America's Next Top Dog Model?

Our dog park friends, Bill and Nat, are amazing professional dog photographers for Photo Lab Pet Photography. Recently, they issued a casting call for dogs to model in a few photo shoots for clients' products and services. There were certain requirements, like your dog needed to be a certain size/weight, needed solid sit/stay skills, should be comfortable with new situations and people. Cabana was a little big for their needs (I think they wanted dogs under 45 lbs), but I decided to submit her anyway (she's about 57 lbs). I selected a few good photos I had taken and included a description of her abilities, one of which is that she is VERY used to posing for pictures, thanks to my perpetual camera in hand. I honestly didn't think Cabana would be chosen, but to my surprise, Cabana was selected! Skeptic that I am, though, maybe ALL the dogs got selected. I really don't know.

So last week, Cabana and I were asked to meet the photographers at Crissy Field in San Francisco. I have lived in the Bay area for over 20 years, but I had NEVER been to Crissy Field! (If you are surmising that I don't get out much, your assessment would be accurate.) I have driven by Crissy Field many times, but I had never actually walked around and enjoyed it. It was gorgeous and sunny on the day of the photo shoot, and it was a Lab's paradise. We will definitely go back.

Cabana and I arrived early, and because I wasn't sure what the photo shoot would entail, I hesitated to let Cabana off-leash, even though there were dozens of dogs, wandering around off-leash and playing in the waves. Cabana gave me many disgruntled grunts about not being allowed to join them. But I didn't want Cabana to get wet and dirty, because what if the photographers didn't want a wet, dirty dog for the photo shoot?

But I hated to miss the photo opportunity! I thought, maybe I could take Cabana's leash off for a few quick photos. I asked Cabana to sit and stay, which she dutifully did for me. Such a good girl. I was able to shoot a few frames.

Here's my sweet obedient dog, looking off into the distance, allowing me to perfectly frame the Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge and hills of Marin rising in the background. Ten seconds later, Miss Sweet Obedient was doing this:

And this:

While I thought Cabana was serenely gazing at the horizon, in actuality, she was wistfully watching these dogs play. Who can blame her for running over to them? I laughed and had only myself to chide. I let her play for a few minutes, then took her back to the car where, thankfully, I had some old towels to dry her off.

Our photographer friends arrived, along with their clients, owners of the K9 Scrub Club in San Francisco. Cabana was fabulous about doing everything she was asked to do, except she wouldn't walk while holding toys in her mouth. But she jumped up on picnic tables when prompted, let us put silly clothes on her, modeled various collars and leashes, drank out of a bright pink collapsible water bowl, put her paws up on a rock and held the position. Cabana WORKED it, and Tyra Banks would have been proud.

After the photo shoot, I let Cabana run around all she wanted. She had earned it!


I won't get to see the photos from the product shoot until they are actually published on the K9 Scrub Club website. But Bill and Nat gave me a Polaroid shot that day, as a keepsake of the experience. Their work is SO fantastic, I can't wait to see them. If you'd like photos of your pets, be sure to check out Photo Lab Pet Photography--they love animals and their job, and it shows.

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Treasure Island

Despite having lived in the San Francisco Bay area for over 20 years, I had never been to Treasure Island until today. My older daughter and I, along with Cabana, braved the rain-soaked roads to see if we could find any treasures at the dog-friendly Treasure Island Flea Market.

Cabana wore her yellow raincoat, for protection from the elements and for looking cute (more for the latter than the former). Nesquik was at the event, giving away free chocolate milk. Too bad Cabana can't have a taste, but she sure matches the truck, down to the black line along the bottom. Except that Cabana hasn't been side-swiped, which is more than I can say about the truck.

The rain didn't keep too many people away. The historic World's Fair building was packed, making shopping, especially with a 55-pound dog, a bit of a challenge. Here, Cabana seems to be looking around to make sure no one is going to step on her tail.

Outside, the booths were much less congested, and we were able to shop our socks off. The socks were a great deal, and my daughter and I each bought 4 pair. (After seeing these photos, I realize more than ever that Cabana's raincoat is too small for her. See her scruff bulging out the top? I recently bought some fabric to make her a better one, but we've had so little rain until now. Once I make the new raincoat, we'll likely have clear skies for months.)

Two of my serious sock selections are made of the softest organic cotton, mmmmm. The other two, I couldn't resist--how can I call myself a dog-lover and not have at least a couple pairs of dog-themed socks? I guess it's true what they say about one man's treasure....

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Shopping in Sonoma

One of my favorite places is The Plaza in Sonoma, CA. There are fabulous little boutique shops to browse in and a vast selection of superb restaurants. I worked for a graphic design firm just one house off The Plaza for over three years. I was always too busy working to do much shopping, but thanks to lunch meetings, I did get to eat at quite of few of the restaurants. That was a huge perk.

