These girls are as sweet as sugar pie, honest to goodness!
Holly, a Lab/Chow mix, found her inner diva on this pleasant afternoon. She was a little shy at first but after I told her how I was going to make her a star, she got swept away in the fun of it all.
She loves to play peek-a-dog, is muy inteligente and get this…..
…can also ward off vampires should you happen to encounter one whilst strolling in a dark alley. Ha ha ha!! Technically, she’s “begging” but I think she knows better. She’s not playing around with anyone’s safety. (Okay, I’ve been watching too much HBO)
Shorty, the equally sweet and delightfully entertaining Aussie mix, is Holly’s sister. She spent most of her time at home base, on the back porch. She has soulful eyes and the sweetest little face.
She loves to just lay and sit on the stairs. Sometimes when she’s barking, she breaks into song and I just adore it!
They are both Grade-A sweethearts and I had such a fabulous time. And, for the record, they have a new baby sister (an actual person) that they’ve adjusted to quite well. Hooray! I love happy new additions.
Thank you Dotty & Jay! It was a pleasure!
Holly & Shorty
June 30, 2009 – 10:01 pm
Olive & Austin
June 20, 2009 – 11:31 pm
What I know of Olive is a super sweet girl who is way above all the ruckus that dogs are supposed to create. She’s perfectly calm when you walk in. She may or may not feel like a treat. She minds her manners and doesn’t hop on the furniture. She’s very dignified, reserved, responsible and I honestly don’t think she knows she’s a dog. Seriously, I think when everyone leaves, she hosts Masterpiece Theater on an underground cable station or something. She’s gorgeous and awesome.
Now, I’m going to go off-format here one and paste some of the information provided directly from Olive and Austin, as dictated by their Mom & Dad, because it totally merits sharing.
OLIVE Regarding snacks: “I like snacks but I don’t like to eat them when I’m nervous. I often like to bring them into my den and save them for later. I also love pineapple for some strange reason.”
OLIVE Regarding toys: “Austin & I fight over toys all the time. I try to gather all the toys when he’s not looking and bring them into my bedroom, even if I have no interest in playing with them…”
OLIVE on her brother: “Austin & I are very different. I love dogs but he prefers people, he’ll let anyone pet him- even screaming kids! He jumps on the furniture…I’m more proper. I sit tall and wait patiently.
Where Olive is proper and of dignified stature, Austin is the goofball extraordinaire. They make a perfect couple. He’s silly, enjoys playing with toys whenever presented with them and could be led into a den of lions by a few treats. I believe he did, however, intercept the wrong memo and assumed this was a boudoir session. He slept and lounged around like you wouldn’t believe- ha ha!! I saw him trying to keep his eyes open so he wouldn’t miss a snack but it was futile.
AUSTIN Regarding treats: “I loooooove treats! Sometimes I play sick and don’t eat my dog food but I’m always up for snacks…I like everything but fruit. I leave the fruit for Olive.”
AUSTIN Regarding toys: “I usually like whatever toy Olive has best. I’m really good at taking toys away from her, except if she takes them into Mom’s room. Sometimes when Olive has a toy, I’ll bark and run to the door to make her think someone is coming. As soon as she leaves her toy, I run over and grab it. She can be really gullible.”
The above are my favorite features of this awesome due. Olive’s caramel eyes (yum!) and Austin’s multiple dew claws on each foot. It’s so crazy- ha ha! I told Austin his mom was a Hemingway cat and he threatened to knock my lights out.
This pair was amazing, adorable and I’m SO glad I got to work with them. Thank you!!
Beaumont & Chloe
June 10, 2009 – 12:45 am
These siblings are little fluffs of wonderful! Both snuggly soft, they danced around my day bringing cheers from the crowd.
Beaumont was a social butterfly on this day and I could not keep my hands off of his so soft fur. It was like a real life version of Pat the Bunny. So fun!
He’s a little ham and although it ended up raining, we had a good time in his yard to start the session off.
Chloe is the little sis who also bubbles with personality. She smiles a lot and trots around with her brother like a pea in a pod. I wanted to scoop her up and give her a permanent place on my pillow with the rest of my stuffed animals. Totally kidding. I barely have room for myself with my dogs at my feet as I sleep.
Like her brother, she dances and jumps for teeny weeny little treats- hee hee!
Thank you, Beaumont and Chloe for a perfectly Pomeranian day!
