Dog Breeds – Gecko Designs

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Tim Floyd

Pictures of Dogs

Looking for pictures of dogs as a gift or for your own home? You are not alone! We have found that people are fanatical about their four legged best friends and if they have a favourite breed then a dog picture of that breed makes the perfect gift. If this is you we are talking about then you simply don’t have enough picture of dogs in your home!

A completely different type of Dog Picture

There a loads of pictures of dogs around but they are often a little samey of you know what I mean. Let me give you an example. I was talking with the owner of a Dachshund the other day and, in the words of her boyfriend, she has everything Dachsy there is to have. I mean Dachshund pictures, coasters, doormat, bed covers, curtains – I mean everything!

So it had become a hell of a challenge for her family to find new presents for her because all she craved was more Dachshund stuff. Then they visited our market stall.

It became a bit of a Dachshund fest then. We have two cut outs for the dachshund pictures the standard shaped one as you can see on the right here and our stretched sausage dog as shown below:

We got a bit carried away when we designed this stretched sausage dog picture but it has become very popular with the Dachsy fraternity and gives a unique twist on the pictures of these dogs. The point I am trying to make is that these pictures are nothing like anything this young lady had seen before and the great thing about them is that as they are a deep mount cutout we can back them with any padded fabric the customer chooses. We have a standard set of fabric choices that are most popular but you can choose anything.

This now gives her family and friends an almost unlimited set of choices for new Dachshund pictures. So pictures of dogs will never be the same again.

Pictures of other Dog Breeds

We currently have exclusive and original Gecko Designs pictures of dogs for Staffies, Pugs, Dachshunds, Retrievers, Labradors and Chihuahua Art and we are adding more all the time. We are working on a Greyhound, Dalmation and Poodle for customers at the moment and because we work closely with a number of dog charities including Dogs Trust we are under pressure to add more and more.

So if you can’t find a picture of the dog breed you are looking for just give us a call or send us a message and we will look into it.

To give me some set of guidelines I researched the top 10 breeds of dog in the UK. I am not sure what the criteria are for the lists that appear on Google, I guess it is dogs registered in that year or something, but it does not bear any relation to what we are asked for.

A recent poll for the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/pets/Britain-dog-breed-pets-animals/ shows a top 25 dog breeds as voted for but this bears little relation to the figures highlighted by other top 10s so I am not sure which is the best way to do this. For example the Staffy features highly in some recent figures for dog registrations but does not even get a showing in the Telegraph’s poll.

You can help us make our own list – use the Twitter hashtags #2016Top10 #DogBreeds and look at our tweets on dog breeds.

More Dog Breeds from Gecko Designs

At the time or writing we have Staffy Cut Out Art, Dachshund Cut Out Art, Chihuahua Cut Out Art. Labrador Cut out Art and Pug Cut Out Art as wall art pictures and you can follow the links above to these pages. We have also just added our Dachshund Cut Out art picture in tan check to Etsy – Brows our Etsy Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/GeckoDesignsUK

#WeLoveDogs

Posted on May 6, 2016July 26, 2016 by Tim Floyd

Staffie and Stray Rescue Save and Donate

Staffie and Stray Rescue Save and Donate from Gecko Designs is a unique opportunity for charity supporters to save money on exclusive and iconic cut out wall art and gifts of dog breeds and many other designs from Gecko Designs whilst generating a donation to Staffie and Stray Rescue at the same time. For more information please visit our dedicated Staffie and Stray Rescue Charity Page.

Your Discount Code is ssr15 and here is the exclusive link where you can use it: http://goo.gl/z5Wpnx

The lovely people at Staffie and Stray Rescue are a family of Staffie lovers who find foster and forever homes for unwanted dogs. They campaign to reduce negative perceptions towards the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and to promote responsible dog ownership. The charity runs solely on donations from generous supporters.

Diesel our Rescue Staffie Here at Gecko Designs we are both lifelong dog owners and currently have a rescue Staffie called Diesel who was bald when he came to live with us. We have even had a rescue kitten (now an old cat called Alfie). We have always wanted to do more to support the work of animal charities in the UK and are delighted that Staffie and Stray Rescue has decided to work with us to generate donations and raise funds for their charity.

Gecko Designs customers can now help support SSR, plus receive a discount in our online shop. You simply need to use the Staffie and Stray Rescue Save and Donate link below plus our latest discount voucher code which at the time of writing is ssr15. This code is applied at checkout and will give you a 15% discount on your product purchases (delivery and post and packing is at standard rates) and the good news is that the code is not limited to alfiecat how often you use it, or who uses it, or what you are buying. You can buy non-dog stuff, tell your friends and family, post it on Facebook or Twitter and whoever actually uses the code still gets the discount and Staffie and Stray Rescue get the donation.

