Kai + Paka + Poki | Lab Friends

Posted on April 1, 2011

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing a big ‘ol (extended) family of Labs. Labs = fun. Labs + purple door = SO MUCH FUN!

First up is Kai Lekos, a very handsome guy! Around here he’s known as MACH4 Kai (that’s 4 time Master Agility Champion to my non-agility friends). He’s a sweetie…love that lab drool. : )

Next up is Poki, and if I’m remembering correctly, she was found and rescued after Hurricane Charlie. She’s a bit of a fearful girl, but she photographs *brilliantly*. There’s just something about her…I’ve worked with many, many dogs over the years, but very few have eyes that seem to tell a story quite like hers do. Beautiful.

And last, but most certainly not least, is Paka Lolo! I love this girl – she’s also an agility champion and I remember meeting her a few years ago at a trial when she was obsessively trying to stick her nose in my armpits! Apparently she likes deodorant. : )

That’s it for part 1 of the lab tales – check back soon for part 2!

Buster + Barclay | Min Pins!

Posted on January 29, 2011

“Fearless animation, complete self-possession, and spirited presence” – that would be a Miniature Pincher, according to the breed standard. With BIG personalities, these guys clearly didn’t get the memo that they are “small” dogs!

I’ve always been found of Min Pins and so I was super excited to meet up with Buster and Barclay last week in Lakewood Ranch, one of my favorite local communities. These guys were a TON of fun! In addition to being very handsome and most definitely “spirited”, these two are also rising agility stars. They might not be famous *yet*, but one of these days…

Buster is 6 years young I’d have to say that he’s the sweet one. Not that he isn’t capable off showing a little attitude, of course, but it’s a little hard to take this face very seriously. *SO* sweet.

Barclay, on the other hand, SCREAMS “fearless animation” loud and clear. But here’s a little secret – he’s not as tough as he would like you to believe. Don’t tell him I told you!

It only took a few hours of walking around the woods and playing in the paw park, but look! A happy, semi-relaxed, smiling Barclay. He’s probably going to be really mad that I’m sharing this one – it totally ruins his tough boy persona!

A big thank you to Buster and Barclay (and their assistants) for a great session!

Mid-Florida Dalmatian Club | 2010 Specialty Show

Posted on December 28, 2010

Proofs from the 2010 Mid-Florida Dalmatian Club Specialty Show and Obedience Trial held December 16-17 in Orlando are now available! Please contact me for details on how to access them online. Thank you MFDC for inviting me to be your show photographer this year!

Ollie + Puddy + Georgie

Posted on November 19, 2010

Meet Ollie & his best kitty friend Puddy (aka Pud). Ollie was originally an “island dog”, St. Thomas to be exact, and is now the most popular kid in his neighborhood. He’s most definitely a ladies’ man and has one of the *best* crooked toothy smiles I’ve ever seen! He shares his kingdom with Pud (one cool cat!), and together they make one very dynamic duo.

I can totally picture Ollie wearing a leather biker jacket and shades – what a hunk!

We were joined by young Georgie Girl (just one of Ollie’s girlfriends) and I think she might have been a little worried that I was there to steal her boyfriend – she was not a happy camper at first, but did warm up a little. Even though she’s a pretty girl, she’s definitely not a girly-girl…Georgie likes to get down and dirty! She’s full of spunk and will hopefully start agility training soon – I think she’s going to be a natural!

A big thank you to Ollie, Pud, and Georgie for a great morning session!

Meet Herbie

Posted on November 7, 2010

Meet one of my newest friends, Herbie. He’s a nine year (young) lab mix, who looks 99.9% lab to me – although he is a *really* big guy! Unfortunately Herbie has been recently diagnosed with bone cancer, but clearly no one has told him – he’s happy as can be! Other than a slight limp, he looks great and has that wonderful Lab smile (and some goofy faces) that’s totally contagious. Well, contagious to everyone except his one year old human Josh, who was not exactly impressed with our photo session. But that’s okay; Josh is still a cutie and we did manage to find a few smiles near the end!

I hope Herbie has many happy, smiling days ahead. Thank you Leslie and Kelley, for giving me the chance to meet your awesome boy.

Will Work for Puppy Breath | Dalmatian Puppies!

Posted on October 17, 2010

It’s not a big surprise to anyone who knows me, or follows my blogs, that Dalmatians are my breed of choice. I don’t think that there’s much that makes me smile more than a Dalmatian puppy, and as you may have noticed, I’ve been suffering from a bad case of dalpuppyitis lately. So naturally, when I learned of a litter of EIGHT puppies (sired by one of my favorite Dalmatians) was here in Florida, I just had to meet and photograph them!

These little guys and gals (5 males/3 females) were exactly five weeks old when I met them on Friday and oh. my. goodness. they. are. SO. CUTE. For the record, they were not the easiest subjects I’ve ever photographed – at one point I think at least 6 of them were either under me (working on untying my shoelaces) or attempting to crawl in my lap. Absolutely no complaints here though!

Those little smooshy puppy noses, their little grunts and squeals, the way they stumble/waddle/run – ADORABLE. And of course, I can’t forget to mention the puppy breath! They are all so darn cute and so much fun; I don’t know that I could even pick a favorite – although I’ll admit to being slightly partial to the little blue-eyed boy.

Now for my little public service announcement: As with any breed, Dalmatians are not for everyone. If you are looking for a Dalmatian, please do your research first and make sure that you find a reputable breeder that stands for outstanding health and temperament in the breed -or- support your local Dalmatian rescue. Of course, this is true for *any* puppy, but since I occasionally receive comments from individuals wanting to breed to my (both spayed/neutered, rescued) spotty dogs, I thought it was worth stating here.

