Ears - A to Z Challenge

I had a much cuter post planned.  But the bunny ears didn't really cooperate and as you can see the dogs were not thrilled with my idea.

Daddy's Girl - A to Z Blogging Challenge

While I'm normally the one to walk the girls, Marlin still manages to get in lots of play time with them.  I love seeing how goofy he gets with them and how crazily they respond to him.  

Coulee is absent from most of these photos for a few reasons - she was busy fetching (fetching always comes first in her mind) and I was focusing on Lacey because I didn't have any photos like this of her yet, but make no mistake, he loves her too!

I'm pretty sure he is asking them to sit in this last picture.  As you can see they aren't that obedient.  LOL

Chewy - A to Z Challenge

I had lots of words to choose from today - Coulee, cats, chew toys, cuz... But Chewy was insistent I choose her.

Pick me!  Pick me!

Chewy lives at the dog daycare where I work. She came to us as a kitten when we first opened.  Someone thought we were a cat rescue (it has a similar name - well not really, but we both have Paws in the name so people get confused).  As we started to explain where she could drop off the cat, she made us hold her....  and next thing we knew we were agreeing to hang on to her until her home was found.

We never found anyone who was looking for her and by the time we realized that no one was, we were all smitten.  She was amazing with the dogs from day one.  She knows which ones to stay away from and which ones she can bat at their tails and which ones she can grab on either side of their face and bite on their forehead.  :)

She is the perfect cat for a dog daycare and we are so glad she found us. The place wouldn't be the same without her.

A Brief Interruption

We interrupt this A to Z challenge to bring you more of Lacey in silhouette.  It is weird to be blogging every day, but not necessarily blogging about what I want to blog about, so I'm sure there will be more than one "interruption" along the way.

A few people asked yesterday if I had someone else throw the toy while I took the picture, and in this case I definitely had help.

I normally shoot completely by myself as I tend to walk the dogs mid day when Marlin is at work. For Coulee, this doesn't create many photographic limitations. Coulee likes to "lead out" while playing fetch and will drop the toy off at my feet then go running off into the field.  I can control her lead outs based on how I throw the toy.  So for example, if I want her to get some good exercise, I let her do her big sweeping lead outs (were talking 15-20 seconds of flat out running before she even considers circling back to see what direction I'm going to throw it) and I throw it as far as I can. She usually starts off our walks with these as she is fresh and raring to go.

If I want her to stay in, I stop her lead out quickly by making a noise (to make her look at me) and quickly throwing the toy.  If I keep throwing the toy to a certain place, after a few throws, she leads out to that location, turns and waits for me to throw the toy. So in the case of the silhouettes, if I keep throwing the toy to the top right hand corner of the hill, that is where she'll lead out to. So as soon as she stops and turns to watch, I throw the toy to the top left hand corner of the hill and she runs along the edge of the hill to the toy while I take the photos.  Once she starts predicting that I'm going to throw to the left, she starts to lead out to the left and I change things up by throwing to the right.  Does that make sense?  Basically, I can get her to go anywhere I want merely by throwing a toy there a few times.

Lacey is a little less "cooperative". She does whatever she wants and while she will chase a toy occasionally, she waits for me to throw it before actually running. You know, more like a normal dog.  :)  So I have never been able to get a decently silhouetted shot of her.  Silhouettes aren't hard but the dogs need to be in the right place, facing the right way AND I need to be at the bottom of the hill off to the side instead of ahead or behind them.  I like the sense of movement in my silhouettes so just putting her in a stay in the right place isn't really what I wanted to do.

So anyway, to make a long story short, I called Marlin down to the park the other night so we could finally get some pictures of Lacey.  He hung out at the top of the hill with the pups and threw the toy along the edge to get her to move in the right direction.

So now I finally have my Lacey in silhouette photos I've wanted for a while.  Sorry that the photo processing in these is all over the map.  I was playing around at different times and couldn't decide which I preferred - stark contrast in black and whites or with a little colour and less contrast.

Also, be prepared for more silhouettes tomorrow.  I still have more from this series I want to share and they'll fit in with my theme tomorrow.  :)

Ball - A to Z Challenge

A ball is probably Coulee's number one choice in toys if given a chance to pick what she wants (especially if you count Cuz toys which are sort of like balls). Lacey on the other hand usually prefers toys that you can shake.  Last night however, we convinced her that chasing a ball could be pretty fun.  And good thing too, as I needed a B theme for today!

Appetite - A to Z Challenge

I've decided (at the very last minute) to take part in the A to Z challenge.  You can find out more by clicking the link, but basically you blog every day except Sundays (except today!) and each day is themed on a different day of the alphabet.  My mom's friend has participated a few times and even carries on the theme all year but does a weekly challenge, instead of a daily one.

So today I bring you the letter A - Appetite.

Coulee and Lacey (well all our pets actually) have very healthy appetites. When we first got Coulee we had to teach her to sit for her meal because otherwise she jumped up and knocked it out of our hand.  It is amazing how easy this was to teach as the reward was huge and we practice it every day, twice a day.

They are both very good at the pleading look.

Once the food arrives, Coulee's demeanour goes from pleading, to slightly panicked.

Lacey struggles to keep the drool in check.

Neither dog has ever skipped a meal.  In fact, they've never even taken longer than 20 seconds to eat a meal.  They also are very good at cleaning out their dishes.  There is never a single crumb left.

I'm looking forward to the A to Z Challenge!  I'm going to stick to a pet theme for the month (I know, you are all shocked).  Be sure to check out some of the other participants!

Cat in the Tub

Usually as I am hoping out of the shower, Jack is hoping in.  I always think to myself, I wish I had my camera, but shockingly enough, it is not often sitting in the bathroom.  

Today the Lethbridge Photography Club is doing a Day in the Life, and it inspired me to finally take the photos I've wanted to for ages.  :)