I had my pawdi-pedi and my fluff and buff - now I am ready for my close up

Sophia was booked to be a cover model for CityDog Magazine and we had much to do to get ready for the March 9th photo shoot.

First she had to get her nails trimmed. When I adopted Sophia her nails were very long and the first time I took her to the vet (Pet Care Center on Admiral Way) to get her nails trimmed I found out why. It was the first time I heard what is known as the "Iggy death scream". Obviously nail trimming was a very traumatic thing - this explained why the quicks were so long. Her nails did not get trimmed very often. So even when they are freshly trimmed, they still look long. And I know someone is going to look at her photo on the cover and if the feet are in it they are going to cattily observe that I keep my dog's nails too long. That's not the case at all, but I wanted to mitigate that possibility.

It takes a team of three to trim Sophia's nails. One to trim and file, one to officially hold her down, and me - who soothes her and tells her she's not going to die.

After the nail trim, she then went for a bath. This used to also be a very traumatic experience. Using high value treats as a reward while under water, now Sophia goes up the steps to the landing, and then jumps down in the tub by herself. AND it used to take two people to bathe her - I ran the water and Steve did the shampooing and conditioning. Now I can even bathe her by myself. What a difference a year makes (or now, almost four).

We go to Murphy's Paw in White Center for our self-bathing needs. I have found their real bathtubs much more dog friendly than a utility sink (like at The Wash Dog) and the water temperature regulator here keeps the water temperature consistent. When we first started taking Sophia for a bath we would often have to come back several times because the water at The Wash Dog would actually be cold. It became annoying and I was very happy to find a good alternative 2 miles from home.

Steve took on toweling duties.

Then we were ready for our Monday morning photo shoot. Here Sophia greets Brandie, the editor-in-chief of CityDog Magazine at the mag studio. (Apologies for the red eye.)

Here J. Nichole Smith of Dane+Dane Studios, who has an adjoining studio, did the photo shoot.

I thought Brandie was joking with me when she asked me if Sophia had a pink collar or something since they were planning to use pale pink as the backdrop. It is Spring and almost Easter. I exclaimed, "Pink is our signature color!" I brought collars and jewelry and also her sock bunny.

I have no idea what photo will be on the cover. It took about two hours and Sophia was tired afterwards. The bunny was real popular and there may be a "shabby chic" theme to the photo. Or it may be an action shot (like in the photo above) . I am looking forward to having something special of Sophia to frame and put on the wall.

It was a real privilege to have my Sophia chosen for a magazine cover. She has competed in the summer photo contests for CityDog, which has helped keep her face top of mind perhaps? Thanks Brandie and Nichole!