Gayla Elizabeth Photography - Los Angeles | Honolulu Portrait and Wedding Photography » pets

Help Blackie find a home

gayla — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:14:50 +0000

I woke up yesterday and saw an email from a woman in North Carolina named Diana. My first reaction was it was one of those emails requesting money or one that told me I was entitled to a large sum, like $1,000,000.US dollars. You all know what I’m talking about. :-) However, I kept reading and found out it was in fact about a woman who happens to love dogs and was seeking help. Diana was tagged in a photo on facebook of a 10 year old chow mix dog that was just dropped off and at the Downey Shelter in Los Angeles. The photo was of Blackie on the concrete looking out for his owners, which made her think of her own dog Rocky. She then arranged to have a rescue center pull him out of the shelter and take him to a rescue boarder called Top Dog Resort. Blackie was neglected and his coat fully matted. She paid to have him groomed, which meant a full shave down and he has been at Top Dog Resort since January 12, 2011.

Diana is currently unemployed and has shelled out close to $1,000 trying to save this adorable dog. Here is a woman who lives in North Carolina and is saving a dog she has never met. Amazing. She found my blog post I did about a dog found, by the name of Popcorn. You can see that post by clicking here. She reached out to me to see if I would be interested in taking 4-5 photos of Blackie, so they can place him in a good and loving home. Being the dog lover I am, I could NOT refuse. It just so happened this weekend was my catch up weekend with no shoots or meetings, so I happily agreed. I took a spin out there, met Blackie and grabbed a few pics of him. He was a little camera shy, although he loves to have someone pet him. Adorable dog. If anyone can assist in finding him a home, please let me know. Diana, thank you for giving Blackie hope and thank you for contacting me. I hope Blackie will be in a safe and loving home soon.

Happy Sunday all…:-)

Brutus the Blue Nose | Pet Photography

gayla — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:28:46 +0000

While I was in Hawaii this past weekend to shoot a wedding, I also had another photo session for a cute 3 month old puppy named Brutus. This little Blue Nose Pitbull is so adorable; in fact, very cute. We had this little mini session at the beautiful Kapiolani Park in Waikiki. He came trotting in full of energy, but after an hour of shooting, this poor little guy was pooped. In fact, it was his first trip to the park, so there was a lot of excitement and new things for him. He discovered the cheapest dog toy available…a stick. Yes, this little guy was so happy to play fetch, you could see the spring in his little run as he bounced in the green grass. It was a fun little session and playing with him makes me wanna get another puppy…

Look below and see how sweet this little guy is…

The kiddos get baths!

gayla — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 06:19:44 +0000

We’ve had some bizarre weather this week. Within one week, we went from 90º to 60º, sunny & humid to thunderstorms and today, back to 93º. Crazy. Well, since this is my personal day to get caught with things around the house, it was a perfect day to give the babies a bath. Actually, it wasn’t perfect… it was in fact toooo hot. But, Bailey and Rambo needed a bath. As much as they hate it, they know the procedure. I get the hose running, call them over…they droop their eyes and hang their faces as cold water drips over their faces. Bailey is much better, she will stay there and sulk, but she will stay. Rambo will make the occasional dash to avoid the water. Ultimately, he stops and gives in to the hose.

It was so hot that you would think they would’ve loved the cool down. Nope. They didn’t. They wanted it to be over , but I had to grab some pics…. Here are my babies getting all cleaned up.

Once they are done, Rambo is pretty much over it and all smiles. Bailey gives a bit of an attitude for a while. Kinda funny….Keep note of the last pic… Ms. Bailey looks a bit upset with me! hee-hee

I saw Popcorn on the street!

gayla — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:39:40 +0000

So, maybe it wasn’t white, yellow or buttered, but it was Popcorn. As I drove home I saw his silhouette nearing the middle of the street. It looked like a cat at first glance, but upon getting closer, I noticed it was a dog wandering aimlessly. He looked somewhat frightened and a bit scared, so I quickly pulled over and called him to me. As he crouched to me, I saw a dog tag with a peace sign on it, I flipped it over to see his name was Popcorn. How adorable is that? There was a phone number listed, so I quickly called, only to get a voicemail. I left a message and decided to take him home until I heard back from his parents.

Once he got into my front yard, he just crawled and sat right next to me. He was a little shy and frightened, but as I played with his fuzzy little ears, he began to relax calm down. I’m not sure what breed he was, but he may have some Schnauzer or Terrier. What ever his breed was, he was the cutest guy. Being that I love dogs and I am a photographer, what did I do? Run inside to get my camera to get some shots of him.

. He quickly got comfortable on my grass and I went into photographer mode to get some pics as he posed for me. Yes, he posed for me and crossed his little paws too. He spent about 20 minutes with me until his mommy called looking for him. I was tempted to keep him and if I didn’t hear back from anyone, Bailey and Rambo would have a new adopted brother! I found out he lives down my street and was rescued 1 month ago. As I carried him home, I was happy he found his parents, but knew I would miss him. I found out that he is about 2 yrs old and was just rescued 1 month ago. So long Popcorn…see you around the neighborhood. Happy trails to you.

My daughter is now a teenager!

gayla — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:36:58 +0000

Since my yellow labrador Bailey turned 13 on Thursday, I decided to have her birthday party this past Saturday so I could have family and friends come over for the celebration. My preparation started Friday with a trip to my local THREE DOG BAKERY in Sherman Oaks, CA to special order her very own doggie birthday cake. Besides having the cutest pastries and snacks for dogs, they also have a nice selection of toys, collars, dishes, clothes, beds and more. Be sure to check them out if you are looking for some cool things for your doggie. They even have beer for dogs! You can visit their website www.threedog.com by clicking here. If you are interested in getting a cake, be sure to pre-order it since they often sell out of pre-made cakes (I found that out last year for Rambo’s birthday). You can pick from various flavors, sizes and shapes. Everything is made from 100% natural ingredients. Bailey’s cake was made with whole wheat flour and frosted with carob and peanut butter. Since I was there, I picked up a few gifts for her and her four legged guests and some party hats.

Once I had all the animal goodies in place, it was time to shop for all the human guests. I had to feed 9 humans, so I started cooking Friday night. My niece Gaylynn was going to be visiting and she made a special request for my Kalbi in exchange for some of her homemade cupcakes. I agreed and decided to do a full Korean BBQ (since it’s also one of my favs). My menu consisted of kalbi, kimchee hamburger, shoyu potato, mandoo, kim chee, pickled radish and rice. It was a lot of food. As I was grilling on the BBQ, Gaylynn was making her homemade buttercream and vanilla frosting for her cupcakes.

Bailey spent the day with the family by the pool and was pretty tired by dinner time, but once I got her cake out, she was all smiles. My nieces Malia and Maile got into it with the little party whistles aka “toot toot”, and blew them all over. Then it was picture time for the birthday girl. She had her special Happy Birthday party hat on in beginning, but wanted to wear one of the human hats. So, I snapped a few with her special hat and then gave her one that matched everyone else. Once she dug into her cake, she played with my nieces and snapped more pics and then was just pooped. I mean after all, she is 91 in doggie years. Last year she gave me a little scare (you see that post by clicking here) and I’m so thankful she is here celebrating her 13th birthday with me. I’m so glad she had a great birthday celebration, she was so happy. Lots of smiles, licks and tail wagging. The last shot says it all……. exhausted from pure fun. Happy Birthday Bailey….mama loves you.

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….

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!

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.

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….

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.