Category Archives: Cowbelly Family

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Friends and business associates of the Cowbelly team.

Blogroll is updated!

June 9, 2008 – 7:10 pm

Last night I completed the daunting task of updating the blogroll. It was really hard to do, not from a technical standpoint, but because I love each and every one of the 60 sites that are linked to on the page, and it was killing me to have to breeze through them without really looking.

After I had the list, and had updated links, and added to it, I went through and clicked on each one to make sure they opened ok (and in a new window so you can easily access the blogroll again once you are done with one site).

It was like this: click, open, “oooh, Marisa made new hand sewn bunnies”, no wait, must continue! click next site “oh wow look at that photo! funny, I thought Sharon still used film”…. click, open next site “what- joey lawrence was in prison?!”. Pretty soon it was like this: click, open “ohhhhwwwwuuuuuuuh”, mad frustrated, can’t take the time to look.

It, my friends, is an AWESOME blogroll if I do say so myself. There is so much talent and creativity and originality in those links it leaves me speechless.

Go check it out: Cowbelly Blogroll. (also- note the link in the menu at the top of this page)

And I still plan to add little thumbnail photos, AFTER I have caught up on my client work.

I have been sending emails solid since 2:30 this afternoon and just counted and STILL have 26 more to reply to, sigh. If you are waiting to hear from me, please ’soyez patience’, I will get to you very very soon. :-)

By Jamie 'Cowbelly' | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Angel: I want her, and you do too

May 23, 2008 – 11:36 pm

I was at the Belltown off leash park early this week and met the most darling dog ever. Angel is her name.



Here is how we met:

I was looking for Fergie’s poop in the bark after she did her business, and this medium-sized, very happy young black lab mix came running up to me, smiling and wagging her tail as if she knew me. Not in an obnoxious, bowl you over kind of way, but in a very friendly “heyyy, long time no see” kind of way. Ears back, smiling, submissive, super sweet.

Given that I am always happy to reciprocate, I got down and said “well hello there!” and gave her a hug and some pets. The first two things I noticed were that she was very sweet, and also very soft. I surmised she must have still been a puppy because she had both puppy fur and that extra skin that puppies always seem to have. She seemed a bit clumsy as well.

So we said our hellos and then she went on her merry way, after having made a terrific impression on me.

So I watched her play with the other dogs, and her ‘brother’ and tried to get Fergie interested in playing with her, but the Fergster prefers the boys.

So I found out from one of the regulars that the black dog’s name is Angel, after telling him what a super dog she seemed to be. “Isn’t she great?” he said. Apparently everyone knew her but me.

So here is the story:

The reason why everyone there knows Angel is because she is essentially homeless. Or I should say- ‘foverer’-homeless.

She has been passed around from person to person, after her first owner abandoned her. She has had more homes in her first year of life than most dogs have in their entire lives. I think it’s been like 7 or 8?

Right now she is living with a foster mom who absolutely adores her, but she has another dog and is moving to NYC next month for a new (demanding) job. She is totally uncertain whether or not she’d be able to give Angel the kind of home she deserves, so is trying to find a permanent home for her. Plus she figures, it would be so much better for Angel to have a new permanent home here with someone who can really love her and care for her, than to subject her to yet another disruptive event by moving her across the country. Hence the reason for this post.

I normally don’t get involved in trying to rescue dogs, because there are so many people who do it and do it well, plus I like to donate money or services to rescue organizations instead, BUT, in this case, I just had to tell everyone about Angel.

She is a FANTASTIC dog.

I have met and worked with many many hundreds of different dogs over the years, and I can tell you, just from our short hour together, I know that Angel is special.

Why don’t I take her? First, as I mentioned above, Fergie is far more interested in playing with and engaging with boys than girls. She largely ignored Angel the entire time at the park, even when Angel tried to play with her. Fergie LOVES to play with the boys, and it only seems right to me to get a companion for her that she will be really interested in. The other, more important reason is that I am so gosh darn busy right now I don’t even make a very good doggie mommy for Fergie. For any new dog that comes into my life I would want to take several weeks off work to bond with the dog and do training and get acclimated to each other. Given my schedule there is no way that could happen anytime soon.

