You have probably already viewed the previous post showing my gift portrait to Cesar Millan “The Dog Whisperer”. As I mentioned this was something I had thought about for a couple years. The reason it took so long to accomplish was that there were a few obstacles I had to overcome. I initially wanted to do a portrait of his Pitbull, “Daddy”. I could see how much Cesar loved him. But, I just couldn’t find a photo that I liked. I needed a close up of the head and neck with good detail. I did, however, eventually see a photo that caught my eye of his new Pitbull, “Junior” that I liked a lot and made this my focus. Then I started to think about how I would eventually get the portrait to Cesar … I just couldn’t call the guy up on the phone and say “Hey Cesar, I have this gift for you!”. So, for a long time, I waited for the right opportunity to come along, and hoped I’d recognize it when it did! After some time and much patience, it finally happened. I received my IACP (International Association of Canine Professionals) announcement of an upcoming annual dog conference. I have been a professional member for years, but have never attended the conference since they were always much farther away in Texas. Now, for the first time, it was being held in San Diego, California and Cesar Millan was going to be speaking to the group! This was the opportunity I was waiting for. I began to work on the portrait of “Junior” and continued thinking about how I was going to actually get this portrait to Cesar. My brother had the funny idea of me just hanging around the men’s room in the hotel. He said, “Even Cesar has “to go” sometime!”. Somehow I didn’t think that was the best approach, although I probably would have had lots of interesting conversations while waiting!
Then things started falling into place, and I didn’t even realize it at the time. My employer, Camilla (www.dogtalkdiva.com), had wanted to invite Denise Collins (www.italkdog.com) a local trainer in Oakland, California, to visit our facility. Denise, as it turned out, was organizing the IACP dog conference in San Diego. I was there for the visit with Denise and Camilla on a Sunday afternoon at Dairydell Canine, and we talked and had a glass of wine together (we are in the wine country you know!). At the end of our visit I showed the unframed portrait of “Junior” to Denise and she thought that I could present the piece to Cesar at the banquet! To my surprise, the stars were aligning, and although nothing was certain yet, it was beginning to look like I actually was going to be able to give Cesar his portrait.
When the conference was getting closer, I had the “Junior” piece matted and framed and loaded it in my suitcase for the flight to San Diego, keeping my fingers crossed that it would travel well. The good news is that it made it without a scratch, and my first day attending the conference was very exciting. Wonderful people and dogs were everywhere. It was great to see Denise again, and she was extremely busy handling the entire conference. It was difficult for me to nail down when (and if ) this gift giving to Cesar was going to happen. Then more good luck. There was another individual that was ultimately “key” to the gift giving, and that was a social butterfly named Martin Deeley (www.floridadogtrainer.com). Martin is the Executive Director of IACP organization and a close friend of Cesar’s as it turned out. Martin first heard about my portrait at the conference, and thought it was a great idea to give it to Cesar.
So both Denise and Martin were supportive, and it finally happened …. after Cesar’s presentation, Martin invited me up on stage with Cesar and “Junior”. Boy, was I nervous. There were about 300 people in the room. Darrell, my husband, had accompanied me on the trip hoping to get a few memorable photos … as it turns out, Darrell was even more nervous than I was, hoping everything would turn out well.
And it did … the moment arrived and my mouth was dry, my heart was pounding and my legs were shaking. I had covered the portrait with a tablecloth that I borrowed from the hotel to keep the portrait a mystery to Cesar while I talked.
Once the words started to come, I began relaxing and enjoying this tremendous opportunity. Cesar really gives off a powerful positive energy. It was pretty intense being up on that stage with him. Once I revealed the portrait and I saw the bigger than life smile on his face, I finally felt totally relaxed and was swept up in the moment and feeling of pure joy one gets from giving a heartfelt gift.
I hope to give Cesar more portraits in the future … maybe I’ll eventually to do a portrait of “Daddy” and Cesar will have a matching set!
One Response
Totally cute story, Leslie. Really enjoyed it, every word! How nice of you to give Cesar a gift portrait.
Could you resize the images you have for this story though? The first and last presentation images are too small to really look closely at. And the middle “unveiling” photo is absolutely HUMONGOUS (!) to the point I have to scroll around on my large monitor to see all the parts of the photo.
Awesome event though. Kudos!