Puppy Picasso - the true story of a little blind dog who could paint.

  • This book is the true story of Hallie the blind Dachshund who learned how to paint after going blind overnight at the age of 10 from a disease called SARDS. Her story went viral and took me on an incredible 4 year journey of interviews, public demo's, TV appearances, Radio interviews, Good Morning America, she was on the YaHoo and MSM home page, celebrity blogs and the list goes on.

    She raised over $35,000.00 in sales of her art all of which she donated to dog rescue. I rescued her from an animal shelter when she was about a year old where she had been dumped during the night with two other Dachshunds so it was fitting she could give back. She also won a Humanitarian Award for her donations and we are both in a documentary on Animal Planet called Million Dollar Duck.

    She left a huge hole in my heart when she left but I will always be so thankful she chose me as her Mom.

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Memories of Hallie

  • Hallie and Me

    Always so trusting even though totally blind.

  • John Sharify and Cameraman Tom

    One of the many interviews we did at our home. They did an amazing job on this one.

  • The Red Beret

    She loved wearing her beret as it meant we were going to paint and that was her favorite thing to do.

  • The Hallie Mobile

    This was a lot of fun thanks to cousin Chris!

  • The Bob Rivers Show, Seattle WA

    We had a fun time with this one! Bob was blindfolded and had to do a painting with the brush in his mouth like Hallie did. The posted both paintings online after and had people vote for which painting was Hallie's and which was Bob's. The majority chose Hallie's painting as Bob's painting stating "because it was the better painting". Hallie was always the best!

  • WalMart

    A WalMart store showcasing Hallie on their canvas print.

  • Evening Magazine

    Getting prepped on the set of Evening Magazine. Earlier as I was putting out her paints and towels I turned to see her trotting along at the heel of the stage crew headed for the food table.

  • Confetti

    Hallie's very first painting! If you squint you can see me there with a wavy red body, wearing a yellow hat, long blue legs, Hallie is blue with a yellow head with her paws up on my leg looking back at her red beret that just fell off. Hmmm.....

  • Demo

    Hallie and I at one of the many public demos she did! She SO loved painting in front of people she couldn't see them but could feel the presence and the praise from the audience.

  • Practice Brush Work

    In the beginning, a practice session of showing her were the brush was and getting her used to picking it up. Once learned, she never missed the brush while painting!

  • Fire Storm

    One of Hallie's later paintings. Her style changed as I got better with having the paint the right consistency and a more appropriately sized brush for her.

  • Nosework

    After Sophie went blind, we got into the sport of K9 Nosework. This gave her new life new meaning, she was in charge of things again using her nose to find hidden scents under a certain time limit. Nosework takes teamwork as your dog indicated to you where the hide is and you have to "call it." When she earned her title she came in 8th out of 33 sighted dogs!

  • Nosework Practice

    We practiced nosework often as she loved it so much.

  • Documentary

    The producer, other artists and author at the World Premiere of the documentary "Million Dollar Duck." That Hallie and I were blessed to be a part of. Sadly she was gone by then but I so wished she could have been with me as always, she would have loved it!

  • Fall Panel

    Being interviewed at the Fall Panel for new shows that fall, in Beverly Hills. What a great journey Hallie took me with her on!

  • Memories

    One of my favorite photos of us, at the beach. Another place she just loved.