Dog Parks

Good morning; what a busy day I had yesterday. Out of all the dog shoots and activities I spent a good amount of time at a local dog park. As a trainer people often ask me about going to dog parks and I may have already covered this somewhere on my blog but it was what came to mind this morning as I sat down with my laptop. Congestion and stress.

Dog parks are great, they are a wonderful place to socialize ones dog or dogs. But they can also be bad and typically the bad part is either over crowding or unattentive guardians. Over crowding really factors in on the size of the dogpark. Each dog should feel like they can move away and be alone otherwise the stress level can rise which leads to fights.

Before I entered the park lastnight there was quite a fight going on; the kind that you have to break up. It had not reached the latch on stage and was luckily still at the whole lot of noise level. Looking at the size of this park there should have been a maximum of 6 dogs in there; there was more than that. The small dog park which is on the other side of the road had 2 or 3 which was very good.

The other issue of non attentive guardians is a common one. The other day I was at the park and there was a guy on a laptop. The only thing that brought him out of his computer trance was the sound of his dog harrassing the other patrons. If you bring your dog to the park you need to watch them; very closely. Dogs give off signals that if you are not watching you obviously will not see. You should not allow your dog to harass, torment, mount or intimidate any of the other dogs in the park. It is everyones right to have a good time.

So llike I said yesterday, try to hit the off hours. Its definitely worth it for your dogs enjoyment.

The Dog Beach

I spent several hours at the beach yesterday shooting dogs. No matter how many times I go to the beach for a shoot I am always amazed at the resulting images. The sand, the blue water with the white waves and the rocks make for an amazing background. I was at a dog beach yesterday; but being that it is winter here in SoCal there weren't that many dogs and their people out. Which is more than fine with me. Too many dogs on the beach or anywhere for that matter causes for a stressful environment.

I have been to several parks and the beach when it is packed; not good. Without enough open space around each dog there is the problem of agitation. I think beaches, dog parks and open spaces in general are a very important factor in having dogs. Dogs have got to get off their leash and run; so finding a spot that is not too crowded can be a challenge. If you know when these places get crowded and when are the off hours can really help.

If you are lucky and can visit these leashless places during the off hours; then you are lucky. Sometimes finding a "secret" spot that is not enforced by the ticket givers can be a good ideas as well. This is what I have done and have many spots of choice. But you must be sure that your dog is not going to up and leave you. That is where training comes in; I have talked to so many people that would never take their dogs leash off unless in an enclosed environment. This is greatly due to the fact that we live in a leashed society.

I wish there was a dog beach close to me; the one I went to yesterday was a good 40 min drive which I obviously do not want to do everyday. Maybe if it was 40 min of a nice drive but this is 40 min of crazy freeway driving. But I'm thinking I may do it again today; taking my dogs instead of my camera.

Hoping Tuesday

Good morning everyone, my apologies that I didn't have time to write yesterday. It was a beautiful day and I had several shoots, had to get my pooches out, work up photos and completely ran out of time. I took my poodles to a great park with an amazing view of the area. You can see the moutains in the back and there was huge white puffy clouds looming over them. Very picturesque.

So it was very shocking to me that Luke never pulled for the entire walk, we did two miles around the park. He was the most well behaved that I've seen him and even checked in several times which is what Tilley always does. The reason for his good behavior? Exhaustion. He was still tired from his run on Saturday with my husband. With the rain lately he hasn't gotten out as much as normal so the run kicked his little blonde butt (Luke's).

On one of my shoots yesterday I got to meet a little angel. I don't get to shoot puppies very often and when I do, ahhhhhhh. I simply love their innocense, vulnerability and plain adorablness (is that a word?) Anyway it always amazes me how quickly puppies bond to their new guardian. Taken away from everything they've ever known; they seem to attach very quickly to the next stable substitute; be it another dog or human. It is very important at that point to be the stable entity for your dog to connect to.

This can be difficult if you already have dogs in your home but extra time is an easy solutiion. You must spend one on one time with your pup so that you alone become the most important person in their life. Of course you want them to adore your other dog or dogs but not so much that they listen to them and not to you. Ah puppies, I'm really needing my own fix.