A super big thanks to the R family for letting me come up and get a much needed puppy fix!

Reagan + Bentley | Dalmatian Duo

Posted on October 3, 2010

Meet Reagan and Bentley – two super awesome spotty dogs that I met during my trip to Indiana. I was sooooo excited when their mom contacted me about doing a session while I was in town! I knew they would be a lot of fun, and they certainly did not disappoint…it was all I could do to *not* try to sneak them in my suitcase and bring them both home with me!

Reagan is 1 1/2 and little Bentley is only 5 months old. Two young Dalmatians…isn’t their mom brave!?

I  just *adore* Reagan! She is so much fun, has an awesome smile, and is total momma’s girl. She is also an awesome big sister – it’s so cute to see how Bentley follows her lead. I’m trying to convince her mom that she would have a lot of fun doing agility…and of course she would be more than welcome to send her down to Florida for a little personal training!

Bentley is an absolute doll, but I didn’t get to see his usual crazy happy puppy self since on the morning of our session he decided that a rock would make a great snack. Thankfully he was fine, but had a bit of a belly ache. Silly spotty boy! Doesn’t he have the sweetest puppy face? Gah! Not helping my serious case of dal-puppy-want *at all*!

I had such a nice time with my new Indy spotty friends! I wish I lived closer, but hopefully we can visit next time I’m in town. Here’s a fun outtake I couldn’t resist sharing…thanks Reagan, Bentley, and Nicole for being so much fun!

Cadyn + Riley | Sheltie Fun

Posted on September 17, 2010

Meet Cadyn and Riley, two of my good agility friends! These two handsome shelties train at SOTC and I’ve gotten to know them very well over the past few years.

First I have to say that they are both very, very sweet *and* they are therapy dogs which is of course, super awesome. But aside from their good natured temperaments, they have totally different personalities! Because they really do look very similar (especially in person), I was thinking that I might have trouble telling them apart in some of their photos, but that proved to be no issue because their expressions are so unique.

In these first two, Riley is on the left and Cadyn is on the right. Wanna take a guess as to which one is the “good boy” and which one is the “wild child”?

Cadyn, the “good boy”, is 5 years old and he’s one of the nicest dogs I’ve ever known. If he was a person, he would most definitely be a humanitarian and would do his part to help save the planet and end world hunger (starting with Shelties, of course). In agility, he’s a star – speedy yet very consistent. This isn’t to say that he’s never a little bit naughty, but when he is, you can’t help but laugh because he’s just so darn cute. Seriously, who could resist this face? And those big brown eyes!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at an agility trial talking to Cadyn and Riley’s mom when I’ve felt something poking (or nibbling!) at my pockets and look down to see something like this…

Those long noses come in handy! Cadyn says “I love you. Please may I have a cookie?”

Now for a little comparison, here’s Riley…

“Give me the (bleep) cookie NOW!”

At 4 years old, Riley is the “wild child” and you might even say he’s a little bit of a hot head. In agility, he is wicked fast and has a lot of talent, but he doesn’t always have the patience needed for such trivial things as waiting for the teeter to drop or keeping the bars up. He is a lot of fun to watch though and has been making some really good progress!

We decided to have our session out at the club, which made for a lovely setting, but Riley didn’t seem to understand why we weren’t out playing agility.

To say that he was unimpressed might be an understatement.

However, he was a good sport and just like Cadyn, is very photogenic….when he gets excited, his little teeth chatter. So cute!

Super big thanks to Cadyn and Riley for being so darn cute and so much fun!

Gizmo + Jazz | Happy Endings

Posted on September 9, 2010

Meet Gizmo and Jazz, two very sweet girls that haven’t always had such a happy life. They were both rescues from the Humane Society of Sarasota County, but were certainly not “easy” adoptions. Gizmo spent a lot of time in the shelter and was labeled un-adoptable because she was so fearful, and Jazz was returned to the Humane Society *four* times before she found her forever home. And what a perfect home they now both have! Thanks to their awesome humans (including a HSSC volunteer mom!), these two are proof of just how much love, patience. and positive training can do.

These girls are both around 6 years of age and are very active – both train and compete in the sport of flyball and Jazz recently received her first two legs toward her novice rally title! Don’t they just look like two peas in a pod? Clearly they were meant for each other…

Gizmo cracks me up – she’s a very clever girl. I think her mom is a little sad to see her “greying”, but she’s still a beauty!

An Jazz is so expressive – she has such beautiful brown eyes. I don’t see how anyone could *not* fall in love with her!

Big thanks to Gizmo, Jazz and family for a fun session *and* for being such an inspiration for rescue dogs everywhere – shelter pups rock!

Meet Baxter | Beach Doggie!

Posted on August 22, 2010

If you were to ask me what I love most about Sarasota, I would probably have to say our beaches. They are beautiful – Siesta Key, in particular, is consistently ranked among the top ten beaches in the world! Yes, a world class beach, practically in my backyard…and yet, until this past weekend, I hadn’t been out there in ages!

Thankfully Baxter came to my rescue and provided a great excuse to go play on the beach. A beautiful beach *and* an adorable puppy – it doesn’t get much better! Baxter is 8 month old Bichon Frise and he’s just an all-around delightful pup. I think his mom was a little worried about how he would do, but he was a star! I love how his white coat is almost a perfect match for the powdery, white sand. Thank you Baxter and family for a lovely time – here are just a few of my favorites…

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