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Monthly Archives: March 2011

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dipping into the archives ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

as a semi-regular occurrence on scruffy dog blog, where i know a lot of followers really hope to find a scruffy face or slobbery mug to brighten their every day, i sometimes dip into the archives to take a look at a couple of faces from our past.  for those unfamiliar with this little exercise, i literally go to my catalog of clients, close my eyes, scroll up and down, and blindly click to reveal who the lucky dog will be.  then, on the page of thumbnails from their finished gallery, i blindly click again.  it’s fun to see who i come up with.

this morning it was young Rosie.  i will never forget this sweet little melonhead, as i lovingly referred to her … the second of two 5-month old bulldog pups i shot within one week back in the fall of 2009.  i had wondered if there was any relation to Marvin, my other bullpup client, but the second i held her snorty little cantaloupe-shaped dome in my hands i knew there was absolutely no relation.

cute bulldog puppy photo

this girl was an utter doll, and her images are still some of my favorites today.  you can see her full blog entry here.

second-up in the blind archive-dip is Sara.  it’s somewhat poignant that sweet, senior Sara came up after baby Rosie, as my shoot with Sara and her brother Clancy was taken in their twilight year.  in fact, their shoot was around the same time as Rosie’s.

senior golden retriever photo

sadly, Clancy passed away shortly after our shoot, and Sara about a year later.  their shoot can be seen here.  i heard recently, with much delight, that Sue and Richard have at last opened their hearts and  home to two new goldens.

have a great Thursday, everyone.  hug your 4-legged babies, and take them for a walk.

a couple of tough cookies ~ {Kitchener, Ontario pet photographer}

this is just a sneak peek of two tough little cookies i met earlier this week … Kira and Xanadu.

these two — cute as they are, and sweet and welcoming as they were with me — will probably go down as scruffy dog’s least cooperative models.  i’ve worked with literally hundreds of dogs and cats, and have successfully handled each and every special case, adapting and adjusting to their individual needs, their quirks, their behavioral issues, energies and drives, shyness, aggression, whatever … yeah, i could write a book.   but these two scruffmuffins wanted nothing to do with the cameras, were over-stimulated by treats, and under-stimulated by anything else.

still, they’re darn cute … and no worries, Colleen, we got some good ones.

i’ll share more soon.

blame me ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

so, yeah … we all thought — perhaps a little naively or optimistically — that spring was here.  we could see the lawn … little glimpses of green and the promise of a new, and much-needed season.  we’d started to address the landmines in the back yard and fantasized about walks every single morning, undaunted by icy sidewalks and snowdrifts.  hell, i swear i even spotted happy little buds on the branches of some of the shrubs at the very back of the yard yesterday while staring out the back window during a business call.   again, though, it could have been my eyes — colluding with my overly-optimistic brain — playing very nasty tricks on me.

and then last night happened.  they said it would snow, but …

needless to say, the dogs were probably more surprised, as they were too busy napping to catch the weather report on the evening news.

merrick was not fond of the sudden reversal of seasons.  in fact, he hurried his pooping, but returned to the door without peeing.  poor bugger had to be sent off a second time …

i’d hazard to say we have over a foot on the back deck which was dry as a bone yesterday …

of course, i should have known already a week ago that this was going to happen … after all, that’s when i’d booked my appointment for today with Toyota to have my winter tires switched for my summers.  bad dog.

so, if anyone is to blame for this renewal of the winter season, it’s me.  sorry folks.  perhaps, to counteract this, i should drag out the lawn mower and start it up?  or wait, maybe that would only make things worse?  no, i think i should go buy a snowblower … this mess’ll melt before i even get that beast gassed up!

lolli! ~ {Toronto pet photographer}

wouldn’t every Monday be so much better if they could all start with puppies!?  well, i certainly can’t help you out with every Monday, but this Monday i can certainly help you out with a smile or two.

you met Lolli first in her sneak peek, but i thought i’d share a few more images from the Winter segment of her Winter/Summer session …

i started off the session with a little fetching with one of the Cuz balls that i brought along.

this little girl is going to turn into a consummate fetcher … and even at 12 weeks of age, she’s got a good recall.

we had a fun time out in the fresh snow, just a couple blocks up from scruffy dog studio …

i can’t wait to see this girl in a few months, running through the grasses and fields …

of course, being a puppy, Lolli loves to chew …

she tries to be all innocent … like: “oh, i won’t destroy this lovely little shrub”

… but that never lasts long.  rawr!!  Lolli the destroyer!

Lolli is Maria’s first dog, and they’ve already got her in training.  i think she’s going to grow up to be a wonderful girl.

it will be fun to watch her grow up through her photo sessions …

thanks for a fun afternoon, guys.  i hope you enjoy your preliminary gallery, Maria.  looking forward to seeing you guys again in the summer!

barkley’s snowy session ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

you met Barkley in his sneak peek a while ago, and then in an entry on post-production work.  now i can share a few highlights from his snowy shoot …

this was the Winter segment of Barkely’s Winter/Summer session.  as is often the case with our Winter/Summer sessions, the Winter segment is a shorter segment so that our Summer shoot is the big three-hour shoot on home-turf, incorporating multiple locations including the home.  so for his Winter, Barkley came here …

… and i think he rather enjoyed himself.  a little hunting …

… a lot of running …

… and, of course, a little, er …

with a former cruciate injury and repair, we made sure that the footing wasn’t slippery and that Barkley didn’t overdo it, but mom Deborah really wanted some shots of her exuberant, joyous boy running …

in the summer, well past his recovery period, we’ll be able to let Barkley let loose a lot more.

still, he let enough wind through those ears to clear ‘em out.

of course, Deborah didn’t drive all the way here and not get a trip into the magical forest …

Barkley seemed to know exactly what i wanted from him once we got there … “oh, okay. right here? you want a little o’ this? how ’bout this?”

and as the snow came down faster and thicker, i was able to grab a few quick shots of Barkley with his mom.

thanks for a fun shoot, Barkley and Deborah.  i’m looking forward to our Summer session.  i hope you enjoy your gallery.