The planning of the Christmas card starts early.  Kim, the Executive Director of Five Acres and I started discussing the shoot back in July.  The photo shoot took place in early August and since studio Good Dog is without an actual  studio we utilized the conference room at Five Acres.   Kim, Brittany and a few of the wonderful volunteers helped clear the space and braved the extreme heat outside to help me and my two assistants load in.

My two assistants, volunteers as well,  were my good friend and animal advocate, Trina (she made the bandana that Bailey is wearing and has a store on Etsy called Belly Bands by Trina, where she donates many items to rescue groups across the country) and my beautiful thirteen year old niece, Paige.   I thought it would be fun to share images with you from behind the scenes so I handed Paige a camera and asked her to take pictures of whatever was happening.   So here is the shoot through her eyes.

This is Kim, the Executive Director at Five Acres, helping to wrangle Bailey into place.

Bailey had other ideas and decided to come see me.

Bailey thought visiting around the set was much more fun than posing.

This is Sasha, and although she didn’t make it on the card, she’s a natural in front of the camera.  (One of the best things about photographing these wonderful rescue animals are the hugs!)

Kitten time!

That’s a rare image of me in front of the camera on the left and Paige on the right.   Little Girl was a bundle of kitten energy and lots of fun!

This is Rita, the Feline Coordinator, with Brandi.  I believe Rita is a cat whisperer – all the cats love her and migrate to her voice!

Unfortunately we don’t have any behind the scenes of Shadow.  He could be nervous around others so Paige & Trina took Brewster for a walk while Kim and I worked with Shadow.  He was a sweet dog and was very attached to Kim.  Sadly, not too long after this shoot, Shadow was diagnosed with Lupus and had many complications.  He is now at peaceful rest.   This image is an outtake – see how adoringly he looked at Kim.  Such a beautiful example of the love that Five Acres provides these wonderful animals.

Brewster was a bundle of Terrier energy!  He wanted to play and play and play.

Thanks to all the people that helped pull this together, as you can see, many were involved.  Also a special thanks to Treats Unleashed for donating the toys for the shoot and allowing the toys to remain with the shelter for the dogs to enjoy.  Teresa and the gang at all the Treats Unleashed stores are amazing!

The cards can be purchased at the shelter and all of the Treats Unleashed locations around town.  Additionally the cards can be purchased at Canine Cookies and Cream in Old Town St. Charles.   All proceeds from the Christmas card sales go to help the animals at the shelter.  The card is a fun way to spread holiday cheer as well as help out a wonderful organization!

Or maybe you’re in need of some ear entertainment?  Then Angel fits the bill!

These lovely ladies are available for adoption at Five Acres Animal Shelter

One of the greatest blessings we receive from our pets is their gift of comfort.  Whether they hug you, snuggle with you, bring you their favorite toy or just tilt their head in that silly manner – there presence gives pleasure, comfort and joy.  Even more so when we’re feeling down or ill.   There are many scientific studies on the healing benefits of having a pet present in ones life, but what happens when you become too sick to care for your pet and there’s no place else for him to go?  That is what happened to Chester.

I think the reason Chester’s story touched me so, is because his connection to cancer made it personal.  Almost thirteen years ago my Mom was diagnosed with this dreaded disease.  And when she was able to come home for her final days, Quincy, her loyal Australian Shepherd, was by her side.  Quincy not only provided comfort to her as a companion, but it was also comforting for her to know that Quincy would be there for my Dad, when she no longer could.  I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been for my Mom if, during her battle, she had had to worry about where Quincy was going to go or who would take care of him.   Sadly, Chester’s human, fighting her own battle with cancer, didn’t have that luxury.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Chester and his former family, so I asked Brenda, the Canine Coordinator at Five Acres, if she would share more information about Chester with me.  I appreciate that she shared some of the details of the email she received when she initially heard about Chester.   In Chester’s Moms final days she was “beside herself with grief, thinking Chester will be all on his own out there in this world, and even worse put to death.”  Thankfully, the people in this woman’s life cared enough to work diligently to find Chester a safe place and to give her some token of comfort in her remaining time.

Luckily they found Five Acres and this is what Brenda had to say “This was the hardest email I had to read.  All I could think about was this poor lady dying and she’s more worried about her dogs possible being euthanized because her family wasn’t able to care for them.  I wanted to make sure that she would be able to rest in the last few days she had knowing that Chester was going to be cared for and she had nothing to worry about.”

Brenda’s response is the essence of what Five Acres does and why I love to work with them.  They all have such heart and care so much.

If it was possible for me to adopt Chester, I would.  He is a sweet, moose of a dog!  He’s large and so loving.   He’s only four, house broken, good with kids and well behaved.   I can only imagine how confused he must be; having had a loving home and a loving human and now he’s in a shelter.  Yes, Five Acres is the best shelter he could be in – but a home would just be better.

As I was looking through the images the sing-songy line  “Daisy, Daisy” kept going through my head.  It was driving me nuts because I couldn’t remember the words – so I googled.  And Wikipedia provided the answer.  Daisy Bell is a song written in 1892 with the main line being “Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do” – and it goes from there.  And that’s your useless nugget of info for the day!

Stay tuned for more of this lovely fur crew!

You shall meet the others soon, but for now just enjoy his beautiful green eyes!