Beautiful dogs rescued from Lebanon!

On Tuesday I got to meet a group of four dogs, just brought over from a shelter in Lebanon. They have been in shelters most of their lives, and due to the abundance of dogs in the shelter that they came from, and the lack of funding, they were skinny and scruffy, although taken care of to the best of the wonderful volunteers' ability.

Now these dogs are learning how to live in Canada in houses, and are surprisingly sweet, social and smart!

Welcome to Canada, Mum, Lexie, River and Otis!!
Visit www.hopefulhearts.ca for contact and adoption information. Doggie profiles will be up soon!

Mum:

UPDATE: Read Mum's story on NBC! The Daily Nightly - MSNBC.com

Mum has been through a lot in life, and somehow held on to some faith and trust in humans!! At some point, some cruel "person" cut off her ears and tried to feed them to her to make her "tough". Mum though, determined not to turn into the dog they wanted her to be, remained sweet and loving. She must have known Hopeful hearts would someday reward her for her sweetness :) Because of her fluffy, border collie fur, her owl-like tufts around whats left of her ears give her an extra endearing quality, instead of hindering her beauty! Anyone who brings home this sweet girl will be met daily by grateful, happy hugs and kisses!


River:

River was named "Goofy" before he came here, and we are beginning to learn why! River is a very social, friendly, happy-go-lucky guy! He wants to be in the middle of everything, with all eyes on him. He'll stick his face under your hand for pets, give you goofy kisses, and plop himself on your lap. This guy is just happy to be here! He's been in a shelter since a month of age, and is happy to be living in a loving, comfortable foster home. River is still learning to socialize with strange dogs, but is happy and friendly around the ones he knows. Humans are never a problem with River, however. He gladly sat as his foster mom picked a tick out of his skin, and just enjoyed getting any kind of touch by a human hand. I don't think it'll take long for him to learn that no one will hurt him, and he can trust the other dogs.


Lexie:

Lexie instantly melted my heart. She is a timid girl, and still quite frightened and cautious about her surroundings. However, as scared as she is, she trusts that she is in good hands now. Tail between her legs, she started off slinking low to the ground, through the vets office. She stood, quiet and patient as the vet poked and prodded at her, making sure everything was fine. As her surroundings became familiar, her tail started to come up, and she got curious enough to sniff around, put her chin up and perk her ears. While I was holding her leash, she came over to cuddle, gave me kisses, and put her head on my lap for pets. Other dogs were playing around, getting tangled in leashes and bumping into each other, and Lexie just didn't care. She stood amongst it, just taking everything in. She has especially attached herself to her foster brother, River, and will walk up and lick his goofy face! Lexie would love to have her own person to cuddle with her and pet her velvet ears.


Otis:

Otis is a walking smily face! He's a lanky, athletic looking greyhound mix, and although calm, does not spend much time lying around! He's a happy guy, and loves to be around people. He hangs out and takes in the atmosphere, without having to be right in the middle of it. Everything about him is full of character, from his long spindly legs, to the tiny scars on his head that give him  a bit of machismo! He doesn't even seem to like being on the furniture, so his new parents can rest assured that the couch is all theirs! Otis is still learning that other male dogs will no longer be a threat to him, but is beginning to trust that his human will keep him safe.

Thank you to Hopeful Hearts, for giving ANY dog in need, a chance at a better life!!

Puppies Puppies Puppies!!!!

Earlier today I went out with Roz again to take photos of a litter of puppies that has just come into the possession of Hopeful Hearts. They are the cutest things I have ever seen. I couldn't sleep tonight.. probably from too much puppy excitement, so I got up and finished editing! Hopefully after this I'll have it out of my system.

Puppies will be up on www.hopefulhearts.ca soon, for anyone who is interested in adopting one of these amazing little creatures!

*** UPDATE*** Info is now up on the site. click on the puppies' names to get to their page on the Hopeful Hearts website!

Introducing Bear and her lovely (and more importantly LAST) litter of puppies!!

Poppy

 

 

  

Dahlia

 

 

 

Clover

 

 

Daisy

 

 

Unfortunately these 2 are not available for adoption at this time :(

 

 I adopted this one.... in my dreams!!

 

 

 

 

Snowy Adventures!

I hope all of you and your furry friends are making the best of the snowy weather, instead of letting it get you down! I know my girls, our furry friends and I have been having a blast! Little Shenzi hates the snow, but bundle her up enough, and even she'll be a trooper!

May I also introduce in this post, our new friend, Bonquisha! This tiny polar bear is the offspring of my sister's 2 dogs, Chronic and Ace (She has since made sure that this accident will not happen again!)

Bonquisha made her home in the heart of Lucas Nault, my fantastic hair stylist! She is a brave, friendly, docile and SUPER photogenic little girl. I am a proud auntie to this little pup, and see her as much as I possibly can! Some shots of her are in our winter fun photos, so you can see what all the fuss is about!

Winter fun in London:

Stay tuned for some adorable "Puppy Love" Valentines photos!

Phodographer is a model!

And a poodle!

Last Monday, I did a self portrait for a show at that will be on at Arts and Architecture gallery, in the new year. This portrait will also become my future business card, web and advertisement image!

It was a pleasure to work with my team of dog models, Boscoe, Curry, Marley, Lola, Charlie Brown, and Buster, as well as their lovely owners, and my own 2 girls, Shenzi and Sadie!  Also my hair stylist, Lucas Nault, and makeup artist, Kit Sena did an incredible job making me look like a "high fashion poodle" for the shoot!

I took some of my doggie friends for a very long walk preshoot, and the rest went for long walks with their owners as well. They were, for the most part, all nice and calm, receptive, and very well behaved!

The photo shoot itself was a little chaotic. As soon as all of the dogs got on set, one would always get up and leave! In the end though, we had a great, short and sweet shoot. My Art Director and Modeling Coach for the day was my business partner Viresh Pujara, who did a fantastic job making me stay in "model mode" while the chaos went on around me, so that when the dogs were finally ready for a few moments, so was I!

Here are some snapshots of pre-shoot preparations. The final shot, hilarious outtakes, as well as portraits of our doggie stars will be up after I get my new mac! Stay tuned!

 

Sadie and Marley keeping me company while I wait for my hair to dry

 

Curry wants to play!

 

Charlie hiding under my cape from all these crazy dogs!

 

Sadie's resting up for her big gig - she's a pro

Kit, makeup artist, cuddling with Shenzi after doing a fantastic job on my doggie-face!

Lucas, Hair stylist, goofing around with a demonic looking Shenzi

 

Gettin my hair did!

 

Teasing me, by the looks of it!

 

Getting set up to shoot

Marley enjoying her rare couch time after the shoot

We were three tired girls at the end of the day, and my hair needed some serious TLC!