Maxx
June 8, 2009 – 12:07 pm
As in, Maxx-A-Million-Faces. This little dude had so much personality, it’s crazy. He’s up for anything, he’ll go anywhere and do anything! I arrived early in the morning and he came to the door with his little sleepy mole face- hee hee! Wandering up to the door, half awake, his eyes slowly opened up to get-up-and-go size, it was sooo cute!
He personally selected and played with EVERY toy I had in my bag. He liked them all and he’s super easy-going. He smiles and wags, his tail unfolding from it’s cinnamon bun when he’s on a mission.
And he had many missions that day…like taking crazy pills and zooming around the yard. ha ha!
He has a face I absolutely could not get enough of and I petted and squooshed him ’till my hearts delight!
When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he replied, “a carousel animal, see?”
Maxx, thank you for getting up so early, I hope you had as much fun as I did.
Bruleé C. Welty
June 3, 2009 – 4:17 pm
That’s her name, don’t wear it out. And don’t put chocolate ganache on her and eat her up, like I almost did. Can you blame me? How cute could anyone possibly be?!
At the start of our session, she was mighty camera shy. However, based on the series of photos I ended up with, it’s apparent that fear quickly dissipated into a no-longer repressed desire to be America’s Next Top Model.
She even did the whole crawling toward the camera thing for me. I tried to tell her that move was SOOO 1980’s swimsuit issue but she wouldn’t listen. She got bit by the bug of fame and there was no turning back.
Her face is to squeal over and her knees are the bee’s for sure.
I had so much fun playing with her and laughing at her little quirks…and she put up with me shrieking like a 5 year-old every five seconds because she’s the cutest button on the world’s shirt. Thank you, Bruleé, for a scrumptious afternoon.
Rodeo
June 2, 2009 – 8:18 pm
Simply gorgeous, am I right? Rodeo is the newest member of a now four-dog family. An Aussie/Border Collie mix, she’s sweet and soulful and shy. She loves her pack, her human mom and lounging around whilst looking way too adorable.
She likes a good game of chase…where she’s chasing you. She’s quite fond of the water and when she wades through the lake she picks her front paws completely out of the water as she’s walking, it’s so funny!
Rodeo is a snuggly sweet muffin and I really enjoyed getting to know her…even though her siblings had other things to say about the amount of attention she was getting (they had their photos done last year).
Thank you Rodeo, and Sarah and Torben for another pleasantly fabulous morning at the house that the dogs let you live in.
Kaine
June 2, 2009 – 8:18 pm
Kaine is a stunning mix of Pit Bull and Argentine Dogo. He is also the biggest goofball the world has ever met. He’s all lips and sugar. He actually shared a session with Rodeo, above, and therefore met at Rodeo’s house.
Kaine had a few firsts on this day. He was introduced to a lake, which he kept at a distance. However, he also discovered…SAND. And, oh my…you’ve never seen anyone so happy.
He stayed in his sandbox the entire time, rolling around, gently squeaking a toy and intensely shaking a rope around. He was in heaven. And, yes, heaven is made out of sand. He had such a wonderful time, it was ridiculous.
I trust he slept well that evening. He was totally entertaining to watch, a gentle giant for sure. However, this big lug also shares the same utter fear of thunderstorms as my Pit…down to the method of carpentry and preferred hazardous materials to smash through. Poor, big baby. Luckily the sky was bright and clear for the session and he was able to enjoy the morning.
It’s always a pleasure to have fresh “Sugar Kaine” with your coffee.
FURBALL 2009 } $12,500 raised by Photohound Dog Photography!
May 27, 2009 – 9:05 pm
Saturday, May 16th was the SPCA of Central Florida’s annual FurBall Auction Spectacular. And, let me tell you…It. Was. Awesome. These guys and gals work SO hard to pull off this thing off, I don’t even know how they do it. Let this be my public applause (if you were my dogs right now you’d hear me clapping) to an amazing group of people.
Held at Sea World Orlando each year, the auction is a mega fundraiser for the SPCA here. There’s food, drink, wild animals roaming around (seals, anteaters, emus, you name it), tons of people and super cool stuff to bid on. This year’s dress code was Florida Tacky so there were spot-on ensembles of Florida crackers and overdone tourists.
It was pretty sweet. As far as fundraisers go, this is probably like the best ever. I mean, where else can you bid on a “Snip and Clip” neuter package which includes a vet appointment for your four-legger AND a vasectomy for the man in your life! I’m not kidding, it was there and someone bid on it because that’s what people do for the animals ’round these here parts.
