Dog of the Day 26th March 2013

It's a bit rainy today in Iceland, so I thought I'd catch up on a few photos from earlier in the trip. Last week I had a lovely walk with my friend JP and his clan of cockers and labs. We met originally after I commented on his lovely puppy photos on Flickr, and have since become friends and now met in the flesh! We had a walk along the beach with the dogs and I captured a few of his lovely dogs. This one is my favourite - I met them all last year when my own hunt for a cocker spaniel puppy had just begun, and hoped that I'd find one that looked like her (I did!). She's called Tiffany, or Tiffu for short, and is now two. I think she is just divine!

Dog of the Day - 22nd March 2013

I'm currently in south-eastern Iceland, near the famous Jökulsárlón lake. I've been on the road for a couple of days, and apart from meeting up with a friend and his dogs for a walk (photos to come of them on another day) I've only really come across one dog. It was quite a lovely encounter though. 

I have my own rented 4WD, which means that I can just take the odd turn here and there and not worry about where I might end up. So yesterday, as I drove between Reykjavik and Vik I took a little turn off the main road and explored for a few kms before turning round and heading back and onwards with my journey. At my turning place I reached a historic village (there are lots!) and decided to get out to have a look. I jumped as I felt something against my leg. There looking up at me was a very cute dog. He then proceeded to grapple around on the ground and finally picked up a piece of lava rock which he then placed at my feet. I picked it up and threw it and he trotted off to retrieve it, and brought it back and placed it in my hand.

We did this over and over for a few minutes, before I hesitated, he heard something, and off he trotted back to the village.

Off to Iceland...

So I'm off on a photography trip to Iceland today, so no more Dogs of the Day from London for a while. I am meeting up with a friend with 5 dogs tomorrow - 3 cockers (of course!) and 2 labs, so hopefully there will be a couple of Icelandic Dogs of the Day to come.

Dog of the Day - 17th March 2013

More horrible weather! So the camera has been left at home yet again (I think I'm becoming a fair-weather dog photographer!). But I have plenty of worthy dogs from previous occasions! Today's Dog of the Day is Chloe, a golden working cocker spaniel. I was surprised to learn that she is a worker, as she has the long silky coat and low-set ears of a show-type, but her owner assured me that she is from pure working lines. She didn't look at the camera, but had a little sniff of Henry (in the background, as he often is).

Dog of the Day - 15th March 2013

It's been a bit grey today. Was having a bit of a try-out of a new lens (a 19-35mm Cosina kindly donated by a friend!), but any dogs captured with that just look like a distant speck.

So today's Dog of the Day is a dog I saw on our walk yesterday morning. It's an orange roan cocker spaniel, the colour of Henry's mother. I haven't spoken to the owner, so no idea of name, gender or age. Quite a cute mop on its head though and very prancy gait!

 

Dog of the Day - 13th March 2013

One of the things I enjoy most about photographing dogs - which is also one of the most irritating things too! - is that you never know what they're going to do. You cannot tell a dog what position to take, to hold still, to smile. You just have to hope for the best each time. A treat usually helps to get them to concentrate for the seconds it takes to compose and take the shot (they are usually very easily distracted). But sometimes the random ones work well too, when they're just doing their thing, when they move at the last moment, and you catch a detail, like that softest of fur on their neck...

Today's Dog of the Day is Henry, my little chap (again). He's had an ulcer on the cornea of his right eye for the past 10 days, which has no doubt been painful for him in the biting wind, as well as just generally uncomfortable, with lots of gunk sticking his eyes together (he wears the Cone of Shame at night). He should be on the mend now (another vet appointment in the morning), and I'm still enjoying photographing him pottering about when on walks. One pose I can guarantee catching him in is with his little cocker spaniel nose to the ground. When he's not eating sticks or playing with another dog, he's sure to be sniffing the ground!

Pet Theft Awareness Week - 14th - 21st March 2013

There has been a massive number of thefts of dogs in the past few months, and the plight of two working cocker spaniels stolen on New Year's Eve (Tia and Maisie) has left me feeling particularly angry about the whole thing, very sad for the poor owner, and very glad that my little cocker is safely sleeping beneath my chair.

I've just heard about Pet Theft Awareness Week, which is a great initiative to highlight this problem and try to find ways to tackle it. One piece of action is the creation of an e-petition to the government to try to change the seriousness of the theft of pets.

Please have a look at the Pet Theft site and share!
http://www.pettheft.co.uk

Here is the link to the petition:
https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/45882

Hopefully all this publicity will make it harder for thieves to sell on stolen dogs and get them tougher sentences when they're caught (and let's hope that more of them are!).