Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

Digital Painting of a gorgeous chocolate Labrador at the beach.

Chocolate Labrador Beach Painting Pet Portrait

Things are progressing along, the Fine Art and Photography gallery have now been added, (but they arn’t linked from the front page yet, and the slideshow isn’t working at this stage).

The links page has been set up and split into different categories so that there are not too many links on each page.  The Commissions, Prints, gifts and merchandise pages are up, as is the original fine art for sale page, but I havn’t been able to add any pieces yet.

It will be a few more days that I first expected to get everything sorted out with the website, unfortunately we had storm damage from a tornado that went through our neighbourhood nearly two weeks ago and we have had to empty the furniture and contents of half of our house into the other half of the house to get the damaged carpet replaced.  As much as I hate doing it, it is a good excuse to de-clutter and get rid of things we no longer use so its going to take longer to get the house re-organised than originally anticipated…great timing of course (not!) as the kids are also on holidays.

I have a number of new oil paintings that I have been working on in between the last few commissions that I have, including some wildlife – a meerkat, a lemur, a snow leopard and a few dogs – a pug, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a German Shepherd with plans for a German Shorthaired Pointer, a Chinese Crested and a Golden Retriever, as well as a Border Collie agility piece.

At the moment thought, I can’t get into my studio due to the extra furniture that we have had to put in there, so I will post work in progress photos of them when I get the chance.  And at some stage if I ever get the time,  I need to add some back dated posts about a few awards my artwork won in a show I entered in October last year.  I am hoping to finish up all the commissions by August so that I can focus on my own artwork for a while, so I hope there are no more unexpected interruptions in my life!

There is just not enough hours in the day!

I guess some things are just meant to be. We were not looking for another dog.  At all.  We already have two.  But as we are all besotted with Taj, hubby and I had joked that if a little white faced girl border collie needed a good home, that would be the only 3rd addition we would think about it.

Well guess what?  In a very round about way, through my sister who actually has Siberian Huskies and a Koolie and has recently moved to the country, we have now adopted another Border collie, and yes she is a little girl with a white face!  Her name was Jarrah, which we loved as our block is full of Jarrah trees, but once we got her home, it didn’t seem to suit her as she is small and petite, so hubby has named her Trinity (yup, he’s a matrix fan, plus she is canine-kid number three, and she has 3 black spots on her face).

Isn’t she cute?  Taj is thrilled to have a baby sister.  On the other hand, Tia the ice queen refuses to acknowledge her existance.

I would like to introduce the newest member of our family, a darling little Border Collie puppy that I fell in love with when he was only 4.5 weeks old. You might remember from an earlier post that I was considering an older rescue dog but one that was right for us didn’t come along until I found this little guy.

He is from an ANKC registered breeder and both his parents have been tested clear for the medical conditions that can occur in this breed (eyes, hips, elbows).  His dad is a very successful Agility competitor, and one of his relatives is the Border Collie on the Better Pets and Gardens television ad (not that that makes any difference to us).

He is the most beautiful bundle of fluff and we have called him ‘Taj’ (pronounced Tarje as in the Taj Mahal).  I am sure that he is going to feature in my photography on a regular basis:)

How exciting! I started considering to getting a second dog a couple of years ago, and decided about a year ago that it was the right thing to do, unfortunately it hasn’t been the right time, but hubby and I have been discussing it and I am hoping that we will be able to adopt a new dog into our family later this year! Personally I’d get one today, but being realistic, we do need to extend our fenced area first to make room for another dog (Tia spends very little outside by herself).

I am blogging about this because I know that if I put it in writing and send it out to the universe, the right dog will come along. Yes I maybe weird but I do believe in this like that;) As it is becoming closer to being a reality, I have started looking for information and reading up on different breeds because dog ownership is a lifetime commitment, and I believe it is critically important to research and find the right breed/dog to suit your lifestyle, environment and time commitments and not make spur of the moment decisions based on a pair of liquid brown eyes imploring you to take them home!

So I thought that if I blog about the process that I am going through to find our new family member, it might a) help someone else thinking of doing the same thing and b) I’d love suggestions of breeds (mixes) that I might not have considered.