SO, I plead to anyone reading this who may be interested in bringing home a new dog, to please consider Angel. I guarantee you will fall in love with her. I have thought about her every day since I met her, and still am trying to rationalize a way I could keep her, even though I know it’s not reasonable. That’s how awesome she is. Let me put it this way: knowing what I know of her, and having met her, if I was searching for the perfect dog, I would drive through two states to take Angel home and keep her with me forever.

If you are interested in meeting her and possibly welcoming her into your home, please email me at info@cowbelly.com and I will put you in touch with Angel’s foster mom. Who by the way has the following things to say about Angel:

“Angel is an absolute love. She is just over 1 year old, playful, sweet and loves to be loved. She is house trained, can do basic commands (including paw!) and walks pretty good on a leash too, not to mention she has the softest fur I’ve every felt! 

I just took her to the vet and had her first round of shots (Parvo and Rabies) and she is scheduled to be spayed on June 2.”

Oh yes, and of course, Angel is fantastic with other dogs- boys and girls alike.

Email me at info@cowbelly.com if you are interested!!

By doggirlseattle | Also posted in miscellaneous randomness | Comments (0)

Tagged- times 2!!

December 16, 2007 – 3:34 am

While I have been busy as a bee in my little Cowbelly workshop (my home office if you want to get technical), I have been tagged by my lovely web friends, not once but twice.

The first time by Melissa Langer, and the 2nd time by Kathy Weller.

Melissa tagged me to share 5 little-known things about myself, and Kathy tagged me to share my top 25 favorite movies.

Starting in order: here are 5 things about me that you may not know:

1. When I was 17 I flew alone to Ketchikan Alaska to work in a fishing cannery. Among the things that happened were:

  • I fell in love with a fisherman.
  • Took a hike up a shale mountain in a lightning storm. (Ok, it was right before the storm happened, then we got the hell out of there).
  • Slipped on an oily floor and hit my head on a steel door, resulting in a concussion.
  • Developed pnemonia 10 days later. It was one of the darkest times in my life and I still believe I saw some scary spirits lurking around. Either that or I had gone completely mad.
  • Still decided to stay for an extra month after everyone left, to help clean the cannery. In all my stay totaled 4 months.

2. I drive a green Subaru Outback that I bought on ebay.
3. I’m not a big fan of chocolate. Ok, I’ll eat it if you give it to me, otherwise I never buy it.
4. I have been cutting my own hair for over 5 years.
5. I can’t stand the smell of moth balls.

Now, the 25 movies. This is a toughie, but here goes. Probably in order of like, because my top favorites come to mind first.

  1. Trainspotting
  2. Sliding Doors
  3. Moulin Rouge
  4. The Professional
  5. Scent of a Woman
  6. Wizard of Oz
  7. The Usual Suspects
  8. Blood Diamond
  9. Night in the City
  10. The Butterfly Effect
  11. Austin Powers
  12. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Johnny Depp)
  13. The Ring
  14. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
  15. Oceans 11
  16. Memento
  17. Black Hawk Down
  18. Best in Show
  19. Walk the Line
  20. What’s Eating Gilberty Grape
  21. The Nightmare Before Christmas
  22. The Fifth Element
  23. Summer of Sam
  24. Bridget Jones Diary
  25. I’m Gonna Git You Sucka

I tend to like pretty intense movies, but I also greatly appreciate ridiculous humor a la Austin Powers or I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.

NOW, since this tag game is getting a little bit confusing about who tagged who and with what, I am going to change things up a little.

I will tag the appropriate number of people, but with my own NEW tag.

My NEW tag is:

“if you could spend 30 days in one location (and only one location) anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go and why?”

I think we’d all like to be someplace else at this time of the year and (hopefully) it’s a simple question for us busy folk to answer.

My answer? Fiji. On the beach. With froofie drink in hand. But I’d wait until the weather improves a little. According to weather underground it’s hot but cloudy there right now. Why would I got to Fiji? Need you ask? Ok, since you did: being an A-type personality, I very rarely give my body and soul the opportunity to truly relax, and after the madness of the holidays this is what I need the very most. I feel that laying on a beach, soaking in the sun, doing absolutely nothing for 30 days would fit this bill nicely.

