The Lowdown on 4 Crazy Dogs
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Who's
responsible for all this pet craziness?
 That
would be me, Jill Cape. I also design all the stuff you see here on 4
Crazy Dogs. In real life (that's the one outside of the "inter-web"),
my official job title is Graphic Designer. I work full-time in that
capacity for a company, but I also freelance. You can find my freelance
Graphic Design site at Cape
Designs.
If you're really crazy--I
mean, curious--and want to
know more about me
personally, go to my personal Web site at Irrelevant Details.
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Is
there significance
behind the 4 Crazy Dogs name?
Yep. Get this...when 4 Crazy Dogs was formed, we had four crazy dogs.
Wow, sometimes I'm staggered by
my
total originality. We now have five crazy dogs, but I couldn't go
changing the name on you, so I had to keep it at 4. We also have 2
crazy cats (we used to have 3, but one of them passed away in December
2005).
Did I consider the cats when naming my business, you ask? Why,
yes! But "4 Crazy Dogs and
3 Crazy Cats" (our household fur-factor at the time) was a bit too long
for a business name. The dogs and cats
had a contest to see who'd get to name my stuff. The dogs won.
I still
can't find the cats...
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I
want to know more
about your pets.
Each of our furry kids has his or her own page on my personal site, Irrelevant Details; that's
the
place to go for pictures of them and to find out how they came to live
with us.
The original four
crazy dogs are (in order of appearance in our household):
Chance (female
Australian Shepherd/Springer Spaniel mix)
Vai
(male Collie/Husky mix)
Taylor
(female German
Shepherd)
Nuno
(male Border
Collie/Rottweiler mix)
Our fifth dog and the latest addition to our family is Gidget, a
little
stray girl of unknown origins. We don't know how old
she is, but figure her around 8 or 9. We don't know exactly what she
is, but know that she is a terrier mix of some sort.
The crazy cats are:
Sara (female
short-haired tabby)
Willie
(male long-haired domestic housecat).
The cat we lost to bone cancer in December of
2005 was Madmardigan
(male
long-haired
Maine Coon). He passed away not quite a month after his 15th birthday.
(RIP, big guy. Still miss you.)
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Will
you do custom
shirts of my dog or cat?
Absolutely! If you noticed the Opt to Adopt series,
I've already done a number of them. If you'd like your pet included in
this series just e-mail me
with original photos (no resized or otherwise manipulated ones) and the
following information: pet's name, gender, breed (mix or otherwise),
rescue month and year, and where he/she was rescued from.
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My
dog or cat isn't a
rescue, but I still want a customized shirt. Can you do that?
Yes, I can. Again just e-mail
me.
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Why are you doing this whole "pet
welfare awareness" thing?
It's a long story. I'll try to keep it to the Reader's Digest version.
It goes something like this...
When
I was in the process of adopting our second dog from a shelter
(that'd be Vai), I became fully exposed to why it was so important to
adopt
instead of buy from a pet store or breeder. I had always wondered why
there was so much hubbub about breeding in the first place. Sure, I'd
heard the quotes here and there, but they never really clicked because
I didn't see the big picture. I always thought, "Oh, look at the cute
puppies" or "Look at the cute kittens" and never could exactly figure
out why it was such a crime to let your pets have litters. It wasn't
until I started searching around for my Mr. Vai-dog and visiting the
shelters and seeing the dogs that would be put to sleep if they weren't
adopted and watching the puppies and kittens keep pouring in and
everyone making over them and ignoring the older dogs that it finally
all clicked for me. I shed many a tear for all of them when I finally
fully understood the pet overpopulation problem. It was not only an
eye-opening experience for me, but one that changed my life.
I have since been a huge advocate for pet welfare and putting an end to
the pet overpopulation problem. I talk about it every chance I get. I
figure I'm a pretty smart cookie and if it wasn't dawning on me until I
was fully exposed, maybe there's a whole mess of people who are like I
was and all they need is someone to explain the reasons why. So I
talk--every chance I get. As for my Vai-dog, well, he holds a special
place in my heart because he was, in essence, my teacher. He opened my
eyes and changed my overall focus in life. With his beautiful and very
expressive almond Collie eyes, that boy spoke to my heart through the
bars of a shelter cage that was way too small for him. He was full-size
when we adopted him, even though he was only 5 months old. Since then,
we've adopted Taylor at 10-years-old, and Nuno at a year and a half. I
will never again seek out a puppy or a kitten. Not until the
overpopulation problem goes away. That's what I'm fighting for...
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Do you volunteer with pet
shelters and rescues?
When I can. I used to do it much more frequently, but my life is busy
and I had to cut back. I'm still working hard for these pets
though--I've just shifted my manpower to voice-power. I'm trying to
make walking billboards out of you people so that the word spreads and
conversations start and minds are changed. Of course, I will never stop
talking about the issues anytime, anywhere and to anyone who is willing
to listen. Only through education and the passing on of information
will we make changes and save these precious lives.
- Do you
have a blog?
Yes! Go to http://4crazydogs.blogspot.com
to read it.
- Who is
that beautiful dog I keep seeing on your designs?
 You mean this one? That's my Vai, the official 4
Crazy Dogs poster child.
- He is indeed a shelter rescue and he is indeed a beautiful
boy. He's the most photogenic dog of our pack and the one who most
loves to sit, stay and smile for the camera. Those expressive collie
eyes of his speak volumes, so I thought he was the best choice to use
on designs. How can someone look into those eyes and not want to adopt
or rescue? I sure couldn't. That's why, five years ago, he came home
with me from the shelter. To find out more about him, go to his Web page.
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