So many dogs, so little time.

Superbowl Sunday

Yes it is finally here; not that I care (I'm a hockey fan myself) but my whole family is home which I love. The dogs love it as well and are obviously very settled when no one is missing. They get the most unsettled when my husband is away which he was last week. They get very barky and are on guard more than normal. They are continually expecting his arrival so that's where the barking unrest stems from.

We have alot of food cooking and Jessie has not left the kitchen this morning. That's what made me think of telling you about her condition. We almost lost this little girl 6 years ago http://www.k9magazinefree.com/k9_perspective/iss13p16.shtml Since this incident Jessie has been on 1/2 pred every morning. She has lost alot of hair from her ears and had a dime sized bald spot on her tail. We assumed it was from the preds which the vet said it could be as well, but since the real food feeding she is much improved.

It was a couple of weeks ago that I realized that she has all of her hair back, all of it. She looks amazing. I remember looking down at her and thinking "has her hair grown in?" I stood there so amazed; it has to be the food. I have been feeding my dogs strictly real food since August 07. I'm not surprised but I am kinda; I've very happy. Not only has Luke not had a seizure since the real food change but Jessie's hair is all back. You really are what you eat.

The heart of a canine

When I meet a new dog which I do everyday whether for training, a photo shoot or just a chance meeting I love to see the dog inside; the heart of the dog. Everyone thinks their dog is the best, or the cutest and to me they are all gorgeous. I love all the different shapes, sizes and colors that they come in. But to get to know whats inside you must look far beyond the exterior; you must even look past the initial meeting.

When I meet a dog for training or photography I like to watch; I watch very closely. If it is a training appt. I talk to the guardian while keeping one eye on the dog. If I interact with the dog; things change and I don't get to see the real dog. If I just watch and try my best to become invisible; I get a small glimpse of the heart of the dog.

When I am on a photo shoot it is much more difficult; all attention is on the dog which can be very difficult. Not only do they have a strange person following them around; but the stranger is staring at them with a huge black eye. Some dogs can become very uncomfortable, guarding, nervous or very fearful about this whole camera thing. This definitely interferes with me seeing the real dog. This is why I choose not to have a studio; a dog is not themselves in a strange environment and defintely not if being in strange buildings and posing is something they don't normally do.

I love to shoot at a park, or the dogs own home but wherever we shoot the dog should be comfortable. Comfortable enough to be themselves. Although I would love to meet face to face and get to know all these dogs; sometimes sitting back; turning sideways and being as "not there" as I can be is the best way to meet them. Watching the interaction between canine and their human is very enlightening. To see the bond between them and the special relationship that they share is humbling. I am honored by each positive encounter and even more so to be allowed to capture it forever.

Harsh training methods

I am on many groups; for training, breed related and photography. On one of the training groups I am on currently; there is a discussion on chokem vs positive training. The group is a positive training group which is what I am and proud of it. The discussion was sparked by someone supporting the harsh and archaic methods of the big tv star Ceasar Milan. Its a hot topic these days in the world of training; he has single handedly moved training back several decades.

As a positive trainer you look to educate a dog; it is based around rewarding the behavior you want from the dog which will at a high likelihood repeat itself. Most behaviors are broken down into achievable size steps which quickly head towards the final goal behavior. Many positive trainers use clicker training; personally I do not use a clicker and rely on my own voice. I believe that leadership is very important with dogs, dogs are pack animals and thrive with a good leader. Being a good leader means that you educate, guide with patience and are reliable.

Choke'm training uses a completely different method and relies on a collar to deliver the message. When a dog is doing something you don't like; you yank on the collar giving a quick pop; a "don't do that" message. Ceasar does not believe in praise; or at least he didn't before, I have not watched it in a longtime. He may be changing his ways because of all the controversy. On his show the choke collar is always placed up around the ears which is a very soft and vulnerable spot on a dog; of course you have control when you put a chain around there.

