Two Westies - by Artist Julie Deans

Say hello to my latest dual creation. These two cuties are West Highland White Terriers. My parents have one of these feisty little creatures, and they definitely have the "terrier" attitude (if you don't know the 'tude, you're in for a big surprise when you find out, just ask Brandy). These guys were a blast to draw, the perfect pose for a great portrait!

Completed on Strathmore Bristol Smooth, 8"x10", in pencil. My clients were really pleased with this piece, and I'm always ecstatic when I can put a smile on someone's face after creating a portrait for them.

To see more portraits, check out my website at:

www.juliesillustration.com

Happy Birthday Crazy Little Dog!

Today is my crazy little dog's birthday. Today my super smart Jack Russell Terrier, Brandy, turns (oh yuck, I hate to say it) 8 years old. Today I feel time has gone by way to fast.

Gawd, I love this little dog - Happy Birthday Bran! And here's to many, many more birthdays to come!!!

Brandy- The B-Hive: 

ADC, SGDC, AADC, RN MCL, RPT, CL2, CL3-R, CL3-H, CL3-S, CL4-R, 

HIT Agility JRTRO Trial 2009, JRTCC SGD, 4th Place 10" Canada Cup 2007

Below two photos courtesy of TTL Action Photography at the 2008 Royackers Canada Cup

Photo shoot with the little dog

Is she adorable or what!? What a good sport - well, she was this time anyway because I wasn't using a flash.

Yes, she's wearing a bow, but she is a girl no matter what she says. And yes, it's a Dove Spa bow, and no, she does not go to get her nails done.

This is my favorite shot out of this session. It just screams her personality of "I'm better and smarter than you".

Love the effect I got on this, looks more like an old-time black and white shot. She looks good in grey-scale.

It's the clear bone. The coveted clear bone. Not as good as the ball, but a first choice over any other Nyla.

Mmmm, clear bone.

She doesn't chew this bone. She gums it. And makes out with it. A weird fetish? I have no idea.

Her best "longing" look.

Waiting for the ok to pounce on the clear bone.

So who likes slightly staggered pictures in blog posts? Not me, but that's what I get for screwing around with the HTML or what ever the hell code is involved. Let's just pretend I'm trying to be artistic about photo placement, yeah that's it, add some interest to the post. Bah!

Meet Vibe - Rescue JRT

 

Hey hey! My name is Vibe, and I am a happy young girl of only one year old! I was found on a highway, and was brought into the Brampton shelter. I am very friendly and good with other dogs, EXCEPT when there is food around. I would love it if you helped me get over my food aggression and learn that there will now always be enough food,,,that I don't have to protect it anymore! I am very playful and love to play with my ball...I also understand "go get your ball" and will happily do so! I am in a home with another pooch right now and I am fine with them. I am a dive and would likely enjoy being the only dog in the house IF I had to choose... I am just a teeny tiny action package looking for a loving home! Adoption fee $200

 

Visit Vibes page for more pictures:

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14191224

Visit Russell Rescue for more information on adoptions, JRT's in need and fostering.

www.russellrescue.org

JRTCC 2009 Nationals - Paris, ON

They were calling for rain the entire day, so I was skeptical about how things would go. As I drove in at 7:15 in the morning, the closer I got to Paris, the darker the skies got, bringing threats of an umbrella and rain-coat clad day. But low-and-behold, it held off and turned out to be a mainly cloudy, rather nice day to play at this national event.

I situated myself at the agility ring, and spent the entire day there. I got some nice shots shots of a few of the dogs running, but gave up after a while. It was too much to volunteer, run a dog, and photograph. Have I ever told anyone that I am uncoordinated?

And that uncoordination followed me into the ring, trailing behind me like a wet piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of my shoe without my knowledge.

Describing our runs as spastic, entertaining and crazy at most, is being generous. To be completely honest, they were flailing and erratic at best. The little dog was slightly nutty, cooler weather and grass will do that to Brandy, unfortunately. But I'm loosing my mind on course. I know it's my fault, I wish I could blame the little dog, but I can't, and she'd talk her way out of it some how anyway. Reviewing the runs in my head, all my turns were off, my signaling, well, picture a jelly fish trying to signal to someone to make a left turn. Chicken with it's head cut off comes to mind when describing these runs, and my timing was like that of a broken clock with no second hand.

