Guest Post: Kathleen Hubert

Guest Post: Kathleen Hubert

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Have you ever felt that you had hardened your heart so completely, only to find out later that this wasn’t the case, but that you couldn’t resist opening your heart one more time? I was in such position last November, a couple of years ago. The funny part is that, although not planned, this break in my own heart’s armor led to one of the best heart-made decisions that I ever made, although there may be times I become frustrated I can’t imagine ever being sorry for the choice that I made. 

I felt I was doing well with my resolve not open my heart. I decided to keep myself busy and take care of some things for one of my home income businesses. I design and make jewelry and was delivering an order to a customer, I noticed that she had several cages all throughout her yard. Most were empty and I asked her what she had in those cages and she explained that at one time she ran sort of ‘kennel. Unfortunately, this turned out to be another word for ‘puppy mill’. We were walking through the rows of cages when I spotted this little brown thing, shivering, in the corner of a cage set on a concrete slab. That was not totally surprising because it was November and very cold. 

I remembered bending down and this little head turned and looked at me with the sweetest face and the saddest eyes. I told her about how sweet this ball of fur was but the woman’s words chilled me; “if you want he then take her now. She can’t have anymore puppies and she’s not making me any money so she’s doing me no good. Otherwise, I guess I’ll have to put her to sleep or something else.” My mind was all made up that moment so I opened the cage door and held her out my hand. She came to me and I picked her up. She nuzzled just like conveying a message; “I just want love.” 

I took the baby home and named her ‘Bitsy’. Bitsy instantly wins my heart and the connection between us is absolutely amazing. She filled my days with fun and happiness like no other. This little pet helped me much in getting over the heartaches, confusion and disappointments I have in the past. She simply brought so much excitement to me and painted more colourful to my days.

Another surprise about a year or so later; Bitsy made me even happier by being pregnant and giving birth to cute pupies. I came home one night from work and found her on her blanket with the cutest little fur balls imaginable. Although I wasn’t exactly prepared for 7 of them, it seemed like every time I moved her blankie there was another puppy wiggling. See, Bitsy used to have this habit of chewing holes in her blankie and when I was straightening it I noticed something wiggling in one of the little holes. Each time I would think I was done counting puppies, here was another one. When the head count ended at 7, I was both relieved and shocked. 

Over the next few weeks of watching Bitsy with her puppies and seeing them developed; it seemed each day was a new surprise. To her credit, Bitsy was a good mama when it comes to teaching her babies. She loves showing her puppies some tricks for mooching food. Bitsy’s favorite thing is to sit and watch me eat, or anyone for that matter. When she engages in this particular past time and receives a tiny bit of attention she takes it a step further and sits on her hind legs begging for a bite. Now grant you I’m used to this. However, can you imagine looking down and seeing this line up of little pooches all sitting on their hind legs and begging, especially when the pups haven’t even begun eating solid food yet? Of course the food thing isn’t exactly a shock but coming home from work and discovering that Bitsy had moved the puppies to my bed as opposed to her own little crate definitely was. Although there may be things that are initially irritating, you can’t help but laugh at how cute and how much personality Bitsy has. 

Bitsy is not just a pet to me but an excellent best friend. She never left my side and always makes sure to lighten up my day. Its feel really magnificent knowing that there is someone that misses me and dying to see you from work. She just makes me feel being loved and needed without demanding me to do something or be someone. Bitsy teaches me to be patient and accept failures. I can’t imagine living a single day without Bitsy by my side. She just not caught my eyes but my heart too.

Results: Australia's Shelter Animals Get Professional PortraitsResults: Australia's Shelter Animals Get Professional PortraitsResults: Australia's Shelter Animals Get Professional PortraitsResults: Australia's Shelter Animals Get Professional Portraits

Results: Australia's Shelter Animals Get Professional Portraits

A happy follow-up to this previous post.

 

Too often the public never gets to see the results of a project like this. Limited Edition is where Sydney's shelter animals were put up for adoption in a highly creative way. Twenty-one of Australia's top photographers donated their time and expertise to shoot one-off portraits of 63 animals for Sydney Dogs & Cats Home (SDCH).

The results? All of the portraits were sold, which raised thousands of dollars for SDCH. Most importantly, all of the animals, except for two, found loving homes (as you can see in these photos).

Congratulations to creative agency M&C Saatchi for pulling off this successful campaign.

“We couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome. More importantly, lives were saved, and we are very happy about that.” - M&C Saatchi Senior Creative Jason Woelfl

Australia's Shelter Animals Get Professional PortraitsAustralia's Shelter Animals Get Professional PortraitsAustralia's Shelter Animals Get Professional PortraitsAustralia's Shelter Animals Get Professional PortraitsAustralia's Shelter Animals Get Professional PortraitsAustralia's Shelter Animals Get Professional Portraits

Australia's Shelter Animals Get Professional Portraits

Now showing throughout Sydney Australia's bus shelters are posters of animals up for adoption. These aren't your typical pictures of homeless pets. These adorably cute animals have been shot by 21 of Australia's top photographers for a project called Limited Edition. Put on by Sydney Dogs and Cats Home, the creative project had each of the 21 photographers shoot three cats or dogs resulting in 63 one-off prints.

"The photographers were asked to bring out the personality of each animal. And just like the animals at the Home, each print is unique. All prints are signed 1 of 1 by the artist."

Full gallery here

Agency: M&C Saatchi

 

 

See the results here.

The Great Dane Who Became an Older SisterThe Great Dane Who Became an Older SisterThe Great Dane Who Became an Older SisterThe Great Dane Who Became an Older SisterThe Great Dane Who Became an Older SisterThe Great Dane Who Became an Older SisterThe Great Dane Who Became an Older SisterThe Great Dane Who Became an Older SisterThe Great Dane Who Became an Older SisterThe Great Dane Who Became an Older Sister

The Great Dane Who Became an Older Sister

Brought home when she was just 7 weeks old, Gracie the Great Dane instantly became an integral part of Erin Vey's life. So when the Seattle-based lifestyle dog photographer decided, one day, that she'd have a baby, she had to prepare not just herself, but her dog for the lifestyle change. "Gracie stayed with her grandma and grandpa for about a week until we were ready for her to come home," Vey tells us. "When Gracie came home she knew something was different. She smelled everything. The first few weeks were hard for all of us. Gracie slept in weird places and positions and I felt really guilty about not being able to give her all of my attention. But we found a new normal and she is back to her normal self."


By sharing photos of them online, Vey says the siblings have developed quite a following. "Many people see the pictures of them and think that Maggie should somehow be scared of Gracie’s size but she doesn’t even think twice about having an extra large dog in her face. It’s all she knows!," she shares.

What does Vey hope others ultimately get out of her photos? "The biggest compliment I can get is when someone who doesn’t consider themselves a 'dog person' finds a connection with my images," she says. "Dogs are my heart and soul, always have been – always will be, and to be able to convey that love through photography is a true joy."