SADORUS – Kirby and Cindy Pringle introduced "dog people" to children's literature when they began their "Happy Tails" series five years ago.

The Pringles, who live near Sadorus, have published two books, "Earl and Pearl on The Farm" and "The Call of Nature." Both feature the adventures of Earl and Pearl, dogs that dress and behave very much as people do.

Now the Pringles' business, Dogtown Artworks, is offering custom photos for pet owners who want to turn their canines into "dog people" too.

The business has eight antique family photos onto which a dog's head and paws can be transferred. That way, a dog can appear in a cowboy outfit, in Great-Aunt Matilda's Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes or in baby attire, without the hassle – and humiliation – of actually dressing up the dog.

Kirby Pringle, a former news and feature writer for The News-Gazette, said he and Cindy sell humorous photos of their own dogs, Buster and Barney, at craft fairs. But Buster and Barney are boxers, and the Pringles often have requests for photos of other breeds.

Rather than pose other people's dogs, it was easier to have people provide their own photos so the dog's head and paws could be transferred onto the old-time shots.

The Pringles provide an 8-by-10 sepia-colored archival print in an 11-by-14 mat for $100. If two dogs appear as a couple in a photo, the charge is $200.

Meanwhile, the Pringles are planning their next books in the "Happy Tails" series. Kirby said the next book will likely be about Earl tracing his genealogy back to the wolf. Cindy is also developing a story about Pearl saving a monarch butterfly and helping it return to Mexico.

The first book, "Earl and Pearl on The Farm," used funny photos of the dogs to teach children their ABCs. "The Call of Nature" took Earl and Pearl on a road trip and was aimed at children ages 7 to 12 years old.

"We also see them appealing to adults because of the humor in them," Kirby Pringle said, adding that people of all ages seem to like the books.

The first two books were printed by Friesens Corp., a Canadian firm, and distributed by Independent Publishers Group in Chicago.

"Earl and Pearl on The Farm," published in 2003, has gone through two printings, with about 3,200 copies sold so far. "The Call of Nature" came out this summer, and so far 800 copies have been sold.

About 70 percent of the books have been sold at craft fairs, while 20 percent of sales came from bookstores and 10 percent from the Pringles' Web site, www.dogtownartworks.com. Each book sells for $16.95.

The Pringles say they like "the direct contact" with customers afforded by craft fairs. "We like making people laugh," Kirby Pringle said.

Earl and Pearl, in real life, are the Pringles' dogs, Buster and Barney. Buster is a 10 1/2-year-old boxer, and Barney is a 9 1/2-year-old boxer mix.

"Buster is the best dog ever," Kirby Pringle said. "He just loves to have his photo taken, and he's so good about holding things in his mouth."

"He has great expressive eyes," he added. "He's got talent and a great sense of control."

Barney is "the perfect foil" to Buster, Pringle said. "He's our worrier dog – introverted and shy. He gives us that great 'scared out of his mind' look."

The dogs don't need a great amount of coaching.

"They both get lots of Milk-Bones after photo sessions," Pringle said, with Cindy adding that a harmonica is sometimes used to make them howl.

The Pringles are often asked how they get the photos they do.

"It's a combination of dressing them up and blending it with the base photo we take," Kirby Pringle said.

"The hardest part is the paws," he added. "Dogs don't have opposable thumbs. It's hard to get the angle so the dog looks like it's holding something."

Images taken by Cindy Pringle are marketed by two companies, Corbis Corp. and Next Day Art. The Pringles receive only sketchy information about who buys the images and how they're used.

But so far their photos have appeared on at least three book covers. They spotted a photo of Barney with a butterfly on the cover of a book featuring unusual juxtapositions of animals. A photo of Cindy holding an egg turned up on the cover of "My Turquoise Years: A Memoir," and a photo of Kirby wearing a painter's mask adorned a book from France.

The Pringles' work shows up on greeting cards too. The Pringles have learned that three images from "Earl and Pearl on The Farm" will appear on greeting cards from Colorado-based Leanin' Tree Inc. early next year. A photo from "The Call of Nature," showing Pearl in a beauty shop, will appear on a German greeting card.

Meanwhile, the dog books have won the hearts of people, not only in the Midwest and South, but also overseas. Cindy has begun a pen-pal relationship with the family of a 5-year-old girl in New South Wales, Australia. Closer to home, a woman from the Czech Republic visiting family in the United States used the ABC book to help learn English.

"You never know the mark you'll make in the world," Kirby Pringle said.

Fun facts

— Kirby Pringle, through his Working Dog Media enterprise, has begun issuing an electronic newsletter, Prairie Breeze, for the Champaign County Forest Preserve District. The newsletter, which includes feature stories related to the forest preserve district, is available in both HTML and PDF formats at the forest preserve's Web site, www.ccfpd.org.

— The Pringles' next stop on the craft-fair circuit is the Craft League of Champaign-Urbana art fair this Saturday and Sunday at the Urbana Civic Center, 108 Water St., U. They're also scheduled to sell books and art at the Holiday Market at the Square on Nov. 29 and Dec. 13 at Urbana's Lincoln Square Village.