From much experience both from the past and present I have seen harsh training methods create anger. Its all about stopping your dog from doing things. There is no thinking involved, just stopping. If your dog does not stop; of course it is human nature to grow frustrated and impatient leading to anger. I have so many sad stories of harsh training methods. I was called into one family after a harsh trainer totally ruined their beautiful Golden puppy. After he was through with him all that was left was a shell of what he once was, so sad. The good news is that I did help the family to bring back and retrain this guy with positive methods.

And then there was the lady I talked to in a store who asked if a dog rolled over and peed was that normal in training? I was appauled and cringed and the image, she told me about her soft yellow lab who was yanked and yanked in an obedience class by the trainer. The dog looked at her guardian with "help" in her eyes. The lady didn't know any better but when her dog finally dropped and peed she thought maybe something wasn't right, how sad.

I worked with a dog who had definite aggression to a raised hand; especially when there was something in your hand. We found out later that the huge dog rescue group uses a paper towel roll to hit the dogs in the face so that they don't bark. So the fall out behavior was a defense mechanism. I have so many stories I could fill a book, sad.

Alpha rolls are another huge misconception and being reintroduced by the big tv star. An alpha roll is a last resort; wolves in the wild do not regularly roll their pack members. Lower pack members will drop in submission but the only time a roll is used is if all else fails. That is when there is usually impending violence in a pack. Constant alpha rolls can completely break a dog or cause needless aggression; it's a loose, loose situation.

Do yourself a favor and start researching. There are many great dog behaviorists out there, Ian Dunbar, Patrica McConnell, Jean Donaldson. Below is a great article.

http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm
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Wednesday stew

Good morning; I have to vent this morning. I had my dogs at our "private" field for a good dose of exercise yesterday when someone came into the field. Tilley couldn't care one bit who is in the field as long as I keep tossing her ball. But at the time this person invaded our privacy; it was Luke who was doing the retrieving. It is essential that Tilley be in a down stay during Luke's turn or he won't be having a turn. She is like lightening and he doesn't stand a chance of ever getting the ball before her.

So in walks this guy who I see all the time with his tiny little poodle. Luke is in the middle of a retrieve so I call him to me and surprisingly he comes very quickly. Luke is one of those dogs who just has to go and greet other dogs no matter how much I do not want him to. Oh he always comes back right away but he has to go; even when I can see that it is a very bad idea. So I had Luke by my side.

I really couldn't understand this guy being in the field, its sort of a one family field. It is not a dog park so when it is in use, you stay OUT. He knows me and my dogs; he saw my car parked at the entrance of the field which says SherrisPhotographics.com on it so he knows its me. So there I sit with my poodles in much anticipation of the next throw, waiting and waiting and yep, waiting. He is wandering around, occassionally glancing our way.

Finally the smaller version of my dogs takes a crap. That's what we were waiting for. The guy makes a feeble attempt at looking like he is searching for his missing dog poop bag and then slowly wanders away. AH HA!!!!! he is one of the lame dog people who don't pick up after themselves. This is one of the things that bothers me the most. This field where I bring my dogs is really nice, I don't know what I would do without it actually. It boggles my mind how people can just let their dog take a crap and leave it. AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH I don't get it. Honestly, I'm going to put up my own sign at the field; PICK UP YOUR DOGS SH**.

Okay, I'm vented. Jessie has been under the weather the last couple of days. Friday night my husband and I went out to see GARTH BROOKS http://garthbrooks.com/ Wildfire show in LA. That's right 4th row center, amazing. Anyhow; while we were away Jessie took advantage and scarfed back several chocolate bars and peanut butter cups my son happily left on his bed. I found this out the next morning. Luckily there wasn't much chocolate on either but there was a heck of alot of sugar. So she had been in a "I feel crappy" type state since Saturday morning.

Yesterday when I returned from a photo shoot; was the first glimpse that she was feeling better. She greeted me at the door with a ball in her mouth doing her happy routine. So she is feeling much better this morning and is begging to perfection again. Think she learned her lesson? I know she didn't! Ask me how I know.

overcoming fear

Fear comes in many forms. Fear is a common behavior issue in dogs and I have worked with many different fear based issues; all having different causes and levels. How you approach a solution to a fear based problem must be well thought out and researched. If you go head on; introducing the cause of fear at a 100% level; known as flooding, there is a great chance of more damage. I have a real soft spot for fearful dogs; its tough being in a human world without the benefit of speech.

