What We Did This Weekend.

We finally made it down to Huntington Dog Beach over the Labor day weekend. I’ve been really wanting to go, but the weather didn’t cooperate with our schedule…until now.

So we packed up a bunch of beach towels, sunscreen, water, and Madison’s toys and headed over to Dog Beach. The weather was a tad overcast, but it was perfect for our little dog who is very sensitive and gets hot really easily.

Madison is a people-watcher, so she seemed to enjoy the beach, the sand, and all the activity around her.

As you can see in the photos, she seems pretty happy to be outside at the beach. After all, she IS a California dog.

Now if we could only get her to like the water. I wish I would have caught a photo of how upset Madison was after we attempted to get her in the water…she was NOT a happy camper.

Credit: All photos taken by me.

Maddy’s chompers.

My blogging is pretty random, just like my brain. Hope you don’t mind.

Right now, a priority in our household is our dog’s teeth. We got Madison from a shelter, so her health history and background is a mystery to us. That being said, we couldn’t have gotten luckier in finding her. She is pretty much the best dog you could ever ask for and we love her.

(top: Madison’s big brown eyes, bottom: a shaggy haired Madison wearing one of her daddy’s ties)

Back to the topic at hand though…Madison’s teeth. This miniature poodle has some bad chompers. Plaque. Chipped. One “dead” tooth. It’s not good. We wonder if she was abused by her prior owners or if she was just on the streets too long on her own.

You can see just how bad her teeth are in the pictures below. In fact, in the photo on the right you can even see her chipped tooth. My poor baby.

In dogs, dental disease is a big deal. Tartar can build up on the teeth and cause a serious gum infection. This infection can spread to the heart valves and kidneys causing organ failure.

That is why Madison’s teeth worry us so much. Her veterinarian can clean them, but I worry about her being put under anesthesia with her being such a little dog. So, before taking that step, we are trying other things (i.e. brushing her teeth, special dental dog food, and dental treats).

(I took these photos to compare how her teeth improve)

We were recommended Greenie’s dental chews by a neighbor. They use these daily and their dog has sparkling perfect teeth (note: this is NOT a sponsored post). Let me point out though, that their dog was not a rescue and never had the build-up Madison does.

Regardless, we are hoping they work for Madison. So far, she is actually eating them, so that’s a good start. Hopefully I’ll have some nice “after” photos to show in the future.

Credit (from top to bottom): The first photo was taken by me, the second, third, and fourth were taken by my love with his cell phone camera, the fifth and sixth were taken by me, and the seventh is a photo from Greenies own website of one of their dental chews.

Shoot Along – Telling the Story

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Giver’s Log and Carrie Butler Photography have teamed-up and put together a Shoot Along complete with daily tips and tutorials to help people like me, to improve their photography skills.

Well, today is just day one, so keep that in mind when you look at my day’s photos. I can’t wait to learn more and see some progression in my photos.

Today’s assignment was Telling the Story. “What is part of your life right now that you’ll want to remember in a couple years?” In the tutorial, they said that the key to this is to consider what story you are trying to tell with the photo you are taking at the time, and then, carefully composing your photo to include all the characters in that story.

Since at the moment I am unemployed and a stay-at-home-mom to my dog Madison, it is Madison that primarily takes up my days. Therefore (of course!), Madison was my subject for this assignment.

I take care of Madison’s grooming myself, because (1) I have the time and (2) she hates going to the groomer. She doesn’t make it easy for me though. Madison will only sit still for awhile before she moves around and then hides where I can’t get at her.

Here are photos I took during one of her self-determined grooming breaks. She moved herself to a nice warm place in the sun. If you look closely, you can see how I have started to trim near her back and body, but her head and legs are still giant poofs of messy curly fur. Hopefully one day I will get to finish her haircut.

Apparently Madison is part bird. Hidden in her tail, I found a small white feather. I wonder how long that’s been hiding in there.

Day one: OVER

Tomorrow’s tutorial is slated as lighting, I believe. Can’t wait!

Credit: All photos taken by myself.