That all being said, the little dog pulled up her shorts and managed to take the Small Dog Steeplechase Challenge, a new event added for this years nationals. A 1st place ribbon and wonderful gift basket was a great surprised after the less-than-perfect runs that we produced. I feel I say that phase far too much - I think it really needs to be removed from my vocabulary. Re-thinking my strategy and game plan for agility may be in order. Unfortunately, no pictures of Brandy running this time, as my "personal photographer" was not with me at this event...a shame it was her birthday.

I'm not in it for the fame and glory, I'm in it for fun, so even botched runs are ok with me, though Brandy may have a differing opinion.

Over all, the day was a blast, volunteering with the ladies that run the event was lots of fun, and entertaining in itself. The weather held out, I got to talk to people that I hadn't see in a while and I got to spend the day with my favorite little dog. What more could I ask?

Oh Brandy!

After some pondering yesterday, I've come to the conclusion (although grudgingly) that it was 98% my fault that we totally pooched the trial on Sunday. Reviewing in my mind, all of our outdoor trials, it seems it's only the AAC ones that give me an issue. CPE and JRTCC, no problem. CPE and JRTCC, no stress. AAC, though I like to deny it, there is some stress that surfaces. The little dog picks up on moods a bit too easily and I think she realizes that my confidence is down on these AAC runs, and she takes over ... and advantage (brat!). 

My handling definitely did not help the situation either. I felt like I was flailing around like a fish out of water during every run.  I'm sure I was throwing off some interesting instruction to the little dog while I ran around like chicken with my head cut off, my arms feeling like rubber bands, and my mouth not working fast enough to get commands out. It's really a shame that people were watching the performance that I gave. Though I suppose the entertainment value was high for the spectators. 

I still think that the weather played some roll in Brandy's insanity that day. And she was insane, you could see it in her eyes. The teeter fly-off proved that. 

Conclusion, bring a bottle of wine and a massage therapist to every AAC trial. That'll reduce stress!

An Evening Visitor

My husband answered a ringing phone last night to his brother - his brother found a Jack Russell wandering in the park, what should he do? Found a Jack Russell??! Bring it on over here of course!

So, we had an evening visitor. A little old wandering low-rider JRT who was discovered investigating the park close to my brother-in-laws house.

The cute little bugger spent the night at our house, only after we all crowded into the car to cruise the area where the girlie was found. No sign of anyone searching, so it was decided that she would spend the night (a kind of doggy sleep over) and I would take her to the humane society in the morning ... it's handy - about a 3 minute drive from where I work.


Brandy was on her best behaviour, introductions were made in the back yard and peace was accomplished almost right away. Brandy has a dominant personality, but is very respectful of other dogs, on her terms of course (if you're a pushy, in-your-face type dog, watch out - but as a complete oxymoron, she gets along quite nicely with other female JRT's), and "talks dog" extremely fluently. The bulldogge, on the other hand, is not proficient in the language, lacking some major skills so he got some flashing teeth and snapping jaws before he laid off. "Dog Speak as a 2nd Language" would be useful for this thick-skulled canine, but I'm pretty sure they're not offering that at the local community colleges.

The little girlie spent the night in one of our large plastic dog crates, making a nest out of an old towel and a comfy car blanket.

Morning came, peace was still evident ... all was well in the backyard. It was amazing to actually see a JRT smaller than Brandy.

After water, an attempt at food and a bathroom break, I loaded the cutie up into the car and set off for work.

Half way to there I balked, I just couldn't do it - I couldn't bear dropping this overly friendly, people craving, house trained, cute little senior citizen off at the humane society. A dog like this little one wouldn't fair well in a sterile cage all day. Decision made, I took her to the office with me. I think she thanked me for that. The old girl slept on one of my sweaters beside my desk for most of the day.

I called the humane society right away and left a message asking if anyone was looking for their JRT. Low-and-behold, someone was frantically looking, and I had just the dog - their dog! What a huge sigh of relief that was. This little dog was obviously well-loved, and I couldn't bear the thought of her not being re-united with her family. This is the happy ending that I was looking for.

I was put in touch with the teary-eyed owner, and agreed she would pick up Lucy, who now had a name, after work. So I had had a partner in the office today, a popular partner just like Brandy was when she joined me there. Why can't dogs be at work all the time? They make a day in the working world just a little easier to bear.


Lucy has now been re-united with her very thankful family, and I'm ecstatic that we were able to help make this happen. How could you resist this little 11 year old beauty? Thank Goodness for happy endings!