Happy 6th Anniversary to See Spot Run!!

Yesterday I celebrated my 6th anniversary of walking dogs. My first dog walk at See Spot Run was with a golden retriever named Mojo 6 years ago yesterday. I can't believe it was 6 years ago. Time has flown by and I'm still loving every day that I get to do what I love for a living and I'm so thankful. Unfortunately because of my busy schedule over this holiday weekend, Don and I were not able to enjoy Easter Sunday sunrise service. I am home now Sunday morning and I have my piano (that has a player on it), playing on the spiritual music station. This isn't a station I listen to often but I am enjoying it on this Easter morning. I hope everyone else is having a wonderful, celebratory Easter morning. Happy 6th Anniversary to See Spot Run and Happy Easter to all!

Here are a few pictures from the pets I've been seeing over the weekend. I had my camera along with me yesterday afternoon so some of the dogs and cats I'm seeing I don't have pictures of b/c it was too dark outside when I saw them or I didn't have my flash with me to take inside photos.

Rocky, Maddie and Cotton - I stopped and picked up new cat food yesterday afternoon although I've not seen any diarrhea in the cat box at all. I switched them still to the new food as of last night though.

Sparky - I wish it would've been light enough outside for me to get some pictures of her!! Unfortunately it was always too dark when I was there. She is doing great and I even got kisses from her this morning. Loved it!!

Special K and Harley - They've both been eating well and Special K is always up for playing after a little breakfast. She chases that light around and goes sliding across the wood floors, makes me laugh every time! Harley just sits back and watches as if to say "kids.... grow up!!" :)

Chloe - Chloe has greeted me every visit. I've been giving her a little bit of wet food every visit so I know she hasn't wanted to sleep though that! She loves it and she's been loving the attention too.

Bella - I was a little later this morning (it was around 7am when I got there) and I still had to wake Bella up. I believe she is like my yellow lab Willow who prefers to sleep in (unlike our choc lab Moose who likes to wake up at 5-5:30am... even on Sunday!) Bella has been eating well and enjoying her outside time.

Ursa and Luna - I left Luna in the front part of the house overnight and this morning since it was so chilly out this morning. I fed them both and both gobbled down their breakfast. They definitely get the clean plate award!

Happy Birthday Moose

Happy Birthday Moose!! His actual birthday was yesterday so I took a few pics of him then but the weather is so beautiful again today, I grabbed my camera and took Moose outside for another photo session today too. Days like today make me long for a nice fenced yard. I'd love to let him roam around so I could really get some decent shots of him. As you can tell from his expression most of the time, he becomes bored very easily when I'm trying to do his portrait. I would like to get some full body shots of him but the leash I have is only so long (about 25 feet maybe) and him being out of reach is not a good thing so I learned today. Our neighbors behind us were out with their dog and their yard isn't fenced either. Moose saw the dog and wanted to go say hi so he took off. I got a hold of the end of the leash with one hand (my camera was in the other hand.) He was dragging me through the yard so I had to put the camera down and grab the leash with 2 hands. I finally got him to stop after he'd made it all the way to their driveway. Crazy dog!! My lower back will be feeling this little escapade of his for a few days I'm sure!

These are the shots I got of him today. I really want to improve my photography skills so I am trying to practice a lot!

Pet sitting in great Charlotte NC weather

I've been doing a lot of pet sitting lately and the weather has been so great, I've had my camera along. I really wish I could work one on one with another photographer familiar with pet photography (hint hint Deb if you ever read this!! :) ) I also could stand to take a class on Photoshop. My Photoshop skills are very limited although youtube is a great resource for helping me figure it out. I've been pet sitting with Fozzy lately and I've struggled to get a decent picture of her. Her canine brothers Ollie and Sunny provide ample opportunities for photos (see previous posts) but for some reason I've not been able to get a good one of her. She prefers to be inside vs outside so I guess that is the main reason. When I've been taking pics of the dogs, we've been outside mostly. Below is one of the better (perhaps the best) photos of her I've taken.

A couple of weekends ago, I was pet sitting for Rollo. I thought I'd posted this picture before but apparently I hadn't. One of my photography goals is to try and capture clear (non-blurry) action shots. When I look at this picture, immediately Taylor Shift's song "shake it off, shake it off" starts going through my head!

Very recently I was pet sitting for Lola, Howie and Otis. Otis is the old guy of the group and while he was still somewhat spry, his family wanted to bring in a companion for Lola. Enter Howie. He is all puppy. Here are a few things Howie did that made me laugh: practically tipping over when he hikes his leg to pee and racing around the den chasing a cat toy. The way he runs through the grass is pretty funny too. He hops. He was very entertaining!

Spring is almost here

Spring is almost here and that means I'm bringing the camera out every chance I get. Here is a sample:

Elliott's Birthday Party

Yesterday afternoon I went to Elliott's birthday party. I had the pleasure of celebrating with one of my clients Laurie, and her dogs Elliott and Topsy. Elliott turns 14 tomorrow so Laurie hosted a birthday party at TCBY. Laurie and Elliott hold a special place in my heart. Buddy my black lab pictured at the top of this page was fostered by Laurie so he lived with Laurie and Elliott before I adopted him (this was pre-Topsy.) I am forever grateful to them for opening up their hearts to this sweet boy. I love you Ellie! Happy Burfday!!

Ollie, Sunny and Fozzy

Recently, I had the pleasure of pet sitting with Ollie, Sunny and Fozzy. They have a huge backyard for playing and it is great for taking pictures. With the colder weather, I've not been taking a lot of outdoor photos but when Sunny's mom asked if I could take a few photos of the dogs for her, I gladly obliged. Ollie and Sunny are always good for a game of chase and some wrestling. They could be part of WWF and if they start chasing each other, get out of the way! Fozzy even got in on the game of chase which was pretty funny! Sunny is easy to photograph. Ollie and Fozzy create more of a challenge. Ollie is always on high alert outside, he is a hound after all. If he spies a squirrel, he is off to the races. I'd love to capture a photo of him galloping through the yard but all of my attempts were blurry. I did take a picture of all 3 dogs chasing each other. It is blurry of all 3 of them but because Fozzy was playing too, I just can't make myself delete it. Even though it is blurry, it still makes me smile. They are funny dogs!