If we are afraid of a situation, object or environment we can communicate our discomfort to the people around us. This lets everyone know upfront what is going on and why we may be acting in such a manner. For many dogs who are fearful; their guardian may not understand nor be able to help them tolerate or overcome their fear. Tackling fears should never be attempted with archaic methods of training or flooding. Force; both physical and mental only causes more fearful behaviors. Flooding is when someone puts the dog into their worst fear situation at a 100% level.

You must start working with a fear behavior at the lowest level of reaction; meaning you are looking for the point of reaction from the dog and want to move back from that. The best example I can explain this with is the very common arachnaphobia of humans, fear of spiders. The first step would probably be to drive by a building where there are known spiders, no spider in site. Getting closer to the building might take weeks or months depending on the level of your fear. But there is no point in trying to move to the next level; a more concentrated submergion if you cannot make it at the last level.

What you are trying to accomplish when working with a fear based behavior is to change the base behavior when around the fearful situation. Meaning that if your dog is unbelievably afraid of men wearing hats and has to this point barked, peed and basically come unglued; we want her to now look at men in hats as a good thing or at least non threatening. So you must take it slow; flooding puts your dog into a state of panic where nothing can be accomplished. You have to convince your dog that men in hats are a great thing and this is done with patience.

Slow and steady wins the race and definitely achieves a higher level of success when working with fear based behaviors. There is no hurry; each success should be a small one. I have broken some fear based behaviors down so small that no person other than the guardian and myself would even notice each step. A small success could be a glance; an ear raise or a change in body posture.

But wheatever your dogs fear; realized that this is very real to your dog. It is a sad way for a dog to live so do your research; hire a professional positive behavior specialist and help your dog to climb out of the fearful way of life they lead.

Its raining cats and dogs, mostly just dogs


Its raining again and its raining hard. We had a moment this morning when it stopped and I rounded up the pack and sent them out. Luke is my biggest rain wimp being that he was born and raised in Southern California. He went out and made a fast U turn to the door. I told him through the door "hurry up." So he turned around again and made a mad dash to the grass; barely even squatted and he was done. Everyone ran back into the house; you'd of thought it was blizzarding out.

I had several shoots scheduled for today which will be cancelled due to train and I'm really hoping that I can squeeze everyone in this week if indeed it does stop raining. The areas around here where there was so much fire damage are suffering now. Anyone in the bad mud slide areas have been evacuated; I can't imagine having to grab the kids and the dogs and leave everytime we get bad rains. This will happen until the land has a chance to take root again. Which luckily seems to be happening now.

I was on a drive to a shoot lastweek and noticed that all the hills have a green haze on them; really beautiful. We've had alot of rain already this year so although its good it is also bad. And then there is the dogs who hate the rain or at least going out in the rain to go to the bathroom. This was probably my biggest complaint from training clients. Sometimes the answer is to go out with your dog. Just go buy a raincoat and deal with it; we get rain for such a short time here in Southern California.

I am looking forward to a day of writing; my training book is almost done and I have photo work to do as well.

Well, I best get at it.

The transformation of non-dog to dog person

What makes some people “dog people” and others not? What does it take to turn a non-dog person into a dog person? It takes but a fragment of a moment for these non-dog lovers to discover the connection that a human can have with the canine species. In the blink of an eye the transformation of non-dog to dog person occurs.

Throughout the not so distant history there are I’m sure; 100’s of stories of people who never got the whole “dog thing” who transformed into diehard dog people. I for one have been a dog person my entire life; I never had a choice in the matter it was always there. Many people I talk to want to know my background; did I come from a dog family? Nope.

