Dogs of the Day - 1st June 2014

After taking some photos of masses of Harley-Davidson motorcycles at the Warr's dealership off the King's Road earlier in the day, I decided it was time for something completely different, so snapped some of the local dogs.

This is Archie the cocker spaniel posing very nicely for me - such a gorgeous face.

These two having a good fight are the teddy-bear like little Elvis, a 6-month-old cavapoo, and Gracie, a year-old Havanese.

This is Gilbert, waiting - rather sadly - for his daddy to return. Eventually he just gave up.

 

This is Gracie on her own - managed to get her staying still for about a second!

And last but not least, is the lovely Lazzie, who didn't seem to notice the lens shoved underneath his nose as he waited to play ball.

Dogs of the day - May 12th 2014

I haven't taken the camera to the common for a while, but today the sun was shining (although dark clouds hovered ominously in the distance) and I was working from home, so I decided it was time I caught up on the photos of Henry's friends.

There's a couple of new puppies around, but they weren't out today, so I had to be happy with the older puppies - those around 8 months. This is the lovely Jessie, a golden cocker spaniel with a gorgeous blonde quiff.

And then there were some of the regulars - Pepper the beagle, Archie the schnoodle (schnauzer/poodle cross), Lazzie the coton de tulear, Alfie the pug and a couple of others. The dogs only posed for me if someone brought a handful of treats from their pocket.

Otherwise there was a fair amount of boisterous puppy activity going on - running around together, biting, playing - particularly between Pepper and Archie.

Being two now (it was his birthday last week) Henry doesn't join the playing all that much, usually content to play ball with me, or have a good old roll. Fortunately he doesn't roll in stinky things!

Dog of the Day - 16th March 2014

What a glorious weekend it's been in London! Spring is most definitely here; in fact, today would've passed as a fine summer's day.

We went on a long walk down to Wandsworth Common, but were back for the usual group meet-up nearer to home. Henry made a new friend - Chilli the Chihuahua, who finally posed for me a couple of times in the late afternoon sun.

Here's to many more days of lovely weather in Parsons Green!

Lots of Dogs Today! - 26th February 2014

What a glorious day again! It feels as if spring is here, but who knows when winter will be back.... Lots of the neighbourhood dogs were out and about and for once I was armed with the SLR rather than just the rather useless iPhone. I barely recognised all the owners without hats!

Here's some of Henry's friends: Ernie the golden cocker, Alfie the ball-stealing terrier mix, Mac the westie, Quinn the regal springer, Lazlo the Coton de Tulear and a new little chap called Archie, who's a schnauzer (miniature schnauzer crossed with a poodle!). Lots of white and orange dogs around today!

 

 

And here's a shot of Henry keeping my company this morning while I was working from home, looking a bit serious:

Dog of the Day - 16th February 2014

Haven't posted on here for a while, as sadly I'm no longer out and about with the dog every day (what with having a day job). The weather's been pretty awful in London for the last couple of months too - plenty of rain resulting in very unpleasant muddy parks!

Today was the first glorious day in what seemed like months! Sunny, with a few picturesque clouds, pretty mild and little wind. The crocuses are even out already. So we took the dog for a nice walk along the Thames, from Putney Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge and back again. In Bishop's Park we met two boundy, barky standard poodles. I'm so used to seeing cavapoos or cockerpoos or labradoodles that I forget that pure poodles actually exist! I didn't find out the name of this chap, as the owner was on the phone and not remotely interested in engaging with anyone else, but I didn't manage to get a snap of him!

A Few of the Local Dogs

I've been a bit busy of late, with a new day-job keeping me away. The photography and the dog-walking are now reserved for weekends only, for the time-being. When I do get out with Henry, he's still obsessed with the ball. His catching skills are coming along very well!

I took the camera out today, armed with the 50mm f/1.2 lens, hoping the rain would hold off. There were a couple of light showers, but generally it stayed dry, so I was able to snap a few shots of Henry playing with his ball and some of the neighbourhood dogs - some regulars, others new.

This is the adorable little Alfie, the pug. He's been on a diet recently and looks great. He likes to play with Henry, but most of his time is spent being ravaged by Myrtle.

Myrtle is an affenpinscher, and extremely hard to photograph as she's a cute little blob of black fluff. She is smitten with Alfie.

This is male chihuahua, whose name I can't remember. He may be small, but it doesn't stop him trying to hump much, much bigger dogs!

These two are Roxy the Airedale and Sonny the French Bulldog. I've only met Roxy a couple of times - she makes Henry look tiny. Henry and Sonny have played together since they were pups. Sonny is also very keen on Henry's favourite green ball.

 

I hadn't met this dog before - her name is Dora and she's a wheaten terrier - also made Henry look tiny!

I'm hoping the weather will have enough dry spells tomorrow so I can take the camera out and about again.

Please avoid Hurlingham Park at the moment - gastroenteritis breakout!

Just been sent a message on twitter by Molly & Max vets in Parsons Green, SW6, about a break-out of gastroentiritis in the area, possibly from contaminated grass cuttings in Hurlingham Park. So, if you walk your dog in that area and see this, please avoid! Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhoea :(

Here's the link to the Molly & Max Facebook page where they report this.