you’re gonna love this boy …

you saw his sneak peek here … and now, finally, i get to share the whole dog with you!  this is Morleigh, the Nova Scotia Duck Toller …

… and one of the best models ever.  his shoot is a Christmas present, so i’ve had to keep his images underwrap.  and with a boy this handsome and a shoot this awesome, that was no easy feat!

now that i no longer have to keep it a secret … Merry Christmas, Heather! i really hope Brendan didn’t spill the beans early and that this truly is a surprise for you.  and if he did keep it a surprise, well, kudos to him … i know he was champing at the bit to share!

Morleigh was the quintessential model.  he’s still young but Brendan has put some field training into this boy, and he was a thrill to work with … so responsive, quick to learn, i had a blast with this boy.  i so do love the hunting dogs … and this boy loves his birds.

and i’d be remiss if i didn’t mention his love for the autumn …

… and his unparalleled skill at catching falling leaves.

Brendan deferred to my choice of a location, and — as you can see from the tunnel of trees earlier — we headed to my favorite spot.  the reason i love this area is because of the vast variety of colours, setting, and textures …

… with room to run!

this shot (below) was one of the first taken at the location — after i’d already worked with Morleigh some back at his house — and from this early shot i knew Morleigh was going to be a dream to work with.  such a poser … with awesome ‘wait’ and ‘stay’ commands.

new clients often express their concern over the fact that their dog doesn’t have any obedience training, worried that i won’t be able to capture any images of their crazy dog.  well, i do it all the time with great success.  however, when presented with such a responsive, biddable, quick-to-learn, and already well-trained boy, the sky truly is the limit as far as the kinds and numbers of images that can be captured.  as a result, Brendan and Heather have an extra big gallery of finished images to go through, and this blog entry — just a small sampling of the variety we shot that afternoon — is a little longer than most.

of course, the beach was a must for Morleigh.  no NSDT should be without water.  and Morleigh definitely made the most of our time on the beach.

how gorgeous is this boy?  i mean, really?

i have to admit, i was shooting even after the sun went down … i couldn’t get enough of Morleigh.  of course, those of you who are regular followers of the scruffy dog blog are more than familiar with my old man Morley whom we lost this past spring.  i’ll admit, it felt odd calling another dog by that name, and countless times i actually called him Merrick … a force of habit since whenever i start to say “morley” around here, i’m always having to correct myself with “merrick”.

at home, Morleigh was a dream as well.  of course, knowing where we were headed for our outdoor location(s), and knowing Morleigh would be wet and possibly a little dirty, we shot the home images first.  and when i saw this big treat jar, i knew i had to feature it.  when Brendan removed the lid, he assured me that Morleigh only ever takes ones biscuit … still, i bet if you left that heavy glass lid off for any period of time, you’d come home to find it pretty empty.  🙂

and as with any “first-dog”, young Morleigh owns the house.  although there are rules, and he’s such a well-behaved boy, you can tell that he’s got Brendan and Heather pretty firmly wrapped around his dew-claw … and, as such, has a lot of  freedom.  from the couch …

… to the master bed.

… and even his favorite chair.

thank you, Brendan, for sharing your fabulous boy with me.  thank you, Morleigh, for being such an amazing model and hunting boy.  and again, Merry Christmas, Heather.  and you really should know how hard it was for Brendan to keep mum about all this!  hope to meet you at a studio consult.