To be a true dog person; you were like that from the start and only found out with the introduction of a dog into your life to discover this fact. Or your life took a new turn with the unexpected relationship you formed with a member of the canine species. It could be a childhood memory that took you into the category of “dog lover.” It could have been the dog you added to your family for the kids and never foresaw a connection.

Did that little puppy that you brought home for the kids wriggle it’s way into your heart when you were not watching? Maybe a friend asked you to pet sit for them. Perhaps you didn’t even like dogs let alone love them. But being the good friend you are; you agreed. Within a day or two you noticed that this other species had a personality. Not only did it put up with you being in their house with them, they seemed to like you.

Within a matter of days you actually enjoyed spending time with this canine species. Once your friend returned home and took over the care of her dog again you missed the little guy. How could this happen to a person who was so not into dogs? You know how it happens? by the sheer fact alone that dogs are amazing and give us more than you could ever imagine. Until you have loved and been loved by a dog you are truly missing out on an amazing experience in life.

It can happen to the most stuck in their ways non-dog people; those who couldn’t imagine sharing their immaculate home with an animal. An animal that not only sheds all over the house (mine of course do not shed), but they might pee or poop on the carpets, drool, scratch or chew things up as well; how could this creature be in your home?

All it takes is the moment of connection and your sunk.

Saturday morning

What a beautiful morning; blue sky, little bit of white clouds and nice cool temps. It is already 9:00 and my dogs are all curled up on the bed. They have had their morning cookie so they are good for quite a while before they actually need to get up. I haven't eatten so I'm getting pretty hungry.

It looks like we will have nice hiking weather unless of course the canyon is soggy and mucky. That means that we will be bringing alot of the canyon home with us. Then there is the much needed foot bath for all. The dogs also need their nails done today which is always quick and easy. But for many dogs it is a dreaded event and for many guardians it is a dreaded event. But it doesn't have to be; you can turn it around very easily.

To make your dog cool with having their nails clipped you must introduce a positive association to the event. If you just force them to have their nails cut; holding them down tightly so that they cannot move things will get much worse. The tighter you hold them the more they panic. So you have to take it slow and yummy. You can use anything that you can dish out in tiny little bits, peanut butter, cheez whiz, roll treats etc.

You want to introduce the clipper and treat, treat, treat. Ah the clippers mean treats. Then you touch the clipper to their feet, treat, treat. Then get them use to you holding their feet, one at a time and only for a second and again treat, treat, treat. When they are cool with this you try to cut one nail, thats it. Lots of treats! Once you have that work on doing four nails and treats all through the way. You can have someone else delivering treats if you like; this can make it easier.

So now that you have a foot done you work on doing all the feet with lots of treats through the entire process. All of these steps can takes days or weeks depending on how much your dog does not want their nails cut. But make sure you take a slow enough time so that it is a positive experience.

Then you can work at progressing to all nails for a big treat at the end, but that should be about a 6mos. goal. I still at the age of 7, 11 and 12 treat my dogs after getting their nails done. They look forward to it and actually hand me their paws to get their nails clipped.

Happy clipping.

How to learn to learn

Over my years of training I have occasionally come across a dog that has no concept of learning a behavior. It has taken us quite a long while just to get the idea of doing something; to take on a position when given a verbal or vocal cue. It is much like the dogs who do not know how to play. It is so sad when I see or hear of it; they have no idea when either a soft stuffed toy is thrown down for them or a ball tossed in their direction that they can get some sort of enjoyment out of this item.

I have always talked to my dogs; we have very long conversations which are of course pretty much one sided. My girls don't give me much of a reply but my boy Luke communicates back to me pretty amazingly. Teaching a dog to learn is best achieved using food. With a really yummy treat; something choice that this particular dog would enjoy; can get you good results. What you have to do is break down a behavior into tiny steps of succession.

Breaking a behavior down helps with frustration levels. If a dog that has never learned before is to strive to achieve more then they must get some sort of pay off. It is very much like working with a very under confident dog; they just don't have it in them to offer up behaviors. So at the slightest sign of anything given to you; you have a party and a big payday. These uneducated dogs really have no idea what you want from them so the concept of wanting them to do something is the start.

