My dog tattoo quest fulfilled.

I have a confession to make. I love tattoos. I think they are beautiful and can showcase some really great art. There are the exceptions or course, the scary ones make me wonder about the person sporting them. But overall I find them an interesting self expression of their owners. I even have a few.
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Well of course my admiration of tattoos and love of dogs meant that eventually I would want one that was dog related. I struggled with the right design and placement for years. The tricky part of a dog tattoo is that I wanted it to encompass so much. Having had many dogs though my life of various breeds and contact with them in such various ways I was looking for an idea that wasn't exclusive of any dogs, and represented my feelings in a clear way. Not an easy task.
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I had a few thoughts of Disney dogs but couldn't decide which ones would be the best representations for me. Unlike some others in the dog world I love the Disney dogs. Yes I cringe when a breed becomes popular due to any movie, but my first contact of a dog came in the form of Lady and the Tramp at the local theater with my dad. As a grown up I learned quickly that Disney dogs do NOT represent dogs in a realistic way. I don't think we can blame people that have unrealistic expectations of dogs completely on the Disney franchise. I mean, once we are adults we learn life isn't like the cartoons and movies don't we? But I digress.
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I was also limited by size parameters in the space I had available. I also like to see my tattoos because they are for me. Why have art you can't enjoy? I am lucky enough to be married to a very understanding husband in my tattoo admiration. He isn't into them and wasn't all that thrilled that I was. (perhaps a side effect of being a police officer) But he loves me and likes to see me happy. My children were also very vocal on what and where I should have any of my "ink". As a mom I never want my children to be embarrassed of me. (Well, beyond the normal reasons kids have to be embassassed of a parent that is.) So their input was important to me. And for those that think I'm to old for tattoos, my tattoo guy told me about a 79 year old woman he did a foot tattoo and tramp stamp on recently! Life doesn't stop just because you age. VBG (tho one can say I am beyond ever looking "hip" again LOL)
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Well recently the planets aligned and an idea finally fell into place for me. My daughter helped me with some design elements. Fortunately I have a great tattoo guy at Atlantic Studios that took my ideas and translated them perfectly for me. (Thanks Chris!!) So Friday night after work I went and got my new ink. I thought since this was a dog blog I would share my new art here:

The words say: "We strive to be worthy of their devotion". I admit the paw print is not my design. I found it in the header of another blog called (ironically) Finnegan's Paw Print . I don't know who originally designed it, but as a fan of Celtic art it struck me the day I saw it.

The quote I adapted from a t-shirt I bought recently. Some will read it as a romanticised version of dogs, however what I was trying to represent is that it is amazing what humans have done to dogs over the years and how they can bounce back to trust us regardless. We make mistakes with them time and time again and yet so many of them keep giving us the benefit of the doubt. Heck some people even abuse them daily and they still try to show love. Thankfully dogs ARE so resilient for our sake. I think (we) humans fall flat in many ways. Look at the need for breed rescues and animal shelters for instance. (and animal abuse laws) But at least some of us are trying to make things better for them and to treat them well. Anyway that is what I saw in that quote.

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The forget-me-knots represent dogs I have loved and lost over the years.

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It is up high enough that I can wear scrubs at work and regular long sleeve shirts and keep it covered if I choose. I am aware that not everyone likes tattoos nor think they are very professional. This way I can have the best of both worlds. I am super happy with the results and love it.

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Anyone else have a dog tattoo they love?