Ollie and the bird nest

Ollie is a Treeing Walker Coonhound and he is ALL hound so you can guess what he does when he sees a bird nest. This morning at 6:30am, he spied one. The mama bird was flying back and forth from the roof of the house to the bird nest. Baby birds have to eat breakfast too, right? I could hear the baby birds chirping and I know Ollie could. I'm not sure if they were chirping because they were hungry and waiting on mama or if it was because of Ollie. He was mesmerized and I'm sure he wished he had springs in his feet so he could reach the nest. When I'd first let the dogs out this morning, he didn't have his "barker" collar on but once he spied the nest, I had to put it on him. It is on a low setting and he gets a warning sound first before it goes off. He has been trained on it and he's a smart guy. He knows not to bark and when it is on, he doesn't. Ollie spent the better part of the morning (and I was there for over an hour), staring at the bird nest.

While Ollie was fixated on the bird nest, I took some pictures of Sunny and Fozzy. Sunny is always great for photo opps. If he had to choose a career to earn a living, I think male model would be a good choice from him. I'm just saying. Can you disagree? Look at that handsome face!!

TBT

This is my first TBT post and I know I'm a day early but 8 years ago today I was in the Grand Canyon with Sam and Sloan. For those who don't know, I lived in southern CA for 3 years: June 2004 - May 2007. On May 19, 2007, I loaded up Sam and Sloan in my rented SUV and we started the drive from Corona del Mar, CA to Charlotte, NC. May 19th is the birthday of my next door neighbor from CA. We still say in touch and as I was wishing her a happy birthday yesterday, it occurred to me that 8 years ago yesterday I left my most favorite place in the whole world. It still makes me sad to think about that day but when I get sad I remember this quote: Don't be sad that it is over. Be happy that is happened." And I am so happy that it happened! Prior to moving to CA, Sam and Sloan didn't get very regular walks. My house in Charlotte had a nice, big fenced yard and that's where they spent most of their outside time. When we moved to CA, the weather was so perfect all the time and the views were so nice, I started a tradition that I still do to this day. My dogs get walked every morning before I go to work. (and now they usually get 2 walks before I go to work. :))

My professional life while living in CA was not ideal and didn't provide a lot of happiness. I'd been in accounting recruiting for almost 20 years. I was burned out and starting over in a job environment that was less than ideal. Where we lived more than made up for it though and I knew we wouldn't be there forever so I tried to take advantage of it every day.

I still go back and visit every chance I get. The last time I was there was May 2014. I wish I could've gone again this year but so far it just hasn't worked out. This girl loves southern CA and I miss it every day.

So the first picture below is my TBT pic. Sam, Sloan and I are in the Grand Canyon. I'd not seen it before (neither had they - hehe) so we took a little detour on our road trip. 3000 miles.... adding a few more wasn't a big deal. The other pics are of Corona del Mar. Now you see why I miss it so. Here's to TBT.

Harley and Special K Photography in south Charlotte

When I mention Harley and Special K you probably think motorcycles and cereal. Wrong. These are kitties although if the truth be told, if I went into the garage I could photograph a motorcycle. Harley and Special K's mom is a friend of mine and she owns two Harley's. One has 4 legs and the other has 2 wheels. :) Harley has been a little under the weather lately. I think he has enjoyed spending his time looking out the window. You can see in the 4th photo that he seems to be holding his left paw up too. Today is the first day I've noticed it and luckily his mom will be home later today to check on him. He seemed very happy to pose for his portrait and I got some cute shots of him.

Special K was most interested in eating and then roaming around. I wish I would've had an assistant with me to play with Special K so I could get some photos of that. She loves to play... she is still all kitten! Fun times the past few days with these two!

