Don't walk in front of me...

It's not about who eats first, it's not about who goes through the door first, it's not about who gets up on furniture or who sleeps on the bed.

Maybe it's way simpler than all of that: maybe it's as simple as Friendship. About finding balance and being together the way friends would be together. In mutual respect, in desire to share and connect. 

One thing is for certain - it's hard to beat the loyalty and friendship that our dogs show us. 

There's a lovely quote that goes something like:
"My goal in life is to be the person my dog thinks I am" (unknown)
Isn't that just the beautiful truth?!

If you can't identify it - you can't reproduce it

This past week I have spent completely immersed in the world of things visual. First off, of course I have been trying to stay afloat with keeping my eye on (pardon the pun) regular class work, registrations and reading and responding to the many emails that land in my inbox every day. 

But beyond that, I've been hard at work editing all the fun images we shot of Elroy the week before. 

AND; here's the really visual:  I took part in a training course - all about Photoshop. My brain is actually about to burst - information overload is a huge understatement...I've been staring at images and learning and absorbing all week long - and there's no denying it: I am super excited about new ideas, new knowledge and tools discovered!  (It's been a long time since I formally updated my knowledge about this tool).

What really struck me, though is just HOW closely related the two loves of my life are (well, there's Hubby too - so that would make it three loves, but you get the idea!?) Dogs and Photography - and to make it clear: the Man, of course (maybe not in that order?)

One of the instructors in the Photoshop course was explaining to the group about the importance of REALLY SEEING - not just looking, but actually trying to see and understand. The specific discussion was regarding composites and how to combine images, layers and effect so it looks natural and the instructor was giving tips for how to achieve good end results - urging the students to Really LOOK. If you can't identify it - you can't reproduce it. In order to know how to make something - you have to understand what it needs to look like in the end to get to the end result. 

Wow! It's exactly the same as in dog training! Isn't it? If you can't paint a visual picture of where you want to go - how can you describe steps to get there? or identify gaps when you get stuck?

When wanting to achieve something specific with your dog - whether teaching a performance behaviour or working on fixing a problem -  I think this is so valuable (maybe so obvious but easily forgotten!) -- what we can all benefit from is to slow down for a moment and think in reverse and describe, in great detail, what you see (where do you want to go?) and what that particular behavior looks like - and then start adding the layers - just like in Photoshop!

There's a fantastic great quote that I absolutely love (and I am very sorry I don;t remember who said this?) but it rings so very true and I will leave you with this thought to ponder:

"If you don't know where you're going ~ Any road will take you there" 

Elmo

This is Elmo. He belongs to friends of the family. The first few photos are ones that have only been shared privately so far but as I added to the "Elmo collection" this past weekend, it felt timely to share a few photos here as well.
We were visiting just before Christmas, and it just so happened that Elmo had paid a recent visit to the groomer and being that my camera was with me - I decided to snap a few photos of the Handsome Fella.

The red bow from the groomer was just too adorable and perfect on the red chair.

This past weekend we had the pleasure of having Elmo for a couple of sleep-overs and of course a few more photos had to be added to the Elmo-collection. He's such a lovely dog; easy and sweet - by day 2 he was fitting into our household as if he'd been here for a long, long time. The dogs were all at peace and co-existing as if there was nothing more natural and usual. 

In these final and most recent shots, I love how his hair has grown and he seems to be sporting a bit of bed head in these shots taken on Sunday morning. "King Elmo" - just awaking from his Beauty Sleep :) What a Great Dog!

Am I brave enough to say it out loud?

It's February and it's time to "spell it out" and put down some Goals for 2013 in Writing. I've been collecting strength and strategy / wondering if I will be brave enough to actually verbalize it? 
Some of you know I come from a Visual Arts background first and that Dog Training  - like for most of today's Trainers - is a second career. The super short version of my first educational background is that I did a Master's in Visual Communication - having had a love and passion for all art as well as photography for a long time. My first real job out of University was working as a Freelance Photographer for  the Daily Gleaner in Fredericton, NB. Simultaneously I held a part-time job as Media Production Assistant at UNB; assisting in the department of Media Services and catering to the University's Visual needs. Well - fast forward about 15 years and photography was for many of these years left aside while pursuing the second Passion of my Life: Dogs. I didn't know whether I would ever return to Photography or not. For a while - as film cameras everywhere were replaced by Digital cameras - I didn't even have anything other than a point-and-shoot digital camera. Couldn't justify spending the money on a good DSLR if I wasn't going to be "shooting for real". My focus has, for the last 10 years, been entirely on Dogs! The Training and Behaviour part, that is.

And the years rolled by as I immersed myself in the Learning of All-Things-Dog. All my darkroom equipment from days past became obsolete, film cameras collected dust and became obsolete...and the knowledge I seemed to have gathered - much about printing and darkroom techniques: also became obsolete.

But as months have turned into years and years translated into a Wonderful and Fulfilling career working with Dogs in a Training Capacity - it feels like it's now time to start merging my Two Passions; to pick up the camera again and Really make a commitment to shooting. I have no idea where this will take me or what will unfold. Just know it feels so right that I must put it down on paper. My Big Goal for 2013 is to "Shoot lots of Dogs" - yeah yeah that sounds bad for a "dog friendly trainer" - doesn't it - but maybe that's part of the reason I enjoy that juxtaposition?! 
Therefore, over the next few months I am going to be mixing blog posts about training with lots of posts with Photos of Dogs. I hope you'll enjoy the Visual Component that is to come! A new Year, a New Journey - I hope you'll check back often to see where this Road might go?!
I have no idea - but I'm excited!

random thoughts of the day...

Can't help but smile back when I look at this happy face displayed by Pinot. What a privilege to be owned by these happy and completely faithful characters we call our "Companion Dogs". Pinot is truly a side-kick dog...if all of society would allow for a constant "daemon" to be present - she would be it :-) (If you wonder what a daemon is - you can check it out here: the Golden Compass)

My other buddy, Maggio, is currently not feeling 100% after recently being diagnosed with pyelonephritis (inflammation of kidneys). You can see a bit of his his bare and shaved belly in this photo (as necessitated by the ultrasound to check him out last week).
He's being treated for it, but the poor guy's immune system is not completely happy about antibiotics. 
What a journey it is to live with someone suffering from allergies, and what a learning curve it's thrown me for. While saying all of that - it's been very educational and brought much positive with it: we've made some amazing contacts and perhaps foremost; for me, the journey has been a real first-hand eye opener into "Options" - that there are multiple ways to view healing and health. I've been personally blown away by what holistic medicine  - in the hands of a skilled practitioner - can offer. Through this journey, which started as a VERY frustrating wild-goose-chase looking to identify "allergies"...I have found a holistic vet I simply adore;  and my own views to the body, health and healing have really been impacted. 
And so the journey continues in different ways with each of these remarkable dogs...