Hi Lou and Larry
I went to a guy in Seaforth Ontario who makes lawn decorations by plasma cutting designs out of sheet steel. He designs the sign on his computer and then it gives instructions to the plasma cutter to cut out the design. I had him weld it to a stand. The dog is actually a Golden Retriever, but certainly in silhouette, they look very much the same. He doesn't paint the sign, just leaves it natural and says it will rust down to the colour you want, or you can paint it. Cost was about $50.00 for the stand and design.
The hanging part of the sign, with our names on it, was just cut out of a piece of 1" pine and painted silver. I got some wooden applique letters from a hobby shop and painted them blue. We used the sticky on the back of the letters to start, but every so often they fall off
as the glue loosens in the rain and sun. We then Goop them on which seems to work. Got the wheels from a hobby shop too and painted them, cut one in half and Gooped each half of them on. I also drilled a hole through the wheel diameter so I could put a finishing nail into the wheel and into the sign itself.
I had the stand made so it has a foot rest sticking out of the side so I just have to step on it to push the sharpened end into the ground. Works on everything but concrete.
I'm sure Ohio must have simular artists that could do a design for you. If you want pictures of the other end of the sign, I should be going to the trailer in the next few weeks and can shoot some jpgs for you.l
Sarge