In Memory of Cody

The Phillips family said good bye to a wonderful friend and family member yesterday, their beloved dog Cody.

I had the pleasure of photographing Cody a few months ago and wanted to share the wonderful dog that I feel so honored to have met.

With deep sympathy to Kathy, Joel, Elena and Delaney-whom I know miss him greatly.

Do you smell that?

A few months ago (yes, I know, I am such a blog slacker) I had the rare opportunity to tag along with my friend Bonnie and her Bloodhound Aiden for a a little tracking/trailing practice. Aiden is one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met and I just have to sink my hands into her AMAZING wrinkles every chance I get!









Bloodhounds have an incredible work ethic and and intense drive for tracking. Because of this intense drive they have been known to stick to a trail for more than 130 miles.....Hold on Bonnie!

Bloodhounds are often referred to as a NOSE with a dog attached! They have 230 MILLION Olfactory cells, that's forty times the amount that we humans have.

Warm Weather, Sunshine, Dogs.......Perfection!

Mother nature gave us a little break from the rain, snow and cold this weekend and I took the opportunity to do what I love best, get outside and photograph some dogs!
These dogs were participating in a Disc Dog clinic at the Georgia Dog Gym in Rome, GA.

Wordless Wednesday!

Southern Cross Farm

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting Southern Cross Farm. Southern Cross is home to more goats than I could count! It is owned by Sheri Harley and Kevin Henkle, and they pour their heart into every aspect of this farm...it truly is a labor of love.

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed my visit to this wonderful place.
Meet Andy, he's pretty much in charge of everything!
He really thinks he's a dog as he spent the first few days of his life in the house with the other dogs.

Billy Goats Gruff

She's just a little bloated!!!

Talk about a wild hair!

Secrets

Sweet Nathan, I sure wish he could live at my house.

And last but not least, Andy gets a little dinner.

Thanks to Sheri and Kevin for sharing their wonderful home and farm with me, I enjoyed every minute of it and look forward to many more visits.

An afternoon with Lillie

Lillie is a sixteen week old fun, loveable, squeezeable, fuzzy noodle of a Miniature Schnauzer.

She was an absolute dream to work with no matter how many times I moved her, or how many pictures I took.

She was great and in such heat she never wilted!

I will post more of her shoot later, and there are plenty more to share....as I took over 100 photos of her. I just couldn't help myself!

Hey! There's a bug in this crack!

Benz, the ultimate field agent.

A late afternoon walk with my soon to be three year old Weimaraner, Benz. I just happened to take my camera along, imagine that!

A day with Landon

This past Saturday, my church (Lindale United Methodist) had a family fun day at Willard Nixon Park in Silver Creek. I took this opportunity to spend the day with my grandson, Landon.

The cutest three...almost four year old I know.

Time for a quick dip in the creek to cool off.

This is where Landon spent most of his day, climbing up and down the slide on a HUGE inflatable castle.

Frisbee, Dock Diving, Fly Ball, and Lumber Jacks......what more could you ask for?

On June 20, I traveled with my friend Cyndy Douan to the Aflac Outdoor Games in Columbus, GA. Cyndy was judging the Disc Dog (Frisbee) competition and asked if I would like to tag along......she knows I'm a sucker for dog sports. Despite the fact that it was 106 degrees that day, and Cyndy said she "was roasting in her own juices"........we had a blast.....well, except for the time when I momentarily took leave of my senses and sat down on the metal bleachers.....OUCH!!! I think I still have stripes on my......well, you know.





Dock Diving.
The dog starts off on the dock above the pool, the handler throws a toy for the dog to retrieve into the water. The dog that has the longest jump into the water wins.




Flyball, think of it as a four dog relay team. Instead of using a baton, the dogs race down for a ball and then back across the start line where another dog waits his turn to run down and catch his relay ball, all the while jumping these hurdles. This is a very intense, fast paced team sport.

Lumber Jacks!! These guys were a lot different than the way I remember the story of Paul Bunyan and Babe. I had seen this type of competition on ESPN before, but until you see it up close, and hear the noise from each swing of the ax.....you have no idea the power these men possess. The fellow on the right won this phase of the competition, and when interviewed by ESPN and asked of his secret to success, he said "I always try me best"....now you have to imagine him saying this in a very cool accent, as he was from New South Wales. Watch ESPN on Dec. 12, 2009 to see this competition.....Look for me in the crowd....I'll be the one jumping up off the hot bleachers in record speed!

Disc Dogs.....or as I call it Frisbee. This is one of the most graceful and athletic dog sports I have ever seen. To watch the handlers and dogs work together, it seems as if they are speaking some secret silent language. Beautiful.

Toot's T-Cup Runneth Over!

On May 24 and 25 Cyndy Douan and her Pug, Tout de Suite competed in the Tea Cup Agility Competition at the Bartow County Saddle Club in Cartersville, GA. As you can see from the previous photo Toot had a very successful weekend. Toot (as she is know to her fans) finished the weekend with 8 Qualifying Scores, 8 First Place Ribbons, 2 Second Place Ribbons, High In Trial-Intermediate Games, High In Trial- Intermediate Standard, Novice Standard Title, and an Intermediate Games Title!

Toot is a jumping maniac!

Toot on the teeter!

Thanks to Toot and Cyndy for such a fun weekend. You can't help but smile when you watch this little dog in action.

CKC Agility May 2-3, 2009

This past weekend, the Georgia Dog Gym hosted a Continental Kennel Club sanctioned Agility Trial. We were all worried about the weather, but Mother Nature was good to us and only sprikled us a few times. I really enjoyed watching the handlers walk their courses and plan their strategy for the course. It amazes me to watch the teams in action, the dog's attention is on their handler listening for their next command and movement. So much of agility handling is done by body language that the dog reads, as if the dog and the handler understand some unspoken language.

Below are some pictures from the weekend. The Georgia Dog Gym will be hosting another trial in November, 2009 and I hope to be posting photos of me and my dog Benz from that competition. Keep your fingers crossed!

Mike Roy and his dog Flash from Louisiana.

Freda Nichols and Jet from Rome, GA.

Karen Gentsch and ASCII from Cartersville, GA.

Freda Nichols and Cyndy Douan's Tyler.

Atlanta Steeplechase 2009

This was the 43rd year for the Atlanta Steeplechase. It was my first visit, but certainly not my last. It was a very warm spring day with plenty of sunshine, good friends, and great entertainment. The Atlanta Steeplechase is known as Georgia's biggest and best lawn party and that is exactly how it appeared to me! Can't wait till next year, maybe I'll be brave enough to wear a hat......maybe.

Sarah and Perry Cook in the very car they left from their wedding in, 15 years ago this April.

Happy Anniversary!

The Fox Hounds.

The steeplechase horses. Jake saw more than a few that he wanted to bring home and turn into Event horses! Good luck with that Jake.

Steeplechase

Kingston Downs

April 25, 2009

Jack Russells are feisty little critters! They take their racing very serious.

Linda and Meme, my two favorite neighbors having a fun time at Steeplechase.

A very pretty girl dressed in the Steeplechase tradition....hat and all.

Sarah Cook and her mom Rosi Scheel looking beautiful as always in their festive hats.