Take A Picture of Your Dog

Bella & Her Bone

The weekend before Bella passed, I was lucky enough to have scheduled a photo session with Miss Elisabeth Caren (Elisabeth Caren Photography.) She is an amazing photographer who I also have the pleasure of being friends with. She does still photography on movie and film sets and she also does fashion and celebrity shoots.  Yep she’s pretty fancy, but she also is a devoted dog mom who has done amazing work photographing dogs.

With the book coming out, I have been asked for PR pictures and had been thinking about setting up a shoot with Elisabeth. But truth be told I’d been in saving mode preparing to take on the expenses related to promoting the book. But again truth be told, I’m terrible about denying myself something I want, I can be fabulously vain and also mostly I really wanted Elisabeth-quality photos of Bella. So I decided to blow my budget and go for the pics, and thank god.

Me & B

It’s hard to believe Bella would be gone just three days later.  Getting the pictures done with Elisabeth were both divine and as far as I’m concerned divine intervention. Elisabeth spent hours with us and took hundred and hundred of frames. She is so thorough and thoughtful. Take a look at a few of my favorites as well at some simple tips about to to take the best pictures of your dog!

SIMPLE BACKGROUND

Keep the background of your photo as simple as possible. Your dog should be the center of attention within the frame with no distractions or clutter. Nothing ruins an otherwise good picture like a random soda can, pile of papers or worse lurking in the background.

NATURAL LIGHT-FILLED BACKGROUND

One big problem with dog pictures is red-eye or even green-eye that happens as a result of the flash. To avoid this rather attractive phenomenon, take photos of your dog during the day in a well lit area.

DOWN ON ALL FOURS

Get down on eye level with your dog and make sure that you aren’t too far away. Your dog should be dominant in the frame. A picture in which you are either too far away or too far above the dog will flatten out their cute face.

A GOOD DOG MODEL IS A SEMI-TIRED DOG-MODEL

Getting a dog to sit still can be one of the biggest hurdles to taking a good dog photo. While you don’t want your dog to be so pooped that they can’t appear engaged or alert, you might want to think about running him or her around the block a few times to take the edge off. They might be more apt to sit or lie down for a picture if they’ve just expended a bit of energy.

Squeaky Toys Work Wonders

SQUEAKY TOY

God bless squeaky toys when it comes to taking pictures. These otherwise annoying inventions can make all the difference when trying to get your dog to perk up their ears. The look a dog gets when he or she is focused on something behind the camera will always deliver the best picture possible; that is, if

FAST SHUTTER

Even a tired dog will tend to move in the time between when you press down on the button of a digital camera and when the image is actually captured. For this reason, if it’s possible (OY, I know it’s just another expensive thing to add to the list), get a camera with a short lag time. This way the picture you take is the picture you get. If you’re not able to go out and buy a fancy and fast camera, pull out one of your old film cameras and use it. They tend to have a faster shutter speed and film can still be developed digitally so that you can share your photos… with everyone.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

Finally, remember that your dog is a dog. He or she isn’t a full-time model (most likely) and doesn’t understand how you can be so close to them and not be petting them. You might need to patient with your dog and practice a few times before you get things right. Whatever you do, don’t get frustrated. While they don’t understand your words, they will understand your tone. If you find yourself getting aggravated, take a break and try again in a few minutes. While pictures are important, you can always take more… just don’t take too long

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Walking the Walk

Losing Bella and the aftermath there of- -grieving, taking in a foster, contemplating looking for another forever friend has really put me through my puppy paces.  It is one thing to write about these events in the book and on this blog but certainly another to live them.

Bella & Me Feb 28 by Elisabeth Caren

Bella was no spring chicken when she passed; probably around 12 or 13, maybe? And so for about the last year or maybe six months, especially since the loss of my beloved dog from college, Tucker, I had taken moments as Bella and I did our daily routine just to say to myself: Betsy this drink in. Remember this time fondly because life is precious. Maybe I thought doing that, having that memory would help me control the eventual pain that I knew I would face when she passed.

Um, super good, control-freaktastic idea. But it still totally sucks to lose her. And I am sort of a basket case.

But instead of taking it easy and compensating for the fact I have had major problems sleeping, I somewhat-hastily tried to take in a foster dog.  Her name is Tiki; she is absolutely most elegant, beautiful 10-month old German Shepherd girl I have ever met. She was dumped by her family because she requires medicine that cost about 40 dollars a month. And while every penny counts these days, her former parents could afford it, but just chose not to and turned her into German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County which is a wonderful rescue group that everyone should know of and donate to!

