How the books were made · Shoot the Dog
Where the $100 went: the rescues behind Shoot the Dog
Inside the back cover of Shoot the Dog, Volume Two there is a heart made of orange paw prints, and under it one line: "Dogs leave pawprints forever on your heart".
This post is about the other mark the books left, the one you cannot see on the page.
A hundred dollars, every family
Shoot the Dog began in 2013, to celebrate the joyful lives of dogs and the part they play in our families. Families brought their dogs, up to three at a time, for a portrait session with Living Image Photography, and wrote a few lines about who their dog really is.
Every one of those families paid a $100 participation fee, and all of it went directly to an animal rescue group. A share of the profit from the books goes to the rescues too.
The five rescues
The money went to five groups:
- Save a Dog Scheme - German Shepherd Rescue Victoria - Amazing Greys - Pet Medical Crisis - Homes for Huskies Rescue Inc.
How a book gets made
Once about 250 families had been photographed, the design team chose the photographs and made the book. From the first session to the finished book can take about eighteen months to two years.
The books are big, about the size of a vinyl record sleeve, and each page pairs a portrait with the family's own words. That is where you meet dogs like Kooper, who has four names, and Evie and Minimus, the dachshunds with a party trick.
The same idea, one breed
German Shepherds of Australia took the same idea to a single breed. Volume One holds more than 200 German Shepherds and has raised over $22,000 for German Shepherd Rescue Victoria.
Shoot the Dog, Volume Two holds more than 250 dogs. Every copy on a shelf began with a family, a dog, and a hundred dollars for a rescue.