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DogVinci: Meet Dagger II The Leading Canine Artist [Video]

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 01:28 PST, Mar 20, 2016

DogVinci – or to give him his real name, Dagger II – is quite likely the greatest canine artist ever seen in this world.

The Long Island black Lab cross golden retriever was previously a service dog for people with disabilities. In his retirement from his duties, he has become the world’s leading canine artist.

His owner is fine artist Yvonne Dagger, and Dagger II paints by her side almost every day. Surprisingly, his brushwork is pretty good. His artworks are colorful, exciting, and varied. What makes him a really classic artist is the fact that he wears an elegant, red beret while working.

One painting by Dagger II, officially commissioned and pictured below, was recently shipped almost 3,000 miles across the U.S. to its new owners, who were thrilled with the results.

Yvonne told Mashable that some of DogVinci‘s art works are very abstract and often appear to have hidden images in them, saying, “It’s very interesting.”

Dagger II hasn’t been painting from puppyhood, however, but reportedly developed his dexterity and skills while training to be a certified therapy dog for people with disabilities. According to Yvonne, during his training, Dagger II learned how to push drawers and doors closed, and to gently hold objects in his mouth.

While he was excellent as a service dog, his career was unfortunately only a short one and when he was released from duty, he went home with Yvonne. On getting Dagger II home, she noticed he still responded to the around 30 commands he had learned during his training.

Yvonne said, “Very often Dagger II would come into my studio and lay next to me when I painted.”

She went on to say that one day, Dagger II started nudging her while she was working. She said she stopped painting and asked her canine pal, “Dagger, do you want to paint?”

According to Yvonne, the clever dog started wagging his tail like crazy. From there on in, Yvonne helped Dagger II to paint, using modified versions of the various commands he had learned during his service training. She said, “Instead of ‘push’ it was ‘paint’.”

According to a report in the Telegraph, the great thing is, while Dagger II is no longer working as a service dog, he is using his artistic skills to contribute to his old field of work.

Reportedly, the canine artist has already sold a few pieces, and the proceeds were passed on to Canine Companions for Independence. He reportedly fetches around $100 per canvas. As his artistic career continues, Yvonne is hoping to also contribute the proceeds of sales to various local animal shelters and rescue groups.

It seems Dagger II has also amassed quite the following on the Internet and even has his own Facebook page and Twitter profile. According to a post on Facebook, he will be demonstrating his painting technique at The Studio of Art this summer on June 12th, July 10th, and August 14th. It seems you just can’t keep a good artistic dog down.

Also, the painterly hound was reportedly excited recently after an article about him appeared in a local newspaper.

Watch Dagger II learning to paint in the video below, where Yvonne Dagger speaks about his service background and talents.

[Image via YouTube]

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