Watch Plymouth Dog Paint Masterpieces

When Jill Andra Young had to come up with an artist to represent her business for Art About Town, so the pet photographer thought who better to do that than her dog, Annie. 

"Well, I thought elephants can paint, cats can paint, why can't dogs paint?" she said. "So Annie was my artist that year. We did a whole bunch of paintings and matted them and it was a big hit."

Now Young has taught her dog Henri to do the same. Young and Henri will be demonstrating, "Yes, Dogs Can Paint" at her studio at 7 p.m. The event will 
take place during Forest and Ann Arbor Trail merchants' Third Thursdays. 

Young uses water color, non toxic paints because they dry quickly and wash off easily. She lays down a large area of newspaper underneath the painting for the dog to walk across.

"Basically, the idea is to dance them across the paper with some different colors using treats," she said. "Every now and then you get some paw prints, but they're just kind of an abstract painting. It's a nice interactive kind of a thing you can do with your pets."

Young plans to offer dog painting classes as soon as she can find a larger, non-carpeted space to have them. 

"I think it will be fun to have people come in, that way they don't have to buy all the supplies," she said. And it will be easier for a person to help dip your dog (into the paint.) Henri's done it, so for me, it's not that difficult. And if they're treat driven, that's helpful."