Tales to Wag About has moved

The blog has moved!
It made more sense to have the blog integrated with Wags' website, rather than blog and website in different locations - so please find the new blog here. 
Hope to see you there! I've just updated the blog with images from this photo shoot...

Made it to the Top Ten

Every week, Hair of the Dog Blog (a blog for pet photographers) posts a new weekly facebook photo competition. I have been following along for a while, never submitting an image yet - until last week when the theme was "black and white". 

You're allowed to post two images and in my mind, I had narrowed down the two shots I wanted to submit pretty quickly. 

The first image here is the one that made the Top Ten, and I am totally thrilled! 

I like this image personally for a lot of reasons - but maybe mostly because it speaks so strongly to everything I really believe in and work for. The process of training, the by-product of training, the effort and time spent connecting and creating a bond with your dog, Investing into Becoming Their Best Friend, and then having some of those little moments captured as permanent images to treasure. 

That connection and Friendship is a Gift. Never something to be taken for granted, but a true gift when it is present.

There is no prize money or fancy ribbons or awards, but what a great way to spread awareness and get to showcase your work beyond your own readership.

I'm very Grateful for this opportunity to have an image published on a well-read blog; what a great feeling to start off the week with!

Piper the Standard Poodle

The email started with "Annette - you don't have a black Standard Poodle in your portfolio!"

The rest is now history as I'm happy to say I'll be uploading some black Standard Poodle images to my web gallery today as well as sharing a small collection here. 

Meet Piper - a 6 year old Gorgeous and Lovely girl. 

It's always fun to photograph dogs - but add to that: it's really fun to photograph dogs that I've met/ had as students or otherwise somehow gotten to know.

With this girl - Our paths have crossed multiple times at trials as Piper and my boy Maggio seemed to be training and trialling through the same levels of Obedience and Rally'O for quite some time. While Maggio and myself had to put trialling on the backburner because of lameless and issues with his body for a while - Piper continued along her obedience journey and has now put many more additional titles behind her name.

What a treat to photograph such a well trained dog - and one of the most well-kept and well groomed poodles I've ever met. She always looks stunning!
Thanks Catherine for coming out - how fun to see you and her again!

We started with some shots in the studio and then did a few shots outdoors. It had rained overnight and the grass, bushes and ground were soaked and still dripping of water. The final shot (at the very bottom here) tells a subtle tale of dog hair in contact with moisture.

The wet grass made for a very cool and artistic out-of-focus backdrop as all the water drops and moisture on leaves and grass sparkled like little sequins in the morning sun. It was really quite delightful, despite getting shoes, pants and dog completely soaked :-)

So; Hope you Enjoy - a few more shots of Piper...

Who do you see in the mirror?

Have to share one more image right now from the modeling shoot I did just the other week. 

This is such a sweet little conversation, a fleeting moment in time: a dog and a person mirroring each other in beautiful symmetry - a photo impossible to "stage" - only possible to capture. 

Modeling photo shoot

A few days ago I did a modeling shoot and have just shared a few shots for Wags' unlimited fans on Facebook. Here they are, too for those not part of the FB world.

Tala Rain and Twillow Rose are two young therapy dogs; both Shiloh Shepherds.  Both stunningly beautiful dogs. Their owner and "co-therapist" Straja was one of the people who replied and graciously offered to participate when I put out a Model call a few weeks back. 

I had met Straja and Twillow before and I knew I would be in for a treat to be taking photos of them together!

We spent a couple of hours together, initially in the studio, and then going outside - having a great time.
These shots are just a first few in a series of images of these lovely, lovely souls. 

Dogs have come to mean So much in my own life; and knowing what that magical bond can feel like - I LOVED photographing Straja with her dogs! The bond is tangible :-) just gorgeous. 

Capturing the connection between people and their beloved companion dogs is truly an honour and something I hope to be doing much, more more of in the months and years to come. Stay tuned as I share some more images soon from the two model shoots in the last month!

And PS - If you'd like to take part in a model shoot in the future or want to be kept in the loop about upcoming photo projects or specials - please DO sign up for Wags' newsletter here.

the other awesome dog

It is only fair to share one more photo today as I only showed you ONE of the two awesome dogs yesterday. So, here we go. Above we have the Handsome Barney demonstrating basic obedience skills. Below a quick example of how I am using the image right away :-)

photo shoot with two awesome dogs

Just the other day I sent out a newsletter with the latest updates and a bit of info on what's in the works with Wags: 

• Drop-in dog training locally over the next several weeks
• the next upcoming seminars for this year and next (!)
• as well as a Model call looking for fresh "modeling talent" for some specific photography projects I have in the works. 

