Dog Days of Summer

Meet Summer. Yeah, that is this adorable German Shepherd adolescent-girl here. I originally met her and her peeps; Susan and Felix, through Puppy Foundation Skills class, where she started at an early age. 

Just a few days ago, I met up with Summer and Felix for a lovely outing and photo shoot. There were a few specific images I was looking for to add to my photo gallery and library, and the very cool thing looking back through the images was how well many of these images illustrate one of the things I keep preaching to students all the time: develop PLAY with your dog!!! With good skills and a keen player, there are so many training challenges that become easy and fun to work through - but more than anything, Play develops such a fantastic bond and relationship! It puts the emphasis exactly where I believe it should be: right in the middle between you and your dog - in something that you do Together. 

So, here are some of the photos from our photo shoot just the other day. Hope you enjoy! THANK YOU Felix and Summer for being awesome models! Thank you Susan and Felix for doing such an awesome job getting this girl off on such a great start! And Thank you for teaching her how to play with you! It is a gift that will stay with her (and you) for life :-)

I LOVE seeing the intensity in the play! It is just simply gorgeous and it is easy to see just how much fun she thinks this is, too! In the image below she is frozen - ready to pounce the moment she is given permission! Can't you just feel the intensity?

See the impulse control Summer is showing in the photo above, too? Love it! And she's 5-or-so months old!! 
Closing off with a beautiful portrait of a very beautiful soul. OH Those Eyes!