Pawprints

When Denali was a little puppy I decided to get her pawprint tattooed, along with the cats' prints. It was a really fun project! I'm sure there are better or easier things to use than food coloring, but it's what I had so it's what I used. Today I finally got around to doing Kaytu's pawprint to add to the 3 already on my shoulderblade.

First I gathered my materials. Clippers for the paw, and I put red food coloring in a bowl and use a pastry brush. This will stain the brush if using dye like food coloring, and some bowls may hold the color as well. This is a ceramic bowl and every little scratch is now stained red though the rest of the surface is fine. Paper towels are also on standby to catch any drips as well as to press to the paw immediately after completing the prints. It's a good idea to do this outside or on top of cardboard or something you don't mind getting the food coloring on. I do it outside on the patio, and I have a small bowl of water so if I do drip then I can get a paper towel wet to immediately clean up and hopefully avoid staining the concrete. I wear old clothes that I don't mind getting splatters of food coloring on. A piece of paper is also needed to do the prints on, I use plain copy paper.

With materials gathered I then clip the fur on the paw. This is important because fur covering the paw pads will distort the image and it won't produce a clear shape of the pad. My cats tolerated this well as I routinely clip their claws so they are used to having their paws handled.

Kaytu's clipped paw.

If the paw is dirty it may need to be washed and then dried. Dry it well.

Now the fun part! I have the dog sit on my left side and I put a piece of copier paper directly in front of the dog. I use a shoe or the clippers or whatever I have to hold the paper down. Then I brush the coloring onto their right paw. I hold the paw gently but firmly at the wrist. I then lean the dog forward so she stands up and I put the paw on the paper. To get a good solid print I pick up their front left paw, forcing all their weight onto the right paw. I do several prints until the color is becoming faint.

Zebulon, bottom left print.

Denali, bottom right print.

Everest, the middle print.

Kaytu, the middle print.

Notice the big blobs on Denali's? I did her print first and made the mistake of dipping her paw in the food coloring. Brushing it on worked much better!

After doing the prints I immediately put a wad of paper towels around their paw and take them straight to the tub, or the sink for the cats. I rinse the paw until the water runs clear, then use an old towel to dry it well.

Kaytu's stained paw.

I took the papers to a local tattoo artist and he did amazing work. I got the tattoo in September 2010. The top paw is Everest, Denali in the middle, and Zebulon on bottom. Denali was 3 months old when I did her print. I did Kaytu's prints today so it will be added hopefully within the next couple months, and I plan on putting it below Zeb's pawprint but I might do it next to Denali's. I also originally planned to have the tattoo be black but I grew attached to the red.

Mirror image, this is my right shoulder blade.