Jay Bird {south charlotte pet photographer}

Guess who I got to see yesterday and today: JAY!! Guess who is on cloud 9 now? This dog lover and pet photographer! I love Jay (affectionately referred to by me as Jay Bird.) I met her for the first time probably 5 years ago. She recently moved out of my service area so I don't get to see her anymore but she was visiting over the weekend and that meant I got to see her. It made my day!! Jay loves a tennis ball as much as any dog I've ever met. When I walked in the house last night, she greeted me at the door, said hi and sprinted to the back door. She was ready to play. She looked for a ball but we couldn't find one. I happen to have a few at my house so I brought her one this morning. She is hilarious when she has a tennis ball. She smiles her goofy smile that says she is happy as a clam. She loves to chase after the ball and she loves to play soccer with it. After 6 years of pet sitting, I have yet to meet another dog that plays soccer and entertains herself with a tennis ball like she does.

Btw, the ball was neon green when we started.

Memorial Day Eve

Happy Memorial Day Eve. I think most of my clients are at the beach so I hope you are enjoying a cup of coffee overlooking the water and enjoying this beautiful May weather we are having. Here is a recap of my morning (or in some cases the last 24 hours.) Sweetie - She was really excited to see me yesterday morning. I can't recall the last time I saw her but I know I saw her last August or September. I know this because I'd just gotten my camera (so I'm guessing it was August.) She was one of the first if not the first dog I photographed and one of the shots I took of her is still one of my most favorites. I'll post it below. It was definitely beginner's luck because I really had no clue what I was doing.

Yesterday afternoon she was great to get up and go outside. She peed and even ran around some when she got a little burst of energy. Last night was a different story. She really did not want to get out of her bed. I tried to coax her with her leash and with food but she didn't want to get up. I knew I had to get her up so I semi-lifted her up and she did go out. She peed and then headed back for the house. She didn't eat her dinner. When I got there this morning, she got up right away and went out. I'm sure she needed to poop... she did and she peed too. She sprinted back to me too. :) She was eating her dinner that she never ate last night as I was leaving.

Ursa and Luna - Yesterday morning Ursa didn't want to eat the largest pill I'd giving her. I think it is the glucosomine pill for her joints so this morning, I broke it up into even smaller pieces and she ate it all. Yesterday, I got out more of her wet food and gave it to her that way. Luna was very happy to get her breakfast this morning, of course :)

Sparky - Sparky ate her breakfast and then went running outside to check out the yard. She played a little bit with her stuffed monkey too.

Cloud - She greeted me as I came in. I loved on her, fed her, scooped her box and after she ate a little bit, I loved on her some more. She was very clear, that was what she wanted!

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!!

Sparky

I was at Sparky's house pretty early this morning so I tried out my newest lens with her. Its a Nikon f1.8 50mm. It's better in low light situations. For those who know Sparky, she LOVES LOVES LOVES to be outside. She has to run around and sniff everything to see who came to visit her yard overnight. Or at least that what I think she is doing. I often wonder what Sparky likes more: food or being outside? Perhaps food because if I open to door to let her out first thing in the morning, she waits until I feed her before she goes out. But, perhaps she knows that she gets to be outside all day so that has something to do with it? I don't know. I would like to ask her. I'm guessing the answer would be that food might win by a nose.

It is great weather and I love being outdoors in it too!

Ursa and Luna

Luna is quite the talker. Even after I fed her, she was talking to me! I'll take the camera tonight and try to get some pics of them both.

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.