Gayla Elizabeth Photography » pets

More Treen’s…

gayla — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:58:53 +0000

While I posted about the Treen family session, I intentionally left some members of the family out of the post, so I could give them their “own” post. Yes, it’s the four-legged family members. Marley, Gracie and little Jada. Two Golden Retrievers and a little Chihuahua mix. These little pups are just so adorable, all three of them. As you know, I love dogs, so I thought they deserved a slot all to themselves. Yes, DOGS RULE Here they are….

Share on Facebook

09.09.09. aka Rambo’s birthday

gayla — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:26:43 +0000

Yes, my man and my protector just turned 10 today or 70 for those of you counting in doggie years. The number NINE is said to bring good luck, so when I found out my puppy was born on 9/9/99, I knew that this little guy, who was all of 10lbs when I first got him, would be a great dog. And, I was right. 10 years have passed and he has been the coolest, sweetest, most lovable dog that EVERYONE adores.

I have been so busy with many projects going on that time has been just whizzing on by. But, today, my son turns 10 today, so I had to make it to THREE DOG BAKERY for a cake. And, while it was tight and a bit of a challenge to get there before closing, I did manage to get there in time. BUT, they were sold out of cakes. . This meant, I had to resort to getting a bunch of doggie pastries instead. The final spread included: 1 WOOF peanut butter cup, 1 paw cookie, 1 bone cookie, 1 puff tart, 1 boxer brownie and 2 scaredy cat cookies.

I had a 7:00 meeting which I quickly attended so I could get home early to Rambo. After dinner, we did the whole photo routine, which my dogs are accustomed to and trained for. I line up all the goodies, they sit and wait while I take the pictures. Then, when they finally get the OK to eat, they get a little smash in the face! It’s so much fun.

Here are some pics of my Rambo, the coolest Rottweiler EVER!

Share on Facebook

My rockstar, Bailey

gayla — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:04:58 +0000

Today is a July 1st and a special day…Bailey’s birthday . A few months back I took Bailey to the vet for a checkup only to find out her life was in danger and I had to schedule an emergency surgery with any hopes of survival. You can read about that post here. The success rate of the surgery was very low and the success rate for recovery was even lower, especially since she lost over 80% of her blood supply. But, my rockstar of a dog, Bailey, beat all odds and is here today celebrating her 12th birthday. [applause].

So, this is no ordinary birthday, it’s a very special one, since her odds of celebrating it with me were very slim just a few months ago. I was hoping to do a big celebration for her today, but work has kept me at the office late, so I’ll be celebrating her special birthday this Fourth of July weekend. However, since today is her actual birthday, it could not go unnoticed and I had to do something for her big day. I gave her a special doggie dinner, threw on some filet mignons for us mortals and then indulged in some desserts. Well… sort of. Picture time comes before any dessert or celebration. As a daughter of a photographer, she knows the routine…let me show you the treats, make you pose and wait while I take photos. My friends call it torture… I call it part of the routine! You’ll see my dogs wait patiently while I snap away. They were trained that way from the puppy days. They can pant, look, sniff or drool, but they can NOT eat or lick it until they get the “OK”. I love the last photo when Rambo was approaching her, she started to “growl” and show her teeth at him to keep him off her goodies. She’s the boss and quickly put him in his place. So funny!!! If you didn’t know her, you would think she’s a little mean, when in actuality, she’s the softest, sweetest labrador that will lick you to death if she could.

I thank my lucky stars for saving my dog months ago. You can see by the photos below, she looks like a champ and I know will be around for years to come. I love you Bailey, Happy Birthday.

Share on Facebook

Keani turned 14

gayla — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:54:03 +0000

Technically, she turned 98 in doggie years. Meet Keani and her Master/Owner/Obsessor, Lisa. Keani is a miniature pincher, (commonly known as a “min-pin” in dog land) and is a feisty little thing. I think she forgets how tiny she really is, I guess she has a touch of short [wo]man’s complex, and I say that in the nicest way possible. :-) This is Lisa’s baby and when I say baby, I mean BABY…really. I thought I spoiled my dogs until I saw what Lisa does for this little one. I joke with her about being “obsessed” with her “min-pin”, who she calls muffin.

