By Susan Schmitz, owner of A Dog’s Life Photography

Co-authored by Arizona Basset Hound Rescue

Is now available for purchase

Proceeds benefit the Arizona Basset Hound Rescue

Dogs are not just simple household pets. They play many different roles in our lives. They sail through life with us like a yacht captain, cooking up experiences like a chef, while driving us to tears or laughter like a chauffeur. Bassets In Hats portrays how dogs wear many different roles in our lives… They wear a lot of hats.

~ Susan Schmitz

Preview the book below:

Available in three different price points. Click on your desired version to be directed to Blurb to complete your purchase:

Premium Version (Hardcover with premium paper) – $46.95
Standard Version (Hardcover with lighter paper) – $41.95
Economy Version (Smaller book with softcover and lighter paper) – $19.95

All photos in this calendar were taken by A Dogs Life Photography. Here’s a slideshow of the pages:

5. Train them. Teach them the rules.  Become the leader of the pack.  Be consistent in your messages so they are clear on what’s expected of them.  When the same behavior leads to the same consequence (whether good or bad) the message will be received.  Just think of them as speaking a different language.  You still have to communicate in order to live peacefully.

4. Do at least one “dog thing” a day with them. Get silly.  It will make you smile.  Have fun with it.  You need to play too.  Throw the ball, get down on your hands and knees and play with them, go for a walk, whatever it takes for him to just be a dog.  In my house we do this funny thing.  Greyhounds make this great howling noise called a “roo”.  Maybe you’ve heard of it.  It basically sounds like you would think only they hold it out at the end, “roooooooooooo…”  Very cute!  So we all do a group roo each night lead by yours truly.  It’s funny to watch them.  Each dog has its own voice.  They get to let pure instinct take over for a moment.  It’s really helped bring my super shy old girl out of her shell.

3.  Feed them. Have one person at a time feed them for a little while (say two weeks or so), then switch it up.  That person should feed them around the same time and in the same location for every meal.  When your dog has to rely on that person for their food, he starts to pay attention to them more.  It’s like earning respect in the dog world.

2.  Snuggle with them. Feel their energy.  Let them feel yours.  Touch them.  Take a moment to stop what you are doing and just pay attention to them.  It will bring your stress level down.  I swear.  You can actually notice a difference.  In addition to that, as alpha it is important to acknowledge them.  Perhaps in the past they’ve had to resort to doing negative things to get your attention?

1. Show them that they make you happy. Get that high pitched, over-excited-cheerleading-tryouts voice.  Clap your hands.  Say their names… you get the idea.  Let them dance around in that glory for a few seconds.  Really stress the fact that they are the best dog you have ever known.   Then when you’re done, give them each a treat.  Making the alpha happy is what they live for.

I know that there are a million things in each day that we have to do and sometimes things like this get lost in the shuffle.  What has happened in the past is over.  Your dog lives in the moment.  It’s never too late to start.  He is very adaptable and with positive motivation and lots of love and support, your home can be a calm and peaceful place once again.  Just be patient… and consistent.

~Laura

Meet Lacy!  She is one of our Poodle Models and is owned by Lou Murphy, President of the AZ Poodle Rescue.  She was such a cutie to work with!  Very food motivated!  If you have a dog like that, you are really in luck!  You can teach them anything.  See how well she does “sit”?  She’s also ready for “shake”.  She’s adorable.

The following information is based on my own personal experience with my dog that has CAH. You must consult your own veterinarian for the specific needs of your dog. There are many different forms of Hepatitis in dogs that require a different form of treatment. Do not follow the advice below without the approval from your vet!

According to my vet and much research I have done over the internet, one of the keys to managing copper toxicity Chronic Active Hepatitis is to drastically reduce the amount of copper in your dog’s diet. To maintain control over this, I have been feeding my dog a diet of half homemade low-copper foods and half Innova brand dry dog food. She was initially on strictly a homemade diet when she was first diagnosed. This diet consists of chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, rice, green beans, hard boiled eggs and flax oil. If you are making your own food for your dog, you may want to click here to see a list of the copper content in common foods. Once her liver levels were under control, I decided to add in some kibble to give her teeth something to crunch on and to give my kitchen stove a bit of a break! I chose Innova because I had heard that it was one of the best foods with the lowest copper content. My dogs love it and Misty’s liver levels have remained under control for as long as I have been using it.