Here are the people I am tagging:

Jeannie Thompson- Boston Terriers Rock
Jill Warner- our furry family
Ashley Brown photography
Christine Edwards photography
Stephen Bobb- Fidojournalism

If I tagged you above, the rules are that you put a post on your blog answering the last (travel) question, then tag 5 other people to do the same by leaving a comment on their blog with a link back to yours.

Now, if you are reading this and I didn’t tag you, let me know where YOU would like to go!

Just leave it as a comment at the end of the post (just click on where it says ‘3 [or whatever number] comments’, all the way at the very bottom of this post under labels, and leave your answer. Be sure to say where you are presently so we have a basis for comparison.

Cmon, everyone join in! I really want to know where everyone would go and why. You can even post anonymously if you don’t have a blog account!

I will then post everyone’s answers as a new post after Christmas.

Yay!!

Have fun!

By doggirlseattle | Also posted in miscellaneous randomness | Tagged | Comments (0)

Opportunities Abound!

December 11, 2007 – 9:51 pm

A lot of really cool things have been happening recently to fabulous pet business gals I know, including myself.

You can call them opportunities, but I like to call them ‘cool things’.

I never really felt like a quick “hey that’s great- congrats!” email sufficed when I got the news, so I wanted to pay tribute to these cool things and officially congratulate the folks who are the recipients, here in this post.

Linda O’Neill, owner of Abby Creek Studios finally (I bugged her for months on this) brought home a new baby girl last month, a darling puppy that is. The pup’s name is Maisie, and you will find lots of photos of her on Linda’s blog. Maisie is beyond adorable and Linda is taking some really terrific shots of her in and near their home in Colorado. Yay Linda! Yay Maisie!

Nichole Smith, owner of Dane & Dane photography, just nailed a terrific gig with the W Hotel in Seattle to provide photography to their guests, in the form of a ‘Whose Pet is Picture Perfect’ featured hotel package through February 28th, 2008. Super cool Nichole! I look forward to seeing her shots of the guests pups.

Donna Angevine, owner of the fabulous Primp Doggy couture landed an opportunity so cool that I can’t share any details on it here for another month (or two?) yet. I am beyond excited for Donna, and also excited that this opportunity may have a fringe benefit for yours-truly, and that I get to help Donna (in a little, small way) on her project. And Fergie gets to help too! I truly can’t think of a more deserving person (Donna, not Fergie. Although Fergie is a deserving person too. Nevermind).

As if this super secretive opportunity wasn’t enough, Donna is having a live fashion show on KING-5 (major Seattle news channel) the morning of Wednesday December 19th (sometime between 8:30-9am?). And Fergie gets to be in that too! Yay Donna! Yay Fergie! Yay us! Be sure to tune in next week! Check the KING-5 website for details and showtimes.

Jill Beninato, owner of Sit. Stay. Smile. Photography and fellow dog artist, had a terrific write up today on the popular Dog Art Today blog. What I think is even cooler is this informative and interesting newspaper article on Jill that was published in the Virginia Beach paper Hampton Roads. I love this article.Way to go Jill!

Kathy Weller, owner of the awesome Kathy Weller Pet Portraiture, recently had this seriously rockin interview on Design Inspiration, a cool blog for designers and illustrators. Kathy’s interview is proof that she is one of the most talented people I know. I stand in awe of you Kathy. :-)

Brandie Ahlgren, illustrious editor and founder of CityDog Magazine, a terrific Seattle and West Coast lifestyle magazine for humans and their dogs, is going to be on KOMO News-4’s Northwest Afternoon later this week to talk about dog friendly holiday entertaining, stocking stuffers and gift ideas. The show tapes tomorrow, December 12th and will air a few days later. Check KOMO’s website or the CityDog Blog for actual date and time. Looking forward to seeing it and getting ideas on what to get Fergie!

Lori Fields, owner of the Fields Group, and Pet Lounge, (where you can find my art and photography available for mobile downloads by the way), just gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Dylan. Here’s to your first good night sleep with the little one Lori!

Andrea Murphy, friend, owner of the new That’s the Spot massage therapy for dogs, and proud owner of Gypsy, the namesake for my business, recently started working with Spawzdog, a doggie daycare, fitness center and aquatic exercise center, offering swim therapy and massage to the clients dogs. Congrats Andrea on this great new opportunity!