What you have to do immediately is stop handing out freebies; treats that are given for nothing. Sit is always the easiest behavior and can be taught to dogs in one minute up to maybe 15 min for an uneducated typed. One also has to start communicating with these dogs; they need to know when certain sounds come out of your mouth that it means something. Once a dog gets the whole "learning a behavior concept" you can run with it. But until then you are pretty much up against a brick wall.

Usually these type of dogs shut down very quickly when you first start working with them. They do not understand why they are not getting the treat that is in your hand. Sometimes if they are so focused on the treat that they cannot think of anything but the treat; we have to lessen the yumminess of the treat. It has to be good enough to work for but not so good that they cannot think. These dogs need extreme patience from their educator. It can be frustrating for both involved so if you find yourself loosing it; quit and start again tomorrow.

This brings to mind how awful yank and choke type trainiing would be for these type dogs; all dogs actually so I think that's on tomorrows blog. TGIF

Oh, as a sidenote and not dog at all I'm heading off to see Garth tonight in LA whooohoooooo. Actually I bet Garth has a dog, I should find out.

It never rains in California, uhhh yes it does.

About mid afternoon the clouds began to fill the sky; the house got darker and I should have got them all outside. I did manage to get my small girl out the door to have a quick pee but the poodles were sleeping and I hated to wake them. After all the rains had been few and scattered at the most.

I talked to a friend who lives a little more inland than we do; she stated that she was waiting for the impending storm; it was getting really windy where she was. As if on cue the wind came up and the rains started; I was too late. By late afternoon my poodles needed to go out; they stood by the kitchen door and rang their bell to let me know.

I opened the door to the outside; knowing exactly what was to happen. One glance outside at the rain pouring down and they quickly turned, they were not going outside. My male really had to go and once again he approached the door and wanted out. I opened up the door with the same result; he turned on a dime and was not going out. We did this a third time; I knew he had to go.

The fourth time my son ran out with him in hopes of coaxing him onto the grass; but he is not one to be coaxed into doing something he doesn’t want to do. So when I opened the door for the fifth time I told him “this is it; you have to go,” and shut the door behind him. Once he was out there he really had to go; so he made a mad dash to the grass, did his business and was back in a flash.

This is an all too common problem here in sunny Southern California; our dogs are not use to weather. So what we end up with are dogs that won’t go outside to relieve themselves in the rain. As a trainer it is one of the most common problem behaviors that I hear about.

So what do you do when your dog will just not go out? Well; you go back to kindergarten so to speak. You get out the best treat you can find, get your raincoat on or an umbrella (as long as your dog is not afraid of umbrellas) and you bribe your dog outside. Hopefully you have taught them a word for going; mine is “hurry up.” Once out there; tell them to do their thing and the second they do, offer them the big pay off.

Not all of the canine guardians deal with this issue but if you do have a dog that hates to go out into the rain; you are not alone. Many dogs will happily go out for a walk but not just to go to the bathroom. The positive association of a walk is enough to get them out there; not so much just to relieve themselves. So you can pull out the treats anytime it rains; it will not damage the normal routine of your dog. It is far better to reward your dog for doing something that they really don’t want rather than cleaning up the mess in the house, no?

Dogs at the beach


Yesterday I took my camera and headed down to the beach in attempts of getting some nice natural dog shots. I was hopiing that there would be some dogs enjoying themselves down there with their guardian. I was also hoping that their guardian would be interested in having their dog in the book I am working on. I approached one gentleman sitting on a bench with four lhasa type dogs and he was very uninterested. I don't get it but I don't care; so I just move on.

Then I ran into a couple of ladies with their mixed shep/collie type dogs who were having the best time. The dogs were romping through the water like it was their favorite thing in the world to be doing. It was such a pleasure to watch and even more of a pleasure to shoot. I got some nice photos; a couple that will hopefully end up in my book.

I am still on the search for great dog shots so if you are out there in the OC you may see me in my black Xterra with camera in hand. Oh, I'll ask before I shoot; I always do.