Some of these projects are very "secretive" (LOL, or called ever-evolving ideas in progress) - others are areas where I need specific images for specific things. There is a clear vision of how the images will be used and I know what the final product will be and why and where I need the images.

But one problem with being creative is that one idea frequently leads to another...and the "simple project" can quickly grow, and become impressively huge - but never finished. I have only barely started editing images from yesterday and ideas are already spinning in my head of all kinds of fun I could have building this or that idea further...

Isn't she impressive: Chowder, balancing that big long body of hers in this awesome trick?!

We had a great photo shoot yesterday - another to come with very different looking dogs on July 22nd. Now I need to wrestle my spinning mind to the ground, stay on task and try to focus on completing this project before I start  dreaming up the next idea:-) 

As I was editing photos and trying to slow down my racing mind - I found It's no different than trying to achieve a specific goal in dog training. We quite often get excited on route and see progress and results in one area, sometimes causing so much excitement that it derails the process a bit...we now want to skip important steps and jump ahead. But often the result of jumping ahead is not faster progress but quite the contrary: when realizing, soon enough, that pieces are missing and we now need to go back and fill in the gaps.

Stop. Slow down. Look at your road map. Remember where you are going, and aim there and get there. 

One step at a Time. 

So that's where I am at. Nevertheless, if you'd like to be part of future creative projects and want to be kept in the loop about new modeling opportunities that will no doubt be coming up - please subscribe to Wags' newsletter and make sure you set your email to allow messages from Wagsunlimited. I do have a feeling it won;t be long before the next vision will be put to action...

Tommy in Black and White

Here is Tommy in Black and White. What a character. So many expressions in this Young little Guy. I love the one eyed look as he is engaged with his toy (top right). Tonight I`ll see Tommy in Puppy Foundation Skills class and we are going to work more on play: retrieve and tugging to be specific.

The owners were asked to bring two identical toys for tonight so I can show them a very cool, simple and extremely effective way of building solid retrieving skills in a dog. So many dogs learn to enjoy the `keep away` version of retrieving: with the owner going after the dog in hopes of getting the toy back...not something I recommend. 
So - we`re going to address that tonight, use two toys and get him - and the other puppies - enjoying coming right back to their people with the retrieve object. Simple, and SO much fun!

Teaching your dog to play with you using toys is simply one of the Very Best things you can do. Enough can`t be said about the benefits of human-dog play.
What you can do with great play skills is Magical. Nothing less!
So - on that note, I am heading out with my own dogs to play, tug, and retrieve!

Happy Victoria Day!

Everything feels great after a walk in the woods.

Sharing just a couple of shots from the other day with my patient and extremely cooperative models; Maggio and Pinot.

I walk around with a lot of photo inspiration these days - seeing trees, bushes, branches, and grasses as potential backdrops. Opportunities seem to be everywhere - it`s fun to be riding a massive wave of inspiration!

Bringing the camera on a dog outing brings me a lot of joy right now - and fortunately I think the dogs are really loving it, too. 

The reason I love to photograph my dogs in the woods so much is likely very very simple - it`s my `daily therapy session`- the time for me to recharge and renew and just spend time with these amazing four-legged friends of mine. 

I`ve heard a neat saying that goes  something like `there`s no problem or worry in the world that can`t be resolved from the back of a horse`and I feel a bit the same about our daily outings into nature. 

How could  Everything not feel great after one of these adventures!

Tommy

Meet Tommy - the Awesome and Very Handsome 9+ week old English Bulldog puppy. He`s recently enrolled in Wags`Puppy Foundation skills class. I talked about him in a blog post just a few days back.
Yesterday I had the great honour to do a photo shoot with him. What a cute Dude! 
Here are just a couple of shots of Tommy. Enjoy.

The garden hose - in frequent use these days.

After a long winter and walking dogs that always were nice and clean when we came back home from our walks - the garden hose is now out, ready to hose off dirty dogs on a moment`s notice.
Most days I can`t deny Pinot and Maggio a good roll in puddles and mud - they get hot and want to cool off in whatever water they find. So be it. That`s a dog. Then we come home and hose off in clean water and quickly try to close the bedroom door so they don`t go have their after-run-nap in our bed!

AAWH. The pleasures of spring. Dirt. Muck. Dogs.