So, what I’m crazy excited about is the money that Photohound helped pull in this year. Photohound Dog Photography donated 13 photo sessions for auction at the FurBall.
Images from those photo sessions will be selected to make the 2010 SPCA Calendar, available this fall. It’s a huge project and one that I’m always stoked to be a part of.
All 12 sessions went beyond the maximum bid as people clammered, competed and elbowed their way through crunch time.
By the time the lot closed, only 2 sessions were left, all the rest getting snatched up by guaranteed bids.
The last session available at the cutoff went into a bidding war and auctioneer was called over.
The cover of the calendar, which was part of the live auction, sold for $3,500 bringing the grand total to $12,500!! Ho-Lee Cow! I couldn’t have been happier or more pleasantly surprised with this outcome and I’m so thrilled to have been a part of it all. I can’t wait to meet all the winners. It’s going to be a fun summer.
All photos by: John Taylor
Jack
May 23, 2009 – 5:53 pm
Jack, as you’ve probably noticed, is a Jack Russell Terrier mix. I’m thinking he has a speck of Basenji in him. However, that’s all superficial because inside he’s all terrier, make no mistake. I had so much fun with this guy! We played…a lot.
We borrowed a neighbor’s yard in which there was waiting, a soccer ball. Jack had at that moment found his new obsession. I was all set to become Jack’s new BFF but noooooo…Mr. Soccer Ball had to butt in. Seriously though, he LOVED that thing! He naturally became entranced and proceeded to shake, poke, pounce and almost circus balance on it.
Actually any ball, really, will do. He’s an awesome catch and fetch partner, he gets so excited and he brings it right back like lightning! He has an endless supply of energy and curiosity which I definitely enjoyed watching.
He’s a very good boy, loves his Mom & Dad and has the cutest little freckles on his legs, it makes me want to squeal- hee hee! :-) Thank you, Sir Jack, for including me in your games and adventures. It was a most pleasant afternoon.
happy mother’s day.
May 10, 2009 – 2:08 am
This is for my mom.
All others, PLEASE READ MY PATHETIC DISCLAIMER AS TO WHY I PUT THIS RIDICULOUS HOMEMADE VIDEO ONLINE.
About 7 years ago, during my last semester in college, I needed to finish up my curriculum with French II. Our final project offered options. We could either stand up in front of the entire class and give a presentation in French. Um, no. Or…make a video of ourselves speaking French. I went with the latter but decided I’d still keep my favorite position behind the camera.
So, I made a stupid little short film with our dogs who are destructive and tore up the house all the time and I did the voice-over in French. I didn’t ask if that still qualified for the assignment because I didn’t want to know. And I WILL WARN YOU, the French is REALLY, REALLY bad. Like, if you speak French you might not even understand what I’m saying and you will probably find that I made up words and conjugations that don’t exist. Because the phrases I didn’t know I looked up in random sources. There probably isn’t a French phrase for “pillow un-stuffing” but I made it. Which is why subtitles are so helpful.
Anyway, why did I put this thing online? Because…MY MOM. HAS BEEN BUGGING ME. FOR SEVEN YEARS. Despite my repeated warnings that it mildly undercuts my cinematic abilities and it will be a scar on my production resume, she brings it up at least once a month. “You HAVE to put that video online”. “Erica, promise me you’ll put that video online.” I try and warn her of the ramifications of subjecting people to less than mediocre and badly produced filmmaking but she just. won’t. listen. I really think she just wants to see her granddogs on “tv”, or the “tube” as the young folks say.
Either way, here we are and I couldn’t think of a better Mother’s Day gift than embarrassing myself and our dogs on the interweb in her honor. I also know that if I posted this video, she’ll be (according to a prior agreement) obligated to start writing her novel. The. Game. Is. On.
Other notes: You may notice our boxer hadn’t yet made it to his neutering appointment. Don’t freak out. Rest assured, he is most certainly neutered these days. I take too many pictures of shelter dogs to not live the gospel. And, in case you were wondering, I got a “B” on the assignment. My French was obviously atrocious but I think the professor may have included my effort into the grade…or maybe the he had destructive dogs too.
If you find it kinda funny, I’m glad to have made ya laugh. If you find it excruciatingly dull, I’m sorry, and you can go watch the Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent video again to get you back on kilter.
Happy Mother’s Day Meemart! You are an amazing woman, a constant giver, and the only one for which I would post this video for.