Dog walks. I’m not talking about the quick five-minute around the block, but about the real dog walks. The dog walks with the rhythm, the connection, and the shared purpose. The walk is the basic interface of the relationship between them, the dogs, and us, the humans. The bonding happens during the dog walk.
I saw that woman, the other day, who really nailed it. She was walking two chocolate Labs, and it was a sight (no sarcasm here).
Let me introduce you to Duffus. That’s his name. According to Kim, Duffus is mostly a Maltese with some Chihuahua. I don’t see the Chihuahua. But what I see is a very confident dog who own his space.
According to the Urban Dictionary, Duffus is the short for “dumbfucks” from the Pig Latin ‘dummass frickinious idiotus’, and that suits him very well.
Duffus refers to someone (or a dog) who is extraordinarily dumb, as exhibited by extraordinarily bad choices.
This male Rhodesian Ridgeback came to sniff my dog, another male and that’s when the saga started. A pleasant afternoon turned into chaos.
Photographing black dogs is always a challenge. The real problem is that black is not a colour. It’s the absence of colour. So, seeing the shape and the details in the black coat is tricky. It’s the combination of light, angle, and background to make it right or black dogs (or black cats for that matter) just become a big black blob.
Look at him. Completely absorbed. Focused entirely on that bobbing balloon. He’s not checking for anything else. He’s not even glancing at the other dogs playing around at the beach. It’s just the balloon, don’t even try to distract him with a ‘weird noise’ or even a treat. It’s not going to work.
Before dogs, I used to love cycling. I had this image in my head, of me pedalling along with my dog running happily alongside. I really thought that it would happen. Somehow… it didn’t.
Always blame the dog! It’s so much easier than admitting I’m just not the most coordinated? In fact, all my dogs have been rescue dogs. And they were a handful. Terrified of everything. Seriously. Even their own shadows sometimes!
This dog is very worried. His owner is learning how to fight with a sword (actually, it’s a rapier. They have no edge, just a point and originally they were used as dress swords).
I call this image “The Stand-Off.” You see, I was walking on the Vancouver Seawall. Actually, I wasn’t walking anymore, I was squatting with one knee down on the floor to take the photo and I had my dog patiently waiting slightly behind me to the side like I taught him to do over the years.
This is Oliver. He’s a racing Greyhound from Tijuana, Mexico.
Sharon adopted him 3 years ago from one of the Greyhound rescue. What a shock to his system. He came from hot and dry place, living in kennels with another hundred greyhounds. And now? He lives in a house and he appropriated himself the living room couch for sleeping. He doesn’t sleep on the floor anymore.
I was out on the beach the other day, doing what I love – photographing dogs at play. And I came across this lovely hound.
I think it’s a Deerhound, but I’m not entirely sure. He has that characteristic look, but he seems a bit smaller and his fur is a little longer than usual. It’s those subtle differences that often fascinate me! I wish I could have asked the owner – she was “mia” (missing in action!), probably enjoying the beach somewhere else.
