‘Our Dog’s’ newpaper advert / tribute for the September 2025 Weimaraner feature.
A fun doodle I created on my tablet
My first own dog was a rescue German Shepherd called Stone. I chose the breed because I needed my dog to be very easily trained and reliable with obedience when she came to work with me at the signwriters. She was super friendly and placid, and all the fitters loved her, but her appearance was enough to put people off if they came in to the workshop with bad intentions.
A couple of years later on our way to work every morning, we’d pass a lady walking two pale grey dogs, I knew to be Weimaraners. Pete (hubby) asked me about them. I told him what I knew, and then started delving into a little research, and discovered the Weimaraner Club of Great Britain, with whom I have worked on many projects, not least 3 (every 5 years) year books and breeder ads. I also looked after their website for about 15 years until someone else wanted to take it on.
In March 2007 the UK tail docking ban came into force, and the official KC breed standard illustration needed to be redrawn to reflect tailed dogs, which I was tasked with. Dogs that have achieved KC Championship awards for Show, Field work, Working trials and now Agility are featured in the publications.
In 2015 I qualified with the IMDT as a ‘force free’ dog trainer and ran classes as well as home visits to help people and dogs better understand each other. ‘Force free’ training is about understanding the behavioural science behind why dogs do what they do, and how to change problem behaviours in such a way that the dog is set up for success and makes right choices rewarding. I love it because the dogs love learning this way. It’s fun, it’s fair, and it encourages our dogs to work with us. A game of ball works better if the ball comes back again!
Social media posts for my classes
Breeder ads for Yearbooks
I have included my own ad here for the 2023 WCGB yearbook. I don’t breed, but these yearbook adverts are as much a tribute to the dogs you love as ‘adverts’. Hands up, on my own, I made the text far too fine to properly be clear to read, but I still love my flowing Weim head illustration I drew many years ago.
Breeder ads are fun. I am not a great fan of the almost celestial European type adverts that in my opinion look a little too much like obituaries than celebrations. I seek, as I do in all things design, to find a story to tell.
Janet’s advert (Longlox) shows her love and pride in her dogs and that she works them on shoots. Kelly’s ad celebrates her boy Dream from her first litter. Kirsty’s Chesapeake advert shows that her dogs are truly versatile and she is always doing something with them (true story!)… and mine speaks of my journey, my beautiful Cindy who was the biggest learning curve of my life, all the way to my sweet loving Rebel.
If you are a breed club member and would like me to create your advert, please contact me. Prices start from £30 for up to 3 photos (inclusive of any editing), supplied as print-ready PDFs. You will also receive a JPEG / PNG file for your own website. If you have a favourite photo that has been damaged, I can also digitally restore this for you.
If you have a pet or wildlife related business I can also help. I have a broad interest in all things ‘animal’ and experience in caring for many species, including horses, goats, chickens and ferrets.
You might also like to check out my dog training website here: paws4me.co.uk
A few fun illustrations I've created for friends
