Monday, October 8, 2012

Stealthy Cervids and Gymnast Canids

Since we both had Columbus Day off, I went over with Jeremy to the Jared Eliot Preserve in Guilford. Before we had even gotten down the gravel track to the parking area, we saw three deer. One was cooperative enough to wait while I reached back for my camera bag, got out my camera, changed lenses, opened the window, and took a series of pictures.

I think she was only this cooperative because she was relatively certain that we didn't see her through the brush. Clearly she doesn't know about manual focus.

I didn't actually take any pictures at the preserve itself because the dogs were so muddy, but I stopped at the local dog-friendly park afterwards. There were no other dogs there to play with, so I amused myself by throwing a tennis ball high in the air and then trying to get the camera up in time to snap a few shots of the dogs making catches.

The lighting wasn't consistently bright enough for fast shutter speeds, so I only got a couple of good action shots.

I did, however, get the great shot below. Comet misjudged the ball slightly and tried to recover in midair. To his credit, despite the fact that he landed on his back, my next shot shows him holding the ball.

2 comments:

  1. Where did you get your beautiful dogs? Ive been looking for a puppy exactly like that! I live in Louisiana and have had no luck yet... any suggestions?

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  2. Hi Nikki!

    Comet is from Windrush Goldens, and Jax is from Sand Dancer. Both are small-scale hobby breeders who produce dogs for field, obedience, and agility competition and occasionally sell to pet homes. When you look for breeders, I encourage you to start here: http://www.grca.org/allabout/a_find5.html

    The Golden Retriever Club of America has laid out some really helpful guidelines to finding a reputable breeder. The most important piece is the four big health clearances on the parents: hips, elbows, hearts, and eyes. That helps reduce the likelihood that your puppy will develop some of the common health problems in the breed.

    Good luck! And be patient: bad breeders tend to have lots of puppies for sale. Good ones tend to take reservations on upcoming litters so all the puppies are spoken for before the dogs are even bred. So getting a Golden with the best possible shot at a long, healthy life and an excellent temperament can take some patience.

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