Brace yourselves, there are only 43 shopping days 'till Christmas. Did you just fall out of your chair? Never fear, read on for three great gift ideas for the dog lover in your life - and as a bonus, all can be purchased online and don't require a trip to the mall!
Give the Gift of a Pet / Family and Pet Portrait Session
“Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really.”
- Agnes Sligh Turnbull
It's true. Tomorrows are never guaranteed and "later" may be too late. Don't wait. People should photograph their pets, and their family with their pets, now. I've never had a client regret booking a session, only that they waited too long to do so.
Giving the gift of a portrait session is one of the most meaningful and personal gifts you can give someone. Sessions are custom designed to match the specific vision of the recipient, whether that's a casual outdoor pet & family portrait session or a chic studio photo shoot, anything can be done with a gift certificate.
Gift certificates are valid for one year from the date of purchase ensuring that your recipient has plenty of time to redeem it no matter the season they want for their session. That will cover bluebonnets, spring wildflowers, summertime fun, and the cooler temps and rich colors of fall.
Best of all? Gift certificates can now be purchased online, making it an easy choice to give to the pet lover in your life.
You can purchase a Penny Whistle Photography gift certificate here.
All Natural, Made-In-The-USA Dog Treats
I found Koda Pet Food products a few years ago and we've always had some of their Papa Tatanka bison treats in the house ever since. As you can see from the half-full bag pictured below, we're definitely customers!
After repeated foreign-manufactured pet food scares, we decided to only feed our pets USA-produced food and treats. Koda Pet Food products are made in the USA with entirely US-sourced ingredients and are either baked or freeze-dried raw, with no artificial preservatives.
Papa Tatanka is made of hand-cut, 100% North American Bison and is perfect for those pets who need an exotic meat treat due to common food allergies. But Koda has much more to offer and we've sampled a lot of it whenever we see something on sale or are topping out our shopping cart to get free shipping.
Koda recently moved from California to Texas, so now they're even closer to me, but they ship nationwide so head on over to their website and check out their fantastic products to stuff your pup's stocking!
Collar Bling
When I thought Rooney was done growing, I wanted to buy him a special, big boy collar. Something with some bling to wear when "going out". You know, when we go out to Toss and Fetch league, agility classes, etc. I wanted to incorporate his signature colors of blue and yellow and I was looking for biothane so it would be easy to clean.
I did a lot of searching on Etsy and kept an eye out at all my dog training classes and then one day I saw Elvis (the standard poodle) come into a class with what looked like a white leather collar studded with rhinestones, just like, well, Elvis' famous jumpsuit worn at his 1972 Aloha from Hawaii concert.
I found out that the collar was custom-made by Collars by Kitt so I checked out her website and was in love...but I didn't see exactly what I wanted so I sent an email to Kitt asking some questions and the next thing I knew she gave me a call and wanted to know about Rooney and our activities. She suggested a snap collar with an ID plate so there wouldn't be a buckle to irritate his neck or tags to snag while hiking.
I followed her specific instructions on how to correctly measure his neck and selected the color crystals I wanted along with the font for his ID plate. About two weeks later his collar arrived and it was perfect! It fit him perfectly and it looks fantastic on him. We get compliments on it everywhere we go and I'm always happy to pass along Kitt's information.
Put a little bling under the tree this year, Collars by Kitt makes a wide range of biothane collars and leashes so there's something for every pup.
This week in the pet photographer's blog circle, it's all about the best gift ideas for the pet lover in your life so let's kick things off with Syracuse photographer Nancy of Nancy Kieffer Photography shares her gift guide for this 2022 Holiday Season which features local or small businesses that love pets and then continue clicking on the link at the bottom of each post until you land right back here and then you will have completed the circle!
Tracy Allard of Penny Whistle Photography is a Certified Professional Photographer with the organization Professional Photographers of America; a designation held by fewer than 2,000 photographers nationwide and a hallmark of consistency, technical skill, artistry, and professionalism. From thousands of entries in 2022, Tracy's animal portraiture won a silver medal in International Photographic Competition (IPC).
Penny Whistle specializes in both on-location and studio photography providing pet, equine, family, couples & engagement, and high school senior portraits as well as corporate headshots and commercial photography services in her studio located in historic downtown Carrollton as well as on-location in Coppell, Grapevine, Southlake, Flower Mound, and surrounding communities in Dallas – Fort Worth, Texas.
3 Comments
Dec 18, 2022, 5:40:14 PM
Elaine - Thank you for the lead on treats, and that collar is a must have!
Nov 11, 2022, 1:48:27 PM
Nicole - That collar is beautiful!
Nov 11, 2022, 12:14:46 PM
Darlene - Your gift cards look great! I absolutely love the collar with the BLING - So much fun! Great holiday ideas! (and yes, my heart sank when I saw how few days there are until Christmas - i have done nothing haha!)