#dog illustrations

I Double Dog Dare You...

Illustrations from Lad: a Dog by Albert Payson Terhune. The illustrations are by Robert L Dickey, and the book was published in April of 1941.

Written in 1941 the stories are a tribute to the dogs of “the Place”, and emphasize just how much has changed in the way we treat our beloved animals now. I loved these books even as I was horrified by some of the ways the animals were “disciplined”. My first Collies were as wonderful as the Collies of the Place, as beautiful and as smart and as brave.

Mugshot Monday - Mike McCartney's "Shih tzu Primitive Cave Dog" coffee mug by Deneen Pottery with Morning Glory Signature Blend by Peace Coffee

I had to do some coffee mug sleuthing to identify this lovely thrift store find.

First off, it was obviously a coolio Deneen Pottery mug, but I didn't recognize the shape or the glaze. The stamp on the bottom was just their logo instead of also including the name and website.

The handwritten Copyright under the excellent Shih tzu illustration looked like 1998 and was (I incorrectly thought) "©McCarthey '98".

Maybe this was the logo for a rad Shih tzu breeder? The top Google search result led me to a breeder in in Dublin, Ireland with no brand identify or illustrations at all.

I gave up and decided to go right to the source and sent @Deneen_Pottery a DM on Instagram. I got some answers!

"That is what we call a Pooch Mug. The illustrator had a ton of breeds and worked with us back in the 90s."

And it was Mike McCartney not "MacCarthy! He's an amazing dog illustrator who has been creating breed specific dog art for the last 30 years.

This mug's Shih tzu illustration was from a project in the '90s he labeled the "Cavern Canine Theme" where he drew different dog breeds as primitive petroglyphs. What a cool idea.

He's still selling these Cavern Canine illustrations on T-Shirts, but looks like the Deneen Pottery mugs are all gone.

You should check out McCartney's online store where he has all of his illustrations and merch impressively organized by breed!

Mugs, calendars, t-shirts, and prints. It's an incredibly deep archive. Really impressive work.

I've never owned a Shih tzu dog before, but I'm very pleased to have this coffee mug in my possession. Thanks Deneen Pottery for the help in hunting down the mug's story!

When You Love a Dog by M.H. Clark and illustrations by Tatsuro Kiuchi