Even though Misty’s current diet has done wonders to keep her CAH in check, I have decided to completely change it. Why fix something that isn’t broken? Two reasons…. 1.) Cooking homemade food for your dog is a pain in the ass. 2.) I found some premium dry dog foods with a much lower copper content than Innova.

I have been on a quest to find a convenient yet comparable substitute for the homemade diet for several years now with no luck. I have looked at dehydrated foods, raw foods, canned foods and freeze-dried foods and all of them seemed to have either a copper additive (good for most dogs, not dogs with CAH) or they had organ meat in them (organ meat is high in copper).  While exhibiting at the 2010 Phoenix Pet Expo, I stopped by the Pawsitive Foods booth to see if they had any suggestions for me.  They gave me a brochure on N-R-G dehydrated dog food. I was excited to see that the Optimum Diet line did not contain a copper additive nor did it have any organ meat. Woooo Hooo! Perhaps this is the homemade substitute that I have been looking for??

A few days after the show, I got a call from Pawsitive Foods. Not only did they remember to follow up with me, but they also took the time to search through all of their available foods and prepare a breakdown of the copper content in each of them for me. Click here to read a recent blog post describing their remarkable customer service. Here is the breakdown that they gave me of premium dog foods and their nutrient contents, sorted by copper content lowest to highest:

After reviewing this data, I decided to give the Great Life Grain Free Chicken dry dog food a try because it has half the copper content as Innova. I also decided to switch out the homemade food for the NRG dehydrated food. I didn’t want to make this switch all at once because it would upset my little girls stomach too much. Also, I wanted to introduce one new food at a time so I could tell which one was the culprit if she started showing any CAH symptoms. I decided to start by switching out the dry food. I weaned her off the Innova after about 4 days and she is now on 1/2 Great Life dry food and 1/2 of homemade food. I think it is going pretty well so far except that she is very gassy! Peeee Ewwww! She isn’t gobbling the dry food up like she did with the Innova. She picks out the homemade food first and then leaves the dry food for a while before she goes back to it. This is very odd for her because usually her whole bowl is empty in 30 seconds flat then she proceeds to hover over the Chihuahua’s bowl to snatch up any leftovers when she is done.

I’m going to give it a few more days to see if she develops a taste for the food and whether her intestines calm down on it before I try the switch over to NRG. I’ll keep an update going on this blog post so those of you that are looking for the perfect diet for your dog with Chronic Active Hepatitis can follow the results and make your own decisions with the guidance of your vet.

Here’s a photo of my Misty Blue looking happy and healthy.  She’s missing most of her hair because she also has Color Dilution Alopecia (also common in Blue Dobermans) but it doesn’t seem to bother her much.

Update 7/10/10  – Misty is totally on 1/2 great Life dry food and 1/2 NRG Optimum chicken dehydrated food and she is doing just fine. She still doesn’t seem to like the taste as much as her previous diet but I’m hoping it grows on her. Life is so much easier now that I don’t need to spend a half a day every other week slaving over a hot stove for her (although she is worth it!).