Jamie Pflughoeft (that’s me for those who are new), owner of Cowbelly Pet Photography and creator of Decopaw Design art, was recently featured in a stellar Merryvaluation on Pamperedpuppy, one of my favorite websites for all things dog. I love Angie McKaig, I love Merry the pug, and I only hope that one day I can be in Toronto to meet them in person. Be sure to check out Angie’s photos of Merry on her blog; she recently got a new camera and her photography is getting really, (really) good.

Then there’s the aforementioned possible (maybe, hopefully) fringe-benefit opportunity through Primp Doggy. I don’t know that I’d call it an opportunity, it’s just a very cool thing that a dear friend is doing by including me in her opportunity in a very cool way. I will post more on it in the future to update y’all.

Also, I just got word from the aforementioned Lori Fields (petlounge.com) last week that she will be receiving her first royalty check from her mobile content distributors at the end of the quarter. What this means is that I will be getting MY first royalty check from her in the first quarter of the year for downloads of my art and photography images from 2007. Yippee! I was beyond thrilled to learn that out of the top 5 most downloaded images, mine were 4 of the 5! This project has been a long time coming but it may finally start paying off for both of us. I’m so grateful to Lori for all of the hard work she has done on this project and am excited to see what 2008 holds in store.

Lastly, last week Fergie and I did a photo shoot here in our home for a really cool article that will be coming out in the winter issue of CityDog Magazine. I didn’t do the photography- my very talented friend Nichole of the aforementioned Dane & Dane did as she does a lot of editorial photography for the magazine, and I tell ya, work never felt so much like fun, lol. I’m super excited (and admittedly a little nervous- I feel I do best behind the camera) to see the article when it comes out in January. For those living in Washington, Oregon and Northern California, look for it on newsstands! (Or better yet: subscribe). Also look for my new Decopaw ad in the same issue. It’s super purty and has a really unique blue frame around it. You won’t see it anywhere else.

But I have to say that, even given all of these cool opportunities (I can only speak for myself here but I am venturing to guess that my friends above agree), it’s the opportunity to work with my client’s dogs (and cats) every day that is the most satisfying of all. In the past 2 weeks I have photographed a handful of dogs who have just
a very short time left on this earth, and the experiences working with them are rewarding on a level that no press or recognition ever will be.

If it weren’t for the many loving dog and cat owners in the Seattle area and beyond who commissioned me for photography and art I wouldn’t be where I am today or be in the position of having these cool things fall into my life.

I deeply thank all of my clients and friends who have supported me over the past 4+ years and have helped make my little business possible. And thank you to you my many blog followers!

Here’s to an equally fabulous 2008!

LOVE YOU ALL!

By doggirlseattle | Also posted in Behind-the-Scenes, NEWS!, Press, miscellaneous randomness | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Lisa Wogan’s new book: Unleashed

November 6, 2007 – 9:41 pm

Lisa Wogan, published book author, regular contributor to the Bark and Seattle and CityDog magazines, and citizen of the fair city of Seattle, has a fabulous new book out titled “Unleashed: Climbing Canines, Hiking Hounds, Fishing Fidos, and Daring Dogs”

I had the chance to check out the book at the launch party on Saturday 10/20 at Urban Beast. Lisa was there along with the talented Bev Sparks, who photographed the cover, and the gals signed books all night to a large crowd of happy dog owners.

It was a successful turnout, and a great party as always by host Katie Rockwell, illustrious Urban Beast owner.

Sadly, by the time I had sold a gift certificate to a new Decopaw art client who had stopped by the party, and had them get their book signed, and caught up with Nichole of Dane & Dane and Brandie of CityDog, the books sold out so I didn’t get a chance to buy a copy. I was bummed but will pick one up the next time I am in Urban Beast, where you can find copies, along with on Amazon of course. BTW: Bev’s cover shot is just what Fergie looks like when she is doing her dock-jumping!

Lisa also has a new book coming out called “Dog Park Wisdom” in which she interviews yours-truly, so watch for a post on that book here in the future!

By doggirlseattle | Also posted in miscellaneous randomness | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)