We would love to invite you to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook plus we are launching on Instagram and Pinterest too. Our links are here:

At the time of writing we are not intending to limit the use of this voucher code. All we ask is that you purchase a framed picture from our website, get the discount, and we donate to SSR. This exclusive link includes two tracking codes to ensure we keep on top of what we owe SSR and we will then make regular payments to them as we have promised to do. We will then post updates on this blog showing what we are donating.

Your Discount Code is ssr15 and here is the exclusive link where you can use it: http://goo.gl/z5Wpnx

If you have any problems using the link or the code then do not hesitate to get in touch.

Happy shopping and donating

Elaine & Tim Floyd

Posted on March 18, 2016July 26, 2016 by Tim Floyd

Dog Breeds – When a Staffy stole my heart

Diesel our Rescue Staffie Both my wife and I have been brought up with dogs and other animals since birth and between us have had a range of dog breeds from Dachshunds to a Newfoundland and as such have experienced many times the sense of loss when they lose their battle with age. Any committed dog lover and owner has to accept that this is an inevitable conclusion to owning a dog – they simply don’t live long enough!

When we lost our beloved Border Collie ‘Jazzy’ 4 years ago the sense of emptiness in the kitchen when I came down in the morning was shocking. I had come to accept that walking was not a daily thing anymore as Jazzy became less mobile over a period of time but when she actually died I had to cope with not having anyone to say good morning to, as I am always the first up in the morning.

We decided that we would leave it a bit before rushing into getting another dog and spent a little of this time considering dog breeds that might be suitable for us. One thing we were completely agreed on though was that we wanted to give a rescue dog a home rather than spending a fortune buying a puppy and to be honest we ended up fairly open minded about which dog breed we were actually looking for.

What Size of Dog we wanted

We did, however, have an idea of what sort of size of dog we wanted, not big although between my wife and I we have Dog Breeds - Newfoundland had both Great Danes and a Newfoundland in the past, and not small, like a pocket dog. So we went to the dog rescue centre and were overwhelmed by the number of Staffies and Greyhounds that were in there looking for homes. We had not even considered either of these dog breeds but we agreed that the Greyhound was too big for us but a Staffy was just about right. The fact that we had not even thought of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in our deliberations was unclear and we don’t know if this was a subconscious denial or we just had not thought of this breed but I did wonder whether we were affected by the poor image associated with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Anyway, the ‘staffy stole my heart’ culprit was called Diesel. Even his name seemed dodgy but we decided to keep it and Diesel got on well with our cats and he was also bald, unhappy and, at times, terrified.

Happily, 4 years on, he is the linchpin of the family. His best friends are the cats and my two grandchildren who absolutely adore him and he gets so excited when they come to visit. In my view he is a perfect dog although he does not like other dogs a lot and after much deliberation we have come to the conclusion that this is due to some trauma in his past as his attitude on this issue remains unchanging even after 4 years and much effort. We are not sure whether he is acting frightened or protective.

Now I am not an expert at dog training and I guess if I was we might have got Diesel to kick is problem with other dogs but in all other things he is an absolute gem. We can leave him at home and he does not chew, whine or bark, unless provoked. He does not mess in the house, at any time, he is friendly, cheeky, mad and fun and he farts a lot so the only not so good thing is the ‘other dog’ problem. So in our view, for a rescue dog, who we found out was already about 5 or 6 years old when we got him, he is just about as good as he could get.

Staffordshire Bull Terriers

Dog Breeds - Staffie cut out art -Black-AP10

Meet another Staffy owner, or any experienced dog owner to be honest, and their love for the breed is uncompromising. Another owner will have experienced all the positive parts of Staffy ownership and will have many stories to tell, whilst an experienced dog owner will know that no dog breed is inherently bad, as the Staffordshire Bull Terriers have been made out to be, but any big negatives on this front are almost always down to the owner. The saying is ‘There are no bad dogs, just bad owners’.

So when we started Gecko Designs, our first design was of course a Gecko but our second was a Staffy. The design was based on a photo of our own Staffy ‘Diesel’ and it has proven very popular with a wide selection of fabrics but the most popular is the black background with red hearts which, to be honest sums of the Staffordsire Bull Terrier breed.

This also alerted us to the fact that people are passionate about their choice of Dog Breeds which I talk about in another blog – ‘Dog Breeds – Does it really matter?’.

So if you are considering getting a dog, don’t overlook the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. You will find many in rescue centres across the country and I include a few links below that you might find useful. But beware, once you become Staffied it will be with you for life, and you will have no regrets.