5. The stretch that the yoga pose is named after… downward facing dog. The stretch to end all stretches.  Watching them enjoy every moment and get the most out of it just makes me smile.  This stretch takes precedent over everything.  If I call them to come and get a treat they will prolong the reward if a stretch is in order.  Love it.
4. Dreaming in their sleep. Now I don’t know if greyhounds as a breed are more prone to this but I certainly have never seen dogs dream the way mine do.  Little whines, twitching feet… who can resist?  I just hope that those dreams contain a million running bunnies to chase!
3. When they squeak that squeaky toy. Squeak, squeak, squeak… so cute!  They are learning that their own actions are causing a reaction.  They take joy in making the noise.  It reminds me to take pleasure in the simple things.  There’s definitely something to be said for being easily amused!
2.  When two or more of them play together. Super cute!  When “siblings” break out into a spontaneous play session there is always laughter to follow!  The play bow, the tough act with teeth showing… it’s a game of chicken.  Who will be the first to pounce?  In my house it’s usually the puppy that will not be able to contain herself and then it’s like tag.  There they go, running like maniacs all around my living room.
1.  The pure joy they get when you walk in the door. My old girl, Sashi,  just lights up when she sees me.  Her ears perk up and she does this little prance.  Her excitement is barely contained.   They are so happy; I swear my dogs are smiling.  It is easily the highlight of my day.

As I sit here and think about these, I can’t help but smile.  I hope that you are able to share these fantastic moments with your fur kids.  Its times like these that help ease the pain of everyday living.  I don’t know how non-dog owners do it.  My stress level decreases tenfold once I am back in the company of my animals.  It’s a symbiotic relationship.  The true definition of unconditional love.

~Laura

Bodhi and Sashi lounging in Susan's backyard.

I only had a few minutes before the doors opened at the Pet Expo so I quickly asked Julie if she could take a look when she wasn’t busy to see if she had any food that didn’t have any copper added to it. (Dogs with copper toxicity Chronic Active Hepatitis cannot metabolize copper and it builds up to toxic levels in their liver. This is the reason why she has been on a homemade diet for so long.) Later in the day. Laura stopped by their booth and they gave her a huge bag full of samples of some dehydrated all-natural foods that she thought might work for Misty. We thought that was super nice of them and I was excited to give them a try!

A few days later, I received a message from Julie with a long list of high quality foods that they carry. They listed out the nutrients and sorted by copper content. She and her husband had taken the time to go through every bag of food, figure it all out and type it all up for me. WOW! Not only did they remember to follow up with me, they completely went out of their way to make sure that I had all the info I could ever need.

The outstanding customer service did not stop there! There were numerous email conversations back and forth about which one would be the best food for my dog. Julie from Pawsitive foods was incredibly helpful and eager to make sure that I was 100% satisfied with my choice.  We finally decided on the right food for Misty’s needs, a combination of Great Life chicken grain-free kibble and NRG Optimum Chicken with Vegetables and Oats.  Then. get this… SHE DELIVERED IT TO MY HOUSE!! I was blown away. When I asked why they deliver (because it must take up a ton of their time), she said that they want to make sure that their customers are getting their money’s worth. They just charge enough to cover their gas to get the food to them. You also have a choice to come pick it up from them or have them ship it to you.

Seriously… these people are awesome. You must give them a try. Check out their website at www.pawsitivefoods.com  or give them a call at 602-689-9895. You won’t be disappointed. If you have dogs with special food needs, they will stop at nothing to get you what you need. They are super knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating.  And they support local rescue groups, too!

I will be posting the list of dog foods and their copper contents along with Misty’s progress on the new foods in a separate post. If you found this website because you were searching for answers about CAH, you will probably want to check that out. In the meantime, click here for more info on Chronic Active Hepatitis and how Misty has managed to live with it for so long.

~Laura

The Lessons We’ve Learned From Our Dogs:

• Always run to greet loved ones when they come home.
• Recognize the ecstasy of fresh air and wind in your face.
• Take naps.
• Stretch before rising.
• Run, romp and play daily.
• Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
• Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
• On warm days, lie on your back in the grass.
• When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
• Enjoy long walks.
• Be loyal.
• Never pretend to be something you’re not.
• If what you want is buried, dig deep until you find it.
• When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

~Posted by Bob Schieffer on CBS’s Face the Nation website

Even though she came into Mayday pretty chewed up from a recent dog fight, her foster Mom looked past all of this and found her to be an awesome girl. Big Sexy has lots of personality and charm, complete with snorting and grunting, but beware this girl can snore!!