I would prefer to adopt an older rescue dog but if I was to get a puppy from a breeder, I would make sure that it was from a reputable registered breeder that carried out any medical checks, eye testing, hip/elbow x-rays for hip dysplasia etc for any medical conditions that are prevalent in the breed. While that might not guarantee a healthy puppy, it at least indicates that the breeder is interested in the breed and in breeding healthy puppies rather than in the $ they will get for selling them.

This is why it is important to research breeds before you buy, so that you know what medical tests should be conducted on the parents BEFORE they are allowed to have puppies.

I would NEVER buy a puppy from a pet shop, no matter how sorry I felt for it, or how much I wanted to save it. That may sound terrible from someone who loves animals, but buying an animal from a pet shop is supporting and encouraging a purely profit driven industry of breeding companion animals under inhumane conditions in puppy farms and mills – and yes these atrocities do happen here in Australia. As far as I am concerned pet shops should only be allowed to sell pet supplies, not animals, and that topic deserves a future post all of its own, but in the mean time, if you would like to know more, please visit Say No To Animals in Petshops

Ok, I’ll hop of my soapbox now.

Back to my original topic, not making a spur of the moment decision has really given me plenty of time to consider the important things that will (or won’t) make an individual dog suitable for our family.

First and foremost, with children aged 6-12 years, one female, couch potato Shar-Pei and two cats (one is very timid, hates our other cat and both love our dog) and all three are inside pets. Therefore, especially if its an older dog, our new family member *must* be kid and animal friendly. Gentle and well mannered. We have a lot of wildlife around and I’d like to get a couple of chooks next year as well, so we will be looking at an older dog without a prey drive, although it is easier to train a puppy when it is young, as long as the drive is re-directed in appropriate ways.

Mixed breed or purebreed, either would be ok. I do have a slight preference for male dogs (from previous experience), but gender is not that important. I like big dogs (think mastiffs, dogue de bordeaux and Irish Wolfhounds), but medium size is definitely more appropriate. Short coat preferred, although feathering or medium length would be ok, I’m not sure I am up for daily grooming for a rough collie or old english sheepdog type coat.

House trained would be a big bonus, especially as an adult would be easier than a puppy. The kids would like a dog that likes water and plays fetch for hours with a ball – our shar-pei Tia dosn’t think she is a dog, I think she would actually prefer to have been a cat and I am hoping that another dog in the house will allow her to discover her ‘doggy-ness’. It would be great to have a dog that likes going in the car to the beach (where I am sure Tia will sit on her towel and just watch!).

Exercise wise, we live in a very quite street on just over half an acre, so plenty of room to run around…although it is not all fenced so a dog that is happy to follow the kids as they play rather than being interested in exploring the neighborhood would be great. Ability for off lead excersize (bushwalking, dog beach) is a bit of a priority as well. Now I know that is a training issue, but in general, it does rule out many breeds such as sight hounds and many terriers. Daily walks are fine (at some stage I would like to start jogging again) but a high energy dog that requires five hours running a day would not be suitable due to time constraints.

I work from home, so the animals arn’t left for long periods of time, 5-6 hours occasionally is the maximum time I am away from home. This also means I have plenty of time for training, and I have experience with obedience training (trained my ACD to competition level although we never actually did competition). I would also attend obedience training if necessary, but feel quite capable of doing it myself.

Personality: Definitely looking for a gentle affectionate dog that is willing and eager to please rather than an independent thinker that needs 24 hour a day mental stimulation.

Border Collies have been a definite consideration, but this rules out many older dogs in rescue with true BC natures that have not been looked after and trained properly, so maybe a BC cross. I love Australian Cattle Dogs, although not all of them would fit the criteria unfortunately, but maybe an individual dog or a cross would. Kelpie or Kelpie cross is also on the list. I can see a pattern developing here. I think its the devotion that I have experienced and seen from working dog breeds I have owned or known.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I would love to hear other peoples experiences (both good and bad) with adopting an older rescue dog into their family. And if you know of any good information websites, please let me know.

Cheers

Michelle