Working the boy

Males, they are something aren't they? I have to admit and I know I've admitted this in past but I'll say it again; I love males. There is something about a male dog that just tweaks my heart. If it was not for the fact that my boy Luke would feel completely dethroned I would have a house full of them. All my boys have been very special.

And the girls definitely work the boys. We all know who the real bosses are but for some odd reason we let the boys feel like it is they who rules the roost; even when it is so far from the truth. It is important for Luke to feel like he is in charge; and because of this I am constantly letting him know that he is not. Luke would not make a good leader. The girls on the other hand let him puff up and strut around; I guess they feel it makes him easier to live with. But when I enter the scene and deflate the overly stuffed gray matter of my boy he seems to come back to reality. Oh ya, Mom's the boss!

When we are out on our walks; when the dogs are off leash that is, the importance of being the leader is much more obvious. When Tilley runs out in front and turns to wait for us; that is exactly what she is doing, waiting for us to catch up. She will often wait until we pass her by and then she will get moving again. Luke on the other hand is always out front. He will run up ahead, turn to see if we are still following him; big difference. If for some reason he should be left behind which might happen twice a year; when he is investigating something and doesn't realize that we have walked past him, he has a fit. He immediately whines and moves up ahead at full speed.

Once out front he is happy again; afterall this is his only chance to pretend he is the leader. And he takes full advantage of these few moments in his life. When I take the dogs out on my own I make a point of changing directions just to keep him on his toes. Letting him be out front and feel like he is being a temporary leader makes him happy; so we indulge him most of the time. I can't imagine making him walk behind us like some trainers suggest. His off-leash walks are his moments in his imaginary world.

As much as he likes to think he is the king; the girls know how to work this boy. Mealtime is a very supervised event at our house as I have explained in the past. Luke eats slowly; he is always finished well after Jessie and mostly after Tilley. If the dogs are eating something extremely delicious they will want to eat Luke's. They know that moving in on his food will result in a growl so they use their smarts. Jessie stands to one side and stares at Luke; this makes him uneasy. The Tilley comes up in the rear and touches him ever so slightly. She keeps touching him until he cannot stand the pressure and moves away from his food.

These girls are smart; they know he doesn't like being pressured and would rather move away than fight for his food. Ah, the power we weild.

Rain again

Well I'm in full gear and back to work. I have a feeling I will be retaining a lingering cough for sometime. It's raining again which will definitely put a wrench in the works with my photography. Although i am hopin to get some nice rain dog photos, so I will be out in the rain tomorrow. My dogs are in full recovery mode after their weekend full of power running; sometimes it's good when Mom is really busy.

I had a great shoot today, met some wonderful people and fabulous dogs. At the moment my PC is working on my photos on the stove there is hamburger that I just brought home for my pooches. They will be happy with dinner for sure tonight. There is nothing like a warm homecooked meal on a cold rainy night.

I will be uploading several more shots from yesterdays shoot with my guys. I can't help it; you know they are adorable. :)

Beautiful sunday morning walk

I just got back from a walk with the three dogs and my hubby. What a beautiful day, it is in the low 60s, sunny and bright. We took them on the normal canyon trail; and I brought my camera. I got some great shots. The canyons are turning green with the rains we had in early December. It is a nice change of scenery from the bleak scrubby look. There are still remnants of scrubs but the green is what catches your eye first.

I'm hoping to use some of the shots in my book that I am working on. Of course I will include that these three own me. They had so much fun and I actually encouraged digging today for the shoot. Typically I only let Jessie dig; she lives to dig and it gives her a great source of energy release and exercise. I don't usually let Luke dig just because he is a giant piece of velcro and Jessie has a wipe and go coat.

But today I let him go till his heart content and he did. I just now finished washing 12 feet and one very disgusting face. For a nervous ninny Luke is a very good boy about getting cleaned up. But that simply comes from past experience; he knows that I would never do anything to hurt him so he puts complete trust in me. I will hopefully post some of the gross face shots that I got of him; talk about a happy dog.

So now everyone is in the back; they are cleaned up, had their breakfast and are now relaxing in the sun. I think I'll join them.

Have a great Sunday.