Tiki

While I had never thought of myself as a German Shepherd girl, I love the group and this girl needed a foster. But sadly she was a bit too much dog for me. (I should have never gone for a younger dog, something else I write about in the book. Check out the Senior Dog Project for why Senior Dogs rock.) Tiki really needs a home, even a foster home with a yard (she never peed on the leash once in 3 days) and another dog to play with. I just couldn’t provide that for her. But if you know of anyone who might fit the bill please pass on her info. I do LOVE HER!

Ugh, so through heaving tears I brought her back to rescue- but thankfully GSROC is a rescue not the pound and Tiki is safe and will find great home.  That is why it is ALWAYS a good idea to adopt from a group. Dogs will be safe if it’s not a match and dogs have been fostered first so more can be known about them.

All that goodness aside though, having to bring her back made me, on top of feeling devastated about Bella, feel like an ass. What kind of dog person amd I?

And then I realized I’m a human dog person for lack of a better term. I realize, almost as I write this that I am not a perfect dog owner. Far from it and I hope that writing from that place will make more people relate to the book and this blog. Bella while loved more than any dog I know didn’t eat at the same time every day, and that sometime I left her for an hour longer than I should have. And while she went to doggie bootcamp to get along with other dogs, there was no way I would be able to maintain her good canine manners after the course ended because I couldn’t keep her training up for a variety of reasons which can be best summed up with I’ve been a single girl trying to live my life (dating working, etc.) And that doesn’t mean you can’t be a great loving dog owner. You just have to be smart about it and find the right situation for your life.

Clearly a 10-month old German Shepherd was not the right situation and I will find the right one in time. But just like anything else in life, I have realized the hard way rushing through or into something just isn’t going to take you anywhere you want to be. So I’m going to take my time, miss my baby Bella and see what the Universe sends my way.

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To Live is To Love

As much as I knew it would be coming, Bella’s passing has been beyond devastating. Being a quasi-pragmatist, OK planner/control freak– I tried to intellectualize my way around the pain: I made every right decisions, she experienced far less pain than other dogs with Osteosarcoma and she knew that I love her so deeply–blah blah blah. It ends up that there is no way to work around the stark truth that she is literally missing from my life and that just hurts like hell and it feels weird to go on with normal life without her.

Hall & Oates

I find myself totally fine and then something trips me up and I break out into tears. I do however have a new appreciation for some classic sad songs which now dominate my mental ipod (i.e. I can’t effing get them out of my head.) These tearjerker “classics”include She’s Gone by Hall & Oats and When It’s Over by Sugar Ray; music snob I am not.

And people by thy way (probably many of you reading this) been so supportive and amazing. Thank You all truly so much. I heard some extremely helpful things. One that hit close to home was regarding the sadness and how it’s just different. As opposed to other sadnesses a single girl in her 30′s has no doubt experienced i.e. a bad break-up, being laid off or having a falling out with a friend, when losing a dog  there is of course sadness, but it’s uncomplicated. There is a sweetness to a dog and our relationships  with them. Losing it that connection just hurts; in your gut.

So what to do? For some people it doesn’t feel right not having a dog. I have friends who have beloved dogs and years later can’t even fathom getting another. For me I knew I couldn’t be without one for long. So… meet Zsa Zsa my new foster.

Zsa Zsa

She is a sweet German Shepherd girl who was turned into to Orange German Shepherd Rescue because she has an enzyme disorder and needs 3/4 of a teaspoon of enzyme powder on her food to aid digestion. I love people. She was in boarding and needed a foster and  I needed to give some puppy love. So while I have never pictured myself with a GSD, let’s see how we do!

Bringing  Zsa Zsa into our lives will be quite the test for me. My book, The Complete Single’s Guide To Being A Dog Owner, which is currently available for pre-sale (shameless plug) among other things gives the 411 on bringing a new dog into your home. It seems like god’s little joke that as my book comes out and I will hopefully be sharing dog advice with the world, I am now in the position that I must walk the walk not just talk the talk–i.e. I’ve got to put into practice the very advice I have given! OY!

Of course I am only fostering sweet Zsa Zsa but fingers crossed we are a match!

Stay tuned.

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My Book is On Amazon for Pre-Sale!

I can’t believe it’s real. I am so excited for it to come out. The tentative release date is May 11, 2009. 
I am a VERY informal writer;  god knows how I graduated from college or grad school or even 10th grade. But what I lack in formality (thank god for copy editors) I make up for with a lifetime devoted to dogs and dog rescue.
My intention for the book is to help dog owners and dog owners-to-be know the ins and outs of dog ownership. It’s like a ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’  but instead of kids, it’s about DOGS!  Click here to pre-order!

My Book!

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