4-legged artist selling dog art around the world for animal charity

NEW YORK -- An artist on Long Island is raising money for animals in need, but it's not who or even what you might expect.

Meet Dagger, the dog who is creating works of art. And his pieces are selling all over the world.

Art can come in many forms, and so can artists. Dagger is a 3-year-old black lab who has quite an eye.

His owner, Yvonne Dagger, says she's just the director.

"Every stroke, you see on the canvas is Dagger's mark," she said.

Yvonne took in Dagger as a training puppy for Canine Companions for Independence, but there was a different plan for him. One day, Yvonne -- herself an artist -- was working in her Massapequa studio when something unexpected happened.

"He just started nudging me, and I said, 'Dagger do you want to paint?'" she said. "So his tail started to wag. I said OK."

But like any budding artist, Dagger's works aren't free. A 12x12 painting will cost you a $50 donation to Canine Companions.

"We've taken in so many orders for paintings," Yvonne said. "He was painting yesterday. He will be painting again today."

Dagger's works are getting to be quite well known. He's been commissioned by people all over the world to do works of art for them, raising more than a $1,000 for Canine Companions for Independence.

"That's really a great thing for Dagger to be able to do," Yvonne said. "In his very four-legged, furry way, he's able to give back to the people that were so kind to him."

An activist, an artist and just a plain old good dog. It doesn't get much sweeter than that for the pooch dubbed Dog-Vinci.

CLICK HERE to follow Dagger on Facebook.