Posted: August 9, 2008, 5 a.m. EDT
Dawn Beaudreau’s dog Cabo is a card – literally.
Beaudreau is one of 72 finalists in the Hallmark YourPets card competition. Her card is available in Hallmark stores across the country, and is part of an online competition for the No. 1 card.
“I went to Walgreens and saw my card on the shelf,” Beaudreau told the Beaverton (Ore.) Valley Times. “I went up to the cashier, showed her the card and I told her it was my dog on the front.”
Beaudreau, who won $250 and stands to win $1,000 if her card claims the top prize, snapped the charming picture during a spontaneous photo shoot with her two dogs. “They were lying on the bed, happy and smiling,” Beaudreau says. “I just started taking photos.”
Beaudreau photographs pets and people “as a hobby, not an official business,” she says. “When I’m taking a portrait, I’ll tell people I’m changing something on the camera so they relax and don’t look posed or unnatural,” Beaudreau says. “People have different smiles, a fake smile and a real one. Photographing people is much harder than photographing dogs.”
To view and vote on the cards, visit Hallmark's website. Online voting ends Sept. 14.