price if you agree to review the toy on the website, now it’s become a challenge. I hope the feedback I give VIP Products will learn actually create an indestructible dog toy. Wouldn’t that be wonderful.

Dog toy test by a Jack russell terrier
Look at me, look at me!!

This has been the best squeaky dog toy so far. I liked it because it was big enough to grab and pull away from Brody without getting near his mouth. The Mega Gear Ring was much easier to play fetch and throw, I loved it and I  think Brody even loved the big size. The Ring seemed to fight with him as he ran and he carried it various ways with his head  the middle of the circle. Tried to get various pictures, but he moved too fast.

The outside fabric was quilted and prevented him from pulling all the outside cover off. That frustrated him to no end, he could only rip one square inch of fabric at a time. Mighty Dog Toys goes to great lengths to attempt to make their toys durable, and for normal dogs, or even persistent dogs this would work, as you can see below VIP Products tries really hard.

Seven Rows of Stitching Each toy’s seven layers of material are sewn together with two rows of linear stitching and two rows of cross stitching. The four rows of stitching are protected with an industrial grade luggage material that is sewn 3 more times. Seven Layers of Material Three layers of 600 Denier industrial grade material, three layers of plastic coating and finally one layer of soft fleece. All seven layers are rolled together and then sewn with a one inch cross pattern to prevent layer separation. Protective Webbing Additional industrial grade luggage material is sewn around the outside edge with three rows of stitching to cover and protect the first four rows of stitching. Squeaker Safety Pockets Each Squeaker is safe and quiet because they are sewn into a nylon safety pocket beneath seven layers of material.

Dog destroys a dog toy
Yes, I’m the destroyer, bring on the next one…

It took Brody almost 2 hours to penetrate and release fluff. This is the longest of any dog toy I’ve ever gotten him. Then it was only one of four compartments.
This was great!  He literally exhausted himself. The last compartment wasn’t breached for almost six hours. He eventually tore and ripped holes in the fabric, but threw and tossed it around for the next couple of days.

We had a lot of fun with this one, and if I had taken it away after a few hours, then given it back later, it would of latest for days.

Photoshop Notes:  Top picture, which really is my “photo of the day “,  normal action layers, but I erased the background in the upper left of the cabinet and Xbox controllers, it was distracting and messy

Have you had any luck with finding indestructible dog toys? If so I’d like to hear about them. Leave me a comment, or contact me on Twitter.

Tidy Dog trains pups to pick up dog toys, and makes me laugh

edit_5907_grande In the age of smart everything, it’s rare that a product actually makes me first laugh, then internally chastise myself for doing so after realizing the utility of the thing. When Tidy Dog creator Chris Lorkowski contacted me about his …
Watch and understand your dog

Ensure that you take away all the dog’s toys, bones and food that’s lying around. You may be able to pick up your dog’s bone, but your dog may be unsure about someone else picking it up. So what happened in this case? It’s hard to know without seeing …
Bad dog may be anxious

Bad dog may be anxious. Forbes Veterinary Clinic vet Saraih Werry with Remy, who suffers from anxiety issues, and some of the Kong dog toys available at the clinic. 0214politepets2. Tweet. Facebook. of. ╳ …
How to Clean Dog Toys – Two Little Cavaliers

How to Clean Dog Toys – Simple Steps to Keep Your Dog Healthy.
 

Day 82/365: The Story of A Puppy Mill Chihuahua

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Day 82: Hallee in her new coat

Here is my friend Hallee, isn’t she just the cutest little Chihuahua? Her Mom is a friend of mine in Lincoln Nebraska who has been so helpful in many ways this past year. Evie lost her beloved Boxer Princess the past year and Hallee came to fill that hole in her heart.

Seems that Halee’s life didn’t start too well, she was a result of finding an ad in a newspaper and when Evie and her friend went in late October to pick her out the place was a puppy mill.  Hallee and her litter mates were in an outdoor pen without shelter, she weighed less than two pounds. Supposedly Hallee was 6 weeks old at the time, the bones in her head hadn’t even begun to fuse yet.

Hallee was scooped up and the two friends stormed out of there and immediately reported the breeder. Hallee then became the most pampered pooch. She got a clean bill of health from the veterinarian and started accompanying her neighbor chihuahua friend Prissy to assisted swimming.

Because she was so tiny, insecure, and young she spent the next few weeks swaddled in a blanket cuddled up with Evie for security. As she grew she started to explore her surroundings, play with toys and become socialized. But she was still young, uncoordinated, and afraid of people. She would stay glued to Evie’s feet, hiding under her housecoat.

After much love and guidance from Evie, Hallee  is a bundle of energy who loves to zip around the room, chase tennis balls, play with toys, and gives puppy kisses to just about anyone who comes to visit. She’s about four and a half months old now and it’s been so fun to watch her grow and develop.

By the way, the cute little jacket I picked up for Hallee at my favorite thrift store, Bits and Pieces. Only $4.00 and it was part of the Elmwood-Murdock High School FBLA consignment booth. There was a small collection of dog clothes, along with the homemade doggy biscuits and treats, and I thought this one was perfect for Hallee.

Photoshop Notes: After the standard actions of layers and resizing the only thing I did was clone out a toothbrush that Hallee was standing over that distracted from the picture.

Day 79/365: The Wind in a Pup’s Ears

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Puppy Spring Day

What a gorgeous day, called for a short walk with my pooch Brody before supper. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze at the elementary school playground. Enough of a wind to blow his ear back, they don’t normally stick up. He was so happy sitting with his face to the sun and running around.

He normally wears a harness and I use a 16 foot retractable leash, but you can’t see it here. I wonder why? Smile. I’m getting better at PhotoShop. Smile.

 

Photoshop Notes: I have set up actions that automatically duplicate the background, add adjustment layers, resize, and smart sharpen to 11%. All with a click of one button. So easy and fast! Love it! With this image I adjusted the brightness , contrast, and reduced the saturation on Brody’s white fur. I also adjusted the exposure and the shadow/highlight slightly. Oh, and last but not least I cloned out the black chest harness and leash.

 

Day 64/365: Cat’s Winter Silhouette

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Day 64: Cat in Winter

The sun finally came out after three days cold  winter weather and this cat took full advantage to sun bathe in the middle of the street. Took several of them, but I liked this one the best.  There was something that I like about the back of the cat’s head rather than her looking at me.

I’m not sure of this her name,  it’s my neighbors cat and just another photo opp on the way to the mailbox.