Mother's Day gift from my dogs

I got a great Mother's Day gift from my dogs today and Willow and Moose had a great time. First of all, Moose got great news earlier in the week: he is heartworm negative. When adopted him in October, he was HW+. Because he was HW+, we have been restricting his activity. He's been getting "slow kill" heartworm treatment so he isn't supposed to run or jump around because that type of movement could cause the heartworms to break off from his heart, get into his lungs and basically suffocate him. He hasn't been allowed run and zoom around. Until today.

This was all set up perfectly. It was early this morning and I wanted to take some new photos of our dogs so I grabbed my camera and took Willow outside. I think I had snapped 2-3 pictures of her and then Don came down the street, just getting home from his run. Willow got really excited when she saw him. She perked her ears up and I snapped a few of those pictures and then she ran to great him. She is a really big dog to be running fast (and running isn't something she does often or for sustained periods of time.) I am really surprised there isn't a ton of camera shake b/c I think I was laughing at her. I love that I was actually able to get some "action" shots of her.

After Don and Willow got to the driveway, Don started petting her which she LOVES. If you look closely (or perhaps not too closely even), you'll see her fur floating off through the air. I snapped a few more pictures of her looking really silly and really happy.

All the while, Moose is sitting at the front door patiently watching all of this. Don went and let him out (this was the first time he'd been let outside in the front yard.) It isn't something we need to do regularly but he was very well behaved.

He and Willow immediately started posturing and I knew a game of chase was going to ensue. This is the first time they've actually played and acted like dogs in this manner. It made my heart smile. However, our large yellow dog didn't last very long. Fairly soon she was over by me wanting the crazy brown dog that was bouncing around to leave her alone.

One of our neighbors was walking up the street with his dog so we took our dogs Willow and Moose in the house. Both took a nap. :) It was a very nice Mother's Day moment for me. I am so grateful for my Mother's Day gift from my dogs.

This Pet Photographer and a little girl named Joey

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing Joey, a 6 year old rat terrier. I know her owners and I was so happy when we scheduled our session. We had a conversation prior to the session so I could learn a little bit about Miss Josephine and they even sent me a picture of her beforehand. This was my first photo session as a pet photographer with a dog I'd not met before. All of my prior sessions have been with dog walking or pet sitting clients so thank you to Joey for being a such a great model. Joey was a bit shy and nervous at first. We started our session inside where Joey's mom works and there were a lot of interesting things to smell in there so we just let her wander around and I snapped a few photos. With dogs who are a little shy for whatever reason (meeting new people, a little intimidated by the camera or whatever), I just take it very slowly. I have all the patience in the world when it comes to pet photography, perhaps because I love doing it so much. I always communicate with the parents so they know that we'll move things along at whatever pace the dog dictates.

This was my first inside portrait session so thanks again to Joey and her parents for helping me gain some inside portraiture experience. We started out inside and then when we took the fun outside, Joey seemed to be in her element. She just posed and posed and then she posed some more. I would've thought she'd been doing this for years. Joey was a great model and I so enjoyed taking these images of her. Do you have a favorite? So far in my pet photography experience, I've had a hard time picking one favorite out of a photo shoot. In this session, I have three favorites.

My photo session with Joey last about an hour on a Sunday morning recently. If you've got an hour or so to spare and you'd like to have professional photos of your pup like these, just let me know. This pet photographer would be honored to provide them for you.

Bruiser and Meow Meow

I am getting to spend some time this week with Bruiser and Meow Meow. It poured outside yesterday and today was cloudy but it didn't rain at all this afternoon. Since it was overcast, I grabbed my camera and went to hang out in their backyard. Bruiser and Meow Meow both were willing subjects although I don't think Meow Meow even noticed the camera. Both were fun to watch. Earlier this morning when I was walking Bruiser as we came back up to the house, his nose caught the scent of something I could tell. He walked over in the grass and there was a dead rat lying there. Smallish for a rat but bigger than your typical mouse. (I'm not an expert in rodents so that is my best description.) I am guessing that Meow Meow had some fun at the rat's expense. I am hoping that nature takes its course tonight and some owl swoops down and takes off with the rat.