Its official: My dogs are TOO cute
 Ive decided I can no longer take my sheepies to public places until I shave them done again! We did a fair this weekend, and although the fair was good, and we did well, I was totally fed up with the general public by the end of it!Here's the problem: my dogs are just TOO darned cute.  They have always (like all our sheepies on here) attracted tons of attention, but this time it was Out of Control!  They are at the longish puppy-cut stage, and had just gotten washed and thoroughly brushed out and spiffed up for a visit from my niece and her new baby. The damned dogs practically caused a riot!!!!  For the first time, I actually had to ask groups of people to please leave my booth, because they were fussing over Abby and Bert so much I couldn't sell any artwork!  The last straw, was as we were trying to leave at the end of the day on Saturday, and I quite literally got Mobbed!  I had both dogs on a split leash, and was on my way out the gate when a HUGE group of tourists surrounded me and wouldn't let me out. They were all snapping pictures and asking questions, and touching the dogs, who were so tired they barely responded at all. One woman kept badgering Eggbert to shake her hand, but she was talking to him in Japanese! I kept telling her: "He doesn't do that particular trick, and besides, he doesn't understand Japanese!  Scott finally came and rescued me (Im not sure how far he had gone, walking towards our truck, before it dawned on him that we were missing! ) by basically shoving his way through the crowd, grabbing us, and then using every bit of his fairly impressive size and weight to push on through till we were clear.  They are past-due for their mid-summer cut anyway, so Im DE-CUTE-ING before next weekend's fair!  |
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| It sounds like your a feeling better????? Hope so!!!! We all know what you went through...but, isn't it great that so many people are in love with our breed?????  Maybe you need to do an advertising promo...buy anything in my booth and get your picture taken with my sheepie!!!!  OR Get them their own booth~~~ and charge for pets and pics and donate the money to rescue~~~  |
sheepieshake wrote: :lol: It sounds like your a feeling better????? Hope so!!!! The weekend wasn't too bad  This morning is hives, hives, hives, Im sorry to say. That's why I'm hanging out here, instead of working, like I should be! We all know what you went through...but, isn't it great that so many people are in love with our breed????? Hmph! Ok, ok, yeah...I just wish they'd adore my dogs from a greater distance, at times! Maybe you need to do an advertising promo...buy anything in my booth and get your picture taken with my sheepie!!!! OR Get them their own booth~~~ and charge for pets and pics and donate the money to rescue~~~ Believe me, Ive considered it! |
| On one hand... do you blame them? They ARE the cutest. I wouldn't be able to resist either. ..but then I understand that it definitely doesn't help if someone who WOULD have been interested ...passes but doesn't stop b/c they weren't able to see any of your pics b/c people blocked the artwork!!! Don't worry about your dogs being clean. I'm sure they'll have plenty of baby food on them from sticky hands! Hope you have a doggiesitter for your trips!! |
sheepieshake wrote: Get them their own booth~~~ and charge for pets and pics and donate the money to rescue~~~ that's a great idea!!! Scott could run it while you ran your own booth |
Joahaeyo wrote: Don't worry about your dogs being clean. I'm sure they'll have plenty of baby food on them from sticky hands! Hope you have a doggiesitter for your trips!! Alicia (my niece) and baby Alex have moved on to the next house (my mother's...hee hee! ) on her visit. We weathered the visit pretty well, actually. The dogs and the baby got along great, and my house survived (barely!) As for our upcoming show travels: the dogs come with!  They will be naked-shaved, so hopefully we wont get mobbed by anymore crazed tourists! |
| i am doing art shows too but i could never here in fla keep my boys out all day .. or could i handle them !!! wish i could it would bring more people into my boooth |
suzptcruise wrote: i am doing art shows too but i could never here in fla keep my boys out all day .. or could i handle them !!! wish i could it would bring more people into my boooth Its a mixed blessing, for sure! they bring people in, all right...the tough part is then re-focusing the people onto the artwork, instead of the dogs! my usual routine is to keep them in the "back room" (the back 6 feet of a 20foot tent) where its cooler most of the day. They have dog beds, water and toys in there, and Scott is with them (reading or on his laptop) most of the time. I bring them out to sit with me on occasion, one at a time when things are slow. Otherwise, they only come out into the main area when a customer asks to see them. A lot of my regulars know them, and other folks notice the photo of them on my artist's bio on the wall. This is how I sometimes get frustrated. I bring them out to visit with a specific person, and the next thing I know, I have 20 people crammed into my little 10x14 space! All snapping pictures, asking questions, and shoving the paying customers out of their way! Another time when things can get crazy is when I take them for potty breaks. Abby, in particular, needs frequent ones, and the dog-potty area is a fairly long walk through the fair from my booth. I don't usually mind being stopped by sheepie-admirers...but poor Abby can only hold it for so long!  At times I have to be a bit blunt...Im sorry! I cant stop and visit right now! Shes an Old English sheepdog, she's had a trim, yes she's friendly, but she REALLY needs to pee!!!  |
| I sympathise. Its great that everyone loves our dogs but you're trying to run a business. Sounds like you have your stall pretty well managed with the space out the back but its not fun when everyone's tired and just wants to get home and you're mobbed. And I'm guessing you need to have them out front more at present as you need some assistance from Scott due to your health issues. This kind of thing happened to us at a festival last autumn. Funnily it was 4 young Japanese girls, who kind of shoved me out of the way, well to the end of the lead, shoved their camera's on Wayne and then went for the individual with the dog photos and then the group with the dog photos. When they started on the various combinations of the four of them with the dog photos  I politely but firmly reclaimed Tiggy and moved on. It got a bit much and I was just visiting the festival. Tiggy just stood there looking bemused at all the hugging and petting and camera flashes. I WAS pleased at how good she was. |
| The horrors of having sheepdogs! It can take me a half hour to walk a city block sometime.... I need a T-shirt with an arrow pointing to the side saying "I'm with rock star --->" |
| so, are those dogs ugly yet??? There is nothing like getting mobbed when out walking, and it definitely is proportional to the amount of coat they have! I can just imagine the scene it makes in your booth. |
| the booths here are only 10x10 and i have glass vases my kuckleheads would cost me money if i had help in the winter i would try and take them but maybe when they get older like 11 or 12 lol |
| LOL! I'm just catching this thread-- and while I sympathize, I did smile as I read your post! They are so hard to resist. |
Here's an idea, FREE SHEEPIE HUG when you buy a piece of art!!  |
| There is no such thing as a Sheepdog being TOO cute .... although Abby and Bert come awfully close. No the problem is that people are way TOO intrusive. Common sense should tell these people that you are trying to run a business and what is a polite amount of time and space to do the admiring. |
Hint of Mischief not logged in wrote: Here's an idea, FREE SHEEPIE HUG when you buy a piece of art!! At the last show, I was letting a customer pet Bert, when my nephew Ryan walked in to say hello. Now, Bert ADORES  Ryan...so he immediately pulled away from the customer and jumped up on Ryan in one of his signature "hugs". A hug from Eggbert is paws on the shoulders, combined with a full body wiggle . The customer, who had just been complimenting me on how calm and well behaved Bert was, was a bit taken aback!  I explained that Bert-hugs are limited to family only! |
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