Staffie Rescue Centres

Most rescue centres and animal charities will have Staffies awaiting rehoming, and sometimes puppies too but there are a few dedicated Staffy centres and the links are below:

http://www.staffierescue.co.uk/

http://www.happystaffierescue.org.uk/

http://www.littleangelsstaffierescue.co.uk/

http://www.sbtrescue.co.uk/

http://www.staffieandstrayrescue.co.uk/

#LoveStaffies

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Tim Floyd

Dog Breeds – Does it really matter?

Dog Breeds

Our choice of dog breeds is a pretty emotive subject to be honest. Here at Gecko Designs we love all breeds of dog and we have created unique cut out artwork for a few dog breeds but every day we are being asked for another dog breed design that we have not yet created. We have a list as long as your arm of the dog breed designs that we need to do and we stupidly thought that by covering a few of the top ones we would satisfy a fair chunk of the market.

Currently we have Staffy Art, Pug Art, Dachshund Art and Chihuahua Art although we are launching a new range of handmade cards for most breeds which is rolling out in March and April 2016. But where do we start with the dog breeds because my list of what people want is growing every day.

You can help us make our own list – use the Twitter hashtags #2016Top10 #DogBreeds and look at our tweets on dog breeds.

Dog Breed Loyalty

dogs_loyalty_4 I don’t know what your views are on choice of dog breeds but people seem to be madly loyal to their choice of breed of dog. Although I think this is more to do with how a particular dog breed fits into their lifestyle and attitude profile rather than whether that breed is particularly loveable or not, because, let’s face it, they are all loveable. Sometimes our choice of dog breed is by habit, i.e. our parents had a particular breed and we were brought up with them, by design when we make a specific choice of dog breed and sometimes by accident. What I mean by accident is what I experienced a few years ago after losing my beloved Border Collie. We decided to rescue a dog and ended up with a bald, unhappy and terrified Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Diesel and we have never looked back. You can read about Diesel here: Dog Breeds – When a Staffy stole my heart.

But people are madly loyal to their choice of breed of dog. Once they have made the decision whether this decision is by design or by accident. Typically we go for breeds of dogs that our parents or family have had for years and we have got used to them.

Choosing Dog Types

Maybe we should choose our favourite Dog Types. Even when we are fairly open minded of the actual breed of dog choosing-a-dog-breed we are looking for, perhaps we should be looking for particular Dog Types, or a dogs of a particular size that will fit into our lives. At other times it all happens by accident – for example a relative not being able to cope or an advert in the paper touches our hearts when it alerts us to a sweet doggy wanting a loving home.

Another force that is becoming very strong nowadays is the fashionable element. Generally, but not always, driven by minor or major celebrities choosing and being seen with particular breeds of dogs. Now the ‘fashion’ element is incredibly powerful and typically favours the small dog breeds, ones that you can take almost anywhere with you, and there are particular breeds that have become extremely popular in the last few years.

Often this results in the re-popularisation of specific dog breeds based on fashion and convenience but in my view provided the home and owner is loving and caring it does not matter really why anyone, famous or not, choses any particular breed.

The one that I am most pleased about seeing more of is the Dachshund. Now this is a hark back to my own childhood because from when I was born to only a few years ago when my father passed away, there have been Dachshunds in my life and that is over 50 years so I can rightly claim to have been familiar to this highly popular ‘fashion’ dog well before the current craze.

It is also the reason the second Dog Breed that we decided to create as art was the Dachshund. And whilst we were at it we produced the stretched ‘Sausage Dog’ too.

So Does it really matter?

No not really. Provided you are committed to providing a safe and loving home to any dog breed or dog type, the reason behind your choice of which breeds of dog you do for simply does not matter.

More Dog Breeds from Gecko Designs

At the time or writing we have Staffy Cut Out Art, Dachshund Cut Out Art, Chihuahua Cut Out Art and Pug Cut Out Art as wall art pictures and you can follow the links above to these pages. We have also just added our Dachshund Cut Out art picture in tan check to Etsy – Brows our Etsy Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/GeckoDesignsUK

As for other designs, we are rolling them out over March and April. To start with in greeting card format but using the same cut out formula as our unique and exclusive wall art pictures use just in a thinner card that can be used for greetings cards.

In a twist though, we are also going to offer a framed option for our cards which gives dog owners the chance to have a perfect dog breed piece of cut out wall art in miniature whilst our bigger Dog Breed Art Cut outs are created over the summer.

Watch out for our Greetings Cards – follow us on Twitter here: @GeckoDesignsUK, like us on Facebook Here or sign up to our newsletter below to get regular updates on what we have available.

#WeLoveDogs