Lisa occasionally assists me on photo shoots when needed, so when she told me she was going to have a birthday party for her baby, I was all over it. She got Keani this special cake from Three Dog Bakery that looked so delicious, I was starting to wonder what that cake actually tasted like. I mean it was made with all natural ingredients and chocolate carob chips, so I could’ve had a slice. Not to mention, it looked better than some cakes I’ve seen at other birthday parties! LOL. The cake was nicely decorated with little flowers, which Keani was to lick off first and the cake was big, enough servings for 20 dogs! Luckily, Lisa also bought some yummy cupcakes for us humans.:-) Vanilla, Coconut, Strawberry and Cinnamon Graham. I couldn’t keep my eyes off them, LOL. She got Keani some toys and a cute little birthday hat that screamed Princess. So, here it is, Keani’s 14th (or 98th) birthday pics….

Share on Facebook

Pineapple anyone?

gayla — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:29:00 +0000

Here’s a shot I took back in Hawaii of a gecko feasting out on some good old fashion pineapple. This is not staged or digitally imposed, this is a gecko on the table enjoying himself. When I first saw that, I went to get my camera thinking he would be gone by the time I got back. To my surprise, not only was he was still there, he acted like that bowl was put there just for him. In fact, the little bugger looked right at me with the, “do you mind, I’m trying to eat here”. LOL. For those of you who don’t know, Hawaii is famous for geckos and cockroaches. Next time, beware of that pineapple upside down cake! LOL.

Share on Facebook

Bailey WAS sick…

gayla — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:01:00 +0000

So, since I was MIA for a while, let me fill in SOME of the blanks. In case you haven’t figured it out, I am a big dog lover and my two dogs are like my children. My 11 year old yellow labrador retriever, Bailey was taken to the vet on St. Patrick’s Day for a checkup and to get more medication for her “aging” bones. She was having trouble getting up and walking around, very common with older labs. Upon my surprise, the vet found a big bump when examining her, we took Xrays and saw that it was a very BIG mass, pushing all of her organs on the side and pushing up on her spine. He said the only thing I could do was attempt surgery and try to remove it, but know that it’s very risky and I may have to put her to sleep if the operation wasn’t successful. If I didn’t operate, her organs would explode and she will bleed to death, painfully. WHAT??? I was so upset, my world flipped upside down and was rocked in a bad way, very unexpectedly. I knew what I had to do, but I was so scared of losing her. She is my baby and I wasn’t ready to let her go.

She went in for emergency surgery on 3/19/09 at 12:30pm. I dropped her off at 11:00am and was a nervous wreck. It was a major surgery that would last hours and I could barely function. I talked to the vet at 4:00, right out of surgery and he said the mass was 11 pounds, like a bowling ball. He removed it but we had to see if she would recover from the surgery, since she lost most of her blood. He had to send it in to find out if it was cancerous or not, that would take 5 days. YIKES, more stress and anxiety. I prayed that she would be a hero and pull it off. I was there in that kennel right when she woke up from the anesthesia. I think the vets thought I was a little overboard, which is why they let me stay with her, even after they closed for the day. I brought her home Saturday 3/21/09. She was very weak and could barely walk. I feed her tofu, cabbage and liver to get her blood count back up. The next week was a little tough and I waited anxiously about the cancer diagnosis. On Friday 3/27/09, I found out she was cancer free! Now, it was just getting her back up and running like a champ. Her stitches came off 3/31/09 and she really started to feel better. I was so happy because I knew she was going to be a rock star again. Not only is she fully recovered, she is getting up, running and walking like a puppy. So, no more meds for those “aging” bones. I just got years back for my baby girl. My prayers were answered!

Here are some pics I took of her in the “recovery cage” after surgery. These are taken with my iPhone, so there’s only so much I could do.

Look at how sad she looks in there. This is right after she woke up from the anesthesia…

I was so sad to see her all bandaged up and her IV. I brought her favorite sheep for her to snuggle up to.

And, here she is today, 4/18/09, 1 month out of surgery. I took these pictures of us just for fun and to show everyone how great she is doing. I shot these as best as I could, but it makes me so happy to know my baby will be around for years to come!

Yes, we are all smiles now!

Share on Facebook