Duncan, at rest

I’m sure “Let sleeping dogs lie” has a whole other meaning than what I’m thinking for this post, but you all know that one.  One of my favorite things to do as a dog photographer is to photograph a sleeping dog.  I’m just enthralled with it.  One of my favorite subjects to do this with was Duncan.  And he was good at it, sleeping that is.  But after having the camera inches from his face for a 1/2 hour, he would often open one eye, stare at me and turn his head completely away as if to say, if you haven’t got the perfect shot by now, it ain’t happenin’ lady.

Here’s some dogs, at rest…

Casey and Duncan, Yin and Yang dogs

Dunkie

It's all in the eyes

One of my favs

And the look....'you're done'

So, right now I’m experimenting with taking the actual pictures and making them into something that looks like drawings.  Let me know what you think….these are about the fifth try and so far Gary hasn’t liked them much.  And if I don’t find something that suits the look of drawing, I think I will just go with the pictures themselves.  So, please weigh in on what you really think about the difference between the actual picture and the drawing look.

Quite the look don't you think?

Just layin' around, no wild puppy here

where's the wild child?

So, what do you think?

Happy Easter Y’all!  I finally got out and took some new pictures of the kids and yes, I did torture them by putting ears on them. Hey it’s Easter.  I also learned that being a dog photographer while 25 weeks pregnant is not easy.  You see, I’m used to getting on their level, even laying on the ground and getting trampled if I must.  But you see, when you have this semi big belly that cuts off your air when you squat down to their level, you do one of two things, 1) pass out or 2) learn how to shoot quickly!

The kids must have understood me, because even the youngest sat there very patiently waiting for the big pregnant photographer to get in position.  However I have to say that Armani was so not pleased to be dressed in bunny ears.

Armani the bunny and Finn the Border Collie

Finn has learned how to pose quite nicely

Armani doesn't understand the word "wait" but he stayed long enough, finally

Gable at the February Phoenix Shows in 2010

My husband loves Beagles.  He loves their movement, their expression and the way their tail sticks up straight in the air.  This little Beagle, Gable, was at the last dog show we attended in Phoenix before we left for Longview.  He was very pretty and I fell in love with his expression.

Gable

Who doesn’t like puppies?  Most people love puppies, but especially Golden puppies! (sorry BC friends)  This is part of a photo shoot I did of a friend of mine’s litter of puppies and it was requested that I put them up again because they are just so dang cute!  I really do enjoy “torturing” puppies and the people that help me with these photo shoots!  One of the hardest shots to get when you do puppies is the group shot, so many puppies who have their own agenda and have no idea you want them to look at you.  However, with the patience of my puppy placers, this is the group shot from this litter:

Basket full of puppies!

Turned out pretty good, I think!  Here are a few more favorites from this litter as they grew up:

Wooden Golden meets real Golden!

This is a patented photographer trick - peanut butter behind the nose of the wooden Golden!

Puppy Breath anyone?

I loved this shot not only because the pup is cute, but the puppy breath bottle capped it off!  There is a great debate among puppy lovers - Is puppy breath the best or don’t you care?  Gary, he LOVES puppy breath, me, I could care less.  How about you?  While we are at it, how about a puppy kissing booth, would that make a good fund raising idea?  Would you pay a buck to get puppy breath and kisses?

Jake is ready for love

Priceless no?

How handsome can you get?

Here he is, one of our most handsome Goldens, Mr. Armani.  He is just so fully of personality.  Easily the funniest dog we have ever shared a house with.  He will sit nose to nose with you for a full minute before giving you a kiss on your nose.  He looks like he is stoned, as he relaxes around the house.  He loves is little border collie even though she pulls on his ears and attacks his legs as he rolls on his back.  And he loves the largest woobie you have ever laid your eyes on.  Every morning when I get him out of his crate, I address him ‘Good Morning handsome dog!’ and he just stretches and looks to Finn’s crate to see if she left any food in there.

Kylie's colors are marvelous

In the interest in getting back into the swing of things, I’m going to do a series on my favorite pictures.  Get back in the swing of things you say, why are you out of the swing?  A little over a year ago we moved from Scottsdale, AZ to Longview, TX.  At the time it seemed like a logical move, because my Mom needed some help as she was being moved into assisted living at age 62.  However, the move to Longview has created such a culture shock for us, moving from a big resort town to a very small East Texas town, I got lost. I became caught up in family and moving and figuring out where exactly we had moved to.  I’m just now starting to come out of this fog and getting back to what I really love to do, while adding a few new skills and oh yes, we are adding a new family member, a baby this time, not a puppy.

So, here’s the first one that came from a photo shoot of Gail’s Border Collie’s, all of which came from Arizona Border Collie Rescue.

Profile of some gorgeous BC's

Tessa's eyes are captivating

Actually, I can’t really take credit for Finn coming into our family.  It was all her.  I knew I would have a sales job if I wanted a BC and I never could find the right selling point for Gary.  But one day, at a show where I was working the NCCF booth and ABCR was there, I brought over one of their puppies to play with during our time there.  As I went to help a customer, I handed the pup to Gary and walked away.  When I turned to take her back, he was gone.  I saw him in the distance on his way back to the ABCR booth.  Of course, I thought he was taking her back to them, but when he re-appeared, he was still holding her and she was staring at me.  He said, if you want her, she is yours.  I was in shock.  Did my husband just say yes to a BC and I didn’t even ask?

It turns out that when I handed her to him, with her little speckled legs and big ears, she looked directly at him and then licked his nose.  She made him cry.  That was it, it was that simple.  He fell in love with her and voila, Finn was ours.  That is how we came across our first real rescue.

She loves to curl up with Armani:

And she will play ‘fetch’ endlessly:

This golden face who you find smiling at you is Armani.  He is our new, old dog. CH. Sonora’s Suit Yourself, aka, Armani came into our home after a dear friend of ours passed away from Cancer.

We have known Armani for awhile.  I’ve competed against him in the show ring.  I always loved seeing him on the table, virtually asleep while his Mom was getting him ready to show.  When the offer was made to us to take care of Armani, I jumped at the chance.

Ball Guy

When he came into our house we found out what his true personality was.  He is the mushiest dog I have ever met in my life.  Soft doesn’t even begin to describe him!  He is so very sweet and is very practiced with his puppy dog eyes.  When you pick him up to take him off the grooming table, he is a rag doll.  Not one wiggle out of him, no matter what you do!  We’ve had 6 Goldens before Armani and none of them have prepared me for him.

I have always had respect for people who rescue dogs and I’ve always given to help rescue.  But my level of respect has gone up even further now for the people of rescue who foster and adopt dogs that they have only just met in their 5th year of life.  Armani is five years old and he is who he is.  He has adapted to his new home with us and has learned to love the early morning walks, that he’s never had before.  But he is a challenge to me since I am so used to dogs I have raised from a puppy.  What I mean is, that usually when I raise a dog, I know what makes them happy, what triggers the wild dog run around the yard, the good words to use when I need to get the proper cock of the head for a picture.  When you get a dog who is already established, you  have to find all of this through trail and error.  While this can be fun, it can also be a bit frustrating and I guess that is what I am saying about Armani.  He is teaching me  how to reach out to him and how to be patient because he is such a different personality than any of our other goldens!

It’s been two months or so now since we have brought this silly, mushy boy into our home and I love his eyes and enjoy looking for a tail wag.  My hats off to you who rescue dogs of all ages and breeds.  What a job you do finding out how to make a neglected or abused dog whole and happy again.

Mani boy smiling