Big Sexy was found by a young college girl. The circumstances are a little unclear, but looking at Big Sexy’s wounds, it was clear that she had gotten into a really bad dog fight. After being taken in by her foster mom, she was taken to the vet and was put on antibiotics to help heal her infections.

Big Sexy lives with 3 other dogs and 2 cats in her foster home, but it has become clear, when bringing in any new dogs, that she needs time to adjust to the new dog, as she gets a little overly stimulated, and will need a firm experienced owner to correct the behavior. Once she is corrected, she can usually get along with no issues. This behavior probably stems from having to defend herself in the past.

She has been in foster care for 4 months now, and has become a different dog, she loves to go for walks and does not pull on the leash, which is nice, she loves to wrestle with her foster siblings, and enjoys running around the yard chasing them. She was recently introduced to the pool and doesn’t care for swimming but will get in when she gets too warm. Big Sexy is absolutely adorable, she is smart, and learns quickly. She is crate trained, spayed, and micro-chipped and is up to date on her vaccinations.

For more info on Big Sexy, contact Mayday Pit Bull Rescue through their website at  www.maydaypitbullrescue.org.

Now I’m not a Rockefeller so I don’t have money to throw out needlessly but this quite honestly is the best $2.50 I can spend on my dogs’ health.  They drink more of the bottled stuff than they ever did of the stuff from the faucet.  Not to mention, it is super cool if you travel with your dogs because you take the same water they always drink.  So there are no upset tummies and consequential potty disasters.  Nothing changes for them…except of course for the scenery.

Speaking of water and traveling with your pet, as you may know, we took a road trip last weekend for the Greyhound Gathering and I used the opportunity to try out my latest cool gadget.  It’s called the Flydog Spill Proof Pet Travel Bowl.  This handy thing fits on the back of one of the front seats and will not spill no matter what.  Trust me, I turned that sucker upside down and still couldn’t get the water to come out.  It’s super cool.
This is what it looks like:

My dogs loved it too.  They drank out of it every time they got in the car.  They took to it right away.  The trick was to leave it out for them as their water bowl at home for a few days beforehand.  So they were used to drinking out of it and knew exactly what to do when they saw it in the car.

It made for a more relaxing trip for all of us and even led to a puppy breakthrough.  Drum roll please… Chloe went potty on her leash for the first time ever on this trip!  I’m such a proud mom!  Let me tell you, I’ve travelled over 2,000 miles with her both on my way home to Chicago and back, where she did not go to the bathroom for three days.  I had to take drastic measures at one point.  You don’t want to know.  I believe that not only keeping the same water but also having it available for her constantly made it happen.

So be a regular at your water store.  Buy those big jugs in 2 or 3 gallon sizes.  Once you have the bottle it only costs a few bucks to fill it.  Your dogs are worth that much.

Here is the photo as submitted on our Facebook page:

Tips for taking this type of photo:

 I had a hard time with this photo because it must have been taken at a very low quality setting on the camera. So, there was a lot of digital noise that degraded the photo. Also, since the dog was laying on a blanket with a very bright color, a lot of the red was reflected back onto the dog which made his fur look odd. I would recommend using at least the medium quality setting on the camera and using a neutral color blanket.

Tips for editing the photo in Photoshop:

I had a hard time getting the noise out of this photo even using the most advanced techniques. So, I decided not to give it more of a graphic image feel so I could get away with smoothing out the colors.

I started by making a duplicate layer copy then using the “Cartooned” filter in the Clean set of filters by Topaz Labs. I played with sliders so I had some crisp edges.

I reduced the opacity of the cartooned layer to 75% to bring back a little of the detail from the original photo.

Then I used the clone stamp tool to get rid of the black thing behind the couch and the healing brush to clean up the hair on the blanket.

I then bumped up the vibrance and saturation both 16% to give it a little punch.

There was too much red being reflected onto the dog from the blanket so I added a selective color adjustment layer and in the reds category I changed the values as follows – Cyan  +8, Magenta -15, Yellow -3, black +21.

Here’s what I ended up with:

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