Massapequa 'Dog Vinci' Selling Art for Charity

MASSAPEQUA, NY - Massapequa's hottest new artist might not be exactly what you expect - he walks on four legs, paints with his mouth and works for treats.

Dagger, a 3-year-old lab mix, started painting last summer when his owner Yvonne Dagger, a professional fine artist, noticed he had a knack for painting while in her studio.

Born in California, Dagger ended up at Canine Companions for Independence based in Medford and was on track to becoming an advanced trained assistant dog.

He was named after the Daggers, Yvonne and her husband, who have been very involved with the non-profit organization for many years.

He had been doing very well and the organization had "high hopes" for him.

He was already certified as an American Kennel Club 'good citizen' and passed the test to become a therapy dog with Therapy Dogs International, but once they noticed that he had a few little insecurities, they released him from the program, sending him to Massapequa to live with the Daggers, who both grew up in the area.

Still wanting to utilize Dagger's training, Yvonne, who works at her studio at home, continued to use the advanced commands he learned at home, such as "push" to open the door and giving him things to carry in his mouth, which led to his learning a new skill.

"He started nudging me and one day, I asked 'Dagger, do you want to paint?'" Yvonne said. "And his tail started to wag!"

She set up a canvas and commanded him to "push" and he started pushing with his snout. Soon, she built him a little contraption using a cardboard roll, duct tape and a paintbrush to hold with his mouth.

She sets the paint colors, substitutes the "get" command with "brush", commands him to "paint" and the rest is history.

He often paints as one of Yvonne's other dog, Miss Ya Ya lays next to him and watches.

"She's his cheerleader," Yvonne said.

About two months after he started painting and with some help from a trainer from Canine Companions, Dagger debuted his art at a 'Paint and Sit' fundraising event for Forgotten Friends Animal Rescue.

He sold the first of his paintings, with all of the money going towards the fundraising, helping the organization raise a total of about $9,500 - one of their biggest fundraisers ever.

Since then, people have started asking Yvonne if they could buy Dagger's paintings to which she agreed to sell in exchange for a donation to the organization.

"Dagger is helping in his own little four-legged way," Yvonne said. "It was great because although he could help as an assistant dog, he can help another dog."

Since then word began to spread and Dagger's paintings began to sell with all of the profits going towards Canine Companions for Independence.

The organization needs to raise a total of $50,000 for one trainer to train one dog so Yvonne says the goal is to help raise enough for one "team."

Recently, Dagger has spread the word of his work appearing on the Today Show, CBS, ABC, PIX 11, and Fox. The have also heard from the producers of The Doctors. He was even featured in The Telegraph, based in England and Mashable.

In the past couple of days alone, Yvonne said she has received hundreds of orders and has about 50 additional orders she hasn't yet gotten to.

She says she has received orders from all over the country and internationally from India, Canada, the Philippines and England.

Dagger's paintings are currently selling for $50 for a 12 by 12 painting, $100 for a 11 by 14 painting and $200 for a 16 by 20 painting.

The paintings can be shipped to anywhere, except for the 16 by 20 paintings which can only be shipped within the U.S.

Even colorblind, Dagger seems to use more blues, greens and reds of his non-toxic paint in his art work.

"I'm not sure why, it's interesting to me," Yvonne said.

However, she will set up different paints for him to use if someone requests certain colors.

With Dagger's work exploding, Yvonne is hoping to start spreading the donations to other organizations and start switching every once in a while.

"It's all new to us," Yvonne said. "We never expected this not in a million years. It's really exciting, almost mind-boggling, it's crazy."

Dagger has big plans coming up. He will be doing a Paint and Sit demonstration at the Narrasketuck Yacht Club in Amityville on April 2 and there will also be a presentation of his work at the Art Studio in East Hampton on May 15, June 12 and August 10.

In addition, although it has not yet been confirmed, Daggar might have his own solo show at the Long Island Picture Frame and Art Gallery in Massapequa Park.

His artwork can be seen on his Facebook page or at painterdog.com.