Doggie Da Vincis

Necessity IS the mother of invention! When Mary Stadelbacher of Salisbury, Md., needed to raise money fast to keep her service-dog training business afloat, she got creative ... or rather, her dog did. She figured that if her Foxhound mix, Sammy, could learn to open doors and pick up objects for disabled people, he could learn to pick up a brush and paint. Two years later, paintings by Sammy and fellow "Doggie Da Vincis," are popular for fundraisers as original works and notecards. As far as Stadelbacher knows, her dogs are the only dogs that hold paintbrushes in their mouths to paint at an easel. To see videos of the dogs painting or purchase their work, go to Shore Service Dogs.

Julia Kamysz Lane