A walk with my dogs and camera

Yesterday I went on a lovely forest walk with Pinot and Maggio. Two hours of exploring, playing, enjoying, just being: and for me: photographing the dogs. I had this massive inspiration to just experiment and test different things: play with light, shadow, shooting right into the light, getting flare, trying to control it (as best as I could) - seeing what would happen if I didn't even try to control it and playing with backgrounds. 

Here I will leave you with some of the resulting images. Bless these dogs: they are truly amazing - unbelievably cooperative and happy to test and try what we're going to do next. I think they really like seeing the camera come out; they're well-paid models! 

Pinot certainly seems to soak it up and actually gets a bit frustrated with me when I tell her it's Maggio's turn and she needs to wait. She will then go on to place herself in a beautiful sit or down near Maggio and pose toward the camera - as if she's still part of the "show" - I just tell her how gorgeous she is and she seems to be happy with that arrangement. She doesn't know I cropped her out of the frame. (unless of course she reads this blog post or goes to check out the photos. LOL). 

Enjoy the photos - Maggio is sporting his True Retriever Colours: mud and muck, twigs and dirt pretty well covering his body. The measure of Enjoyment for a dog :-)

Maggio posing and doing his typical "goofy face". Pinot is impatiently waiting for her turn right below and in front of Maggio...cropped out of the frame.

And then - Pinot's turn to "smile" for the camera. Doesn't she just look like she is soaking it all up??

Play hard and then crash

They are either On, or OFF, aren't they?! This was the scene on Monday after working on the photo shoot with the Brittanys for a while. The Puppies had had a BLAST zooming about in an ex-pen, in the studio, doing all things they were't "supposed" to (having a Great Time!). Carla of Hunter's Heart commented and said it was probably the most fun these puppies had had in all their 8-week lives. What an awesome time!

Posing for photos.
Not posing for photos: but going over and kissing the photographer instead. 
Licking and then perhaps also just a tiny bit...biting her ear.
Getting tangled in her lovely long hair. 
Smelling her clothes: does she have cookies?
Tasting the camera strap. 
Licking the lens.
NOW: Getting a toy, playing tug with the photographer. 
Tasting a treat. Yummy! 
Going back to business.
Posing some more. Or not. 
Running away again. Having a GREAT time. 
Running and playing until...

Well, it takes its toll. All that exploration, all that newness of a new place. New smells. New experiences. Being a Super Model.

Crash and Burn. Just like that. On the spot.
It's hard work, man.

The Cuteness Factor

Oh what a bundle! I had the great joy of photographing a whole litter of nine 8-week old Hunter's Heart Brittany puppies just the other day. It was so much fun, the puppies were wild and crazy and awesomely fantastic - 
looking back at these images one does have to really ask and wonder "Were they EVER that still?"
:-)

Toward the end of the shoot, they crashed completely and were all zonked out in the ex-pen set up right in the studio. I admit, I was pretty exhausted, too :-) IT's not completely un-complicated to photograph busy puppies. Ha!

But what little treasures. The cuteness factor; no denying it.

Photo shoot with Keva

I got to enjoy a lovely morning walk with Chris and Keva just a few days back. She's a gorgeous dog! She's a German Shepherd type - sure looks mostly shepherd, but also low content wolf. I first met Keva as a wee little one when she came to Puppy class. Recently she completed the "Manners" program and she sure is turning into a Lovely Companion dog!

The very bottom shot is my own favourite. The intensity of those eyes - yet soft and friendly as she curiously paused for just a brief fraction of a second to check out what I was doing. I really like the expression of that one :-)
Thanks Chris and Keva - and Suzanne, too! Hope you enjoy the photos!!

You are his life, his love, his leader...

 "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."

    - Unknown

It's a beautiful quote, the one above. It came to me as I was deciding to post these images and looking for words to go along with them. What do you say beside images that already tell such a story of connection?

I adore seeing connection between people and their dogs. It's a a true gift - that goes both ways.
And isn't that ultimately what dog training is all about? Developing and strengthening the relationship, finding ways to connect, deepening the bond, making ourselves "worthy" of our dogs and multiplying the reasons to connect and Be Together. That's always been the idea behind the training we do at Wags.

It doesn't have to be elaborate or complex - sometimes the reasons for training and developing skills can be pretty simple and every-day. At the end of the day - It's the Journey that matters - perhaps not so much the destination... It's a good thing to ponder and be thinking about: "What's in Your Journey?"