Today, I had to drop off a few Sheekoo orders in Sonoma. I didn't stop for lunch this time, but I indulged myself by doing some long-overdue dog-friendly shopping on The Plaza, with Cabana in tow.

Here's my little yellow dog among the yellow leaves.

Cabana sniffed the tail-end of this llama (or is it an alpaca?) outside the Native American Secrets store for quite some time. But after I pulled out my camera, of course she wouldn't do it anymore.

The highlight of our shopping trip was Three Dog Bakery. This is a place that I've passed by a million times and had never gone in before (the graphic design job was pre-Cabana). Wow, what a fun place! They have way more than just baked goods, too--lots of toys, collars and leashes, dog clothing, etc. On the door, it says, "Owners on leash welcome."

So many yummy treats to pick from! What to choose, what to choose....

This is what I ended up getting. You fill this Christmas tree with the little stuffed toys, and the dog works to get the little toys out, kind of like a puzzle. I also got two little frosted "pupcakes"--aren't they so cute in the box?

My human family members are going to be rather upset with me since I only bought yummy treats for Cabana and none for them. Ruh roh, guess I'll be the one in the dog house!

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Have You Missed Us?!

I hope the answer is yes! We took Cabana on vacation with us all last week, down the California coast to the San Luis Obispo area and to Los Angeles. It was a great trip, and Cabana was a trooper. She is a wonderful traveler, adapting to all the different places and situations we threw at her--some with a bit of difficulty, but always doing her best to please us.

There's so much to tell that I will break the trip up into several posts, starting tomorrow. For now, here's Cabana on a morning hike in the hills of Santa Margarita, a little town about 20 minutes from San Luis Obispo. We stayed in a beautiful home on 350 acres of open preserve, and Cabana and I enjoyed finding new trails to explore everyday. In this photo, we ventured up a steep incline and found ourselves on what felt like the top of the world--the view was breathtaking!

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Dog-Friendly Healdsburg

Last week, my daughters, Cabana and I took a day trip to the town of Healdsburg, a very hip winery town of cute shops, fabulous restaurants, rolling hills and vineyards. My daughters love Healdsburg and say they'd like to live there someday. I'd love it if they did end up living there, so I could visit them often.

Thankfully for Cabana, Healdsburg is also a dog-friendly town. We had lunch at a little French cafe called Costeaux. The waiter even brought Cabana three homemade dog biscuits and a bowl of water. Cabana was so well-behaved, with a steady down-stay by our table the whole time we ate (granted, the homemade dog biscuits helped occupy her). When Cabana was a puppy in training, one thing we never did master was her restaurant etiquette--so I was really pleased that she has matured into a polite restaurant companion.

Most of the stores on the Healdsburg Plaza allow dogs to enter. Understandably, Snowbunny, an organic frozen yogurt shop, can't allow dogs. But their yogurt is super delicious, so my daughters went in to order while Cabana and I waited outside.

We sat under the gazebo in the middle of the Plaza to eat our yogurts. I had Cabana sit in the center so I could snap this photo. While I was taking the photo, my daughters overheard some people laughing at Cabana as they passed by!! One of them splayed out his arms and hands in a gesture that imitated Cabana's hind legs. Harumph, what a wise guy.

Cabana has always had a silly sit, which was a concern in my Tuesday Topic from a year ago! Some things never change!

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Dog Friendly Grove

This is The Grove shopping center in West Hollywood. It is a fabulous and popular outdoor mall, frequented by many celebrities. On past seasons of American Idol, they've taken contestants to shop here and have often shown Ryan Seacrest walking around The Grove, interviewing shoppers about how the contestants did.

The Grove is super dog-friendly. Most of the stores allow dogs to enter, and some even have containers of dog treats by the door. Those Hollywood-types like to take their dogs everywhere, so every time I've been there, I've seen tons of chihuahuas and bulldogs. But unfortunately, no yellow Labs...yet!

My sister lives right across the street from The Grove. We were there visiting this past weekend. Cabana didn't get to go with us this time--but next time, Cabana's going shopping at The Grove!

We left Cabana with some very nice friends of ours. This was the first time Cabana has been cared for by non-puppy raisers. I wrote out about 2 single-spaced pages of notes for them! How much to feed, what toys, how to walk, how to relieve, etc. Ay ya, they probably thought I was crazy. I did say that they could do things however they wanted, but I wanted them to have the information for reference, in case they had questions.

Cabana got a great report, and they were impressed by how well-trained she is--especially with how fast she relieves on command. She had no accidents and gave them no trouble of any sort. She's such a good girl, and she loves new situations and people, so I'm sure she was enthralled and curious about everything.

But she's happy to be back to her own bed, as we all are. Now, if we could just STOP with all the rain!!! We messed up our perfect record of walking everyday in January, since we were out of town. Still, other than those two days when we were away, we've gotten in our walk everyday this month. Even this morning, we walked with the cold wind and rain pelting us. It wasn't pleasant!

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