as i settle in to start work on a couple of large canvases and a 12×12 Best in Show album for three fabulous scruffy models, i thought it high time to share a blog entry about these guys.

for those of you who follow the scruffy dog facebook page, you’ll have already met Rosie, Ebony and Champ.

first up: little Rosie …  as someone whose own life has been touched with a senior jack russell, i might be just a little biased … but i love this girl.  even before arriving, i was told that this 12-year-old madam doesn’t always do well with new people coming into her house and can get a little nippy.  all i can think is that Janice has been inviting the wrong guests over for coffee.  😉  handling the situation the way it should be handled, working with the dog’s energy, working at her timing, and generally letting her choose the pace, this amazing little girl was posing within minutes and pawing at me for attention.

then there’s four-year-old Champ …

this stunning tripod hails from death row in a shelter in Kentucky.

and then there is the lovely 10-year-old Ebony …

both Ebby and Rosie were adopted from the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane society.  and like my former old man Morley — adopted at 9 yrs of age and almost making it to 17 — little Rosie was adopted at 6 years and is going strong. gotta love those JRTs.

but at 10 years of age Ebby is no slouch either!

i had a lot of fun with these three on the beach in spite of the heavily overcast conditions …

and what can i say about Janice’s boots?  as soon as she grabbed them at the house, i already knew they were going to feature in a few shots.  i think i might need to find me a pair of those!

but even before we got the beach, we had some fun in the field.  and one of the main reasons that November is one of my favorite months to shoot in is the long grasses.  and of course, any shoot is extra special when the model brings her own mascara and eye-liner.   good girl, Rosie.

and that eye-liner didn’t even smudge or fade during our session … even with all the running!

and just because he’s a tripod, don’t underestimate Champ’s athleticism!

… or his abilities to search out a vole in the long grass.

like a lot of scruffy dog clients, Janice had fallen in love with the tunnel-of-trees location.  she had visions of this location featuring in a large canvas, and the first image in this blog entry is just one of the big canvases Janice has ordered at a 24×51  dimension.  i can’t wait to see it.

even though i have photographed Ebony in the past, and Champ was new to the family and still learning a lot of commands, and Rosie was an admitted nipper, it was Ebby who posed the biggest challenge in this session.  this girl always looks sad.  coupled with slight camera-shyness, it’s almost impossible to get Ebby’s ears up.  but we did!

thank you, Janice, for sharing your three awesome scruffies with me … more than that, thank you for adopting!