Happy Valentine's Day

Henry: "Love you Momma"

I love you too, sweetie.

Dog Blog Post #2531

The Golden Boys wish everybody a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Photography Assignment

Our Daily Challenge - Feb 14, 2020: "All You Need Is"

Daily Dog Challenge 3011. "Love"

100x in 2020: 19

366:2020 #45

Toby looking so earnest

I managed to get through the shoot without anyone (looking at Toby) knocking the heart over. Whew!

I knocked it over while setting it up and it made a surprisingly loud bang, so I wasn't looking forward to peeling the pup off the ceiling. :)

Henry? He wouldn't have batted an eye. His only sound weakness are electronic beeps - like the sound your smoke detector makes when the battery needs replacing.

Turns my normally unflappable dog into a shivering, drooling mess.

We've had him since he was 8 weeks old - so whatever traumatized him must have happened before that.

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Hairy Pupper

Henry: "Oh, hi Mom..."

Dog Blog Post #2530

Henry, where's Toby?!

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 3005. "Magical"

It's Harry Potter Book Night? Who knew!

120 Pictures in 2020 - #18. Burgundy

Our Daily Challenge - Feb 7, 2020: "Theater"

Magic? Props?? Costumes???

Everything here is purchased except the wizard's cloak, which I made a year or so ago.

And yes, it has a fully lined hood that works - as in I can pull it over Henry's head making him look rather like Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars... only cute. :)

100x in 2020: #13 and 14

Toby: "Bippity boppity boo!"

Um... no. I didn't plan on Toby's eyes being closed.

But I do think it's funny. :)

On Toby Training front - look how nicely he's sitting next to the crate - which is what is under the black fabric.

What a good boy!

And no, I didn't try adding the wizard cloak (see Henry's version).

I actually think he would have been fine wearing it, but it's a royal pain trying to keep the ruff UNDER the cloak but the tie OVER the cloak, and Toby would have started to fidget.

And we are trying to keep posing happy and fun!


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Happy Golden Retriever Day

Mr. Toby

Dog Blog Post #2529

The boys wish everyone a very happy National Golden Retriever Day! (Feb 3)

Who knew there was only one?

They figured EVERY day was Golden Retriever Day.

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 3000. "Golden"

Our Daily Challenge - Feb 3, 2020: "Pink"

Ok... rather interesting combination of challenges today... but the guys rolled with it, because... Golden Retrievers!

100x in 2020: 12

Mr. Henry - One Cool Dude

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Bags of Blue

Toby: "Don't forget the baggies!"

Dog Blog Post #2528

"I don't have a spare hand."

"It SMELLS." (Summertime tip: double-bag)

"It decomposes... eventually."

"The city cleans it up, right?"

Umm.. no.

If your dog goes poo you collect the doo - even if no one is watching, even if no one will know.

Photography Assignment

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 19, 2020: "It is Right"

120 Pictures in 2020 - #113. "Useful"

And it's much easier to collect and carry the treasure in a little blue baggie.

52 Weeks for Dogs: This is something of a repeat of a shot I did earlier this week with Henry (with LEGO men and Cookies) that I punted on for Toby as I knew the Cookies would be too tempting.

The table is one of a set of three nesting end tables, light weight and a bit rickety. I believe they were old when my eventual in-laws gave them to Hubby when he went off to college... 35 years ago.

That said, they are perfect for photoshoots - their dark surface reflecting the black background most agreeably. They are just the right height, are easy to move around, and dog drool wipes right off.

When done being a prop, they are tucked in corner near the sofa and do an admirable job holding magazines.

Anyway, for this shoot, Toby needed to sit very close to the table and hold his head nice and high to be above the bags. The head wasn't an issue, but it took a bit of coaxing to get his body where I needed it.

I did get a shot of him looking down at the bags (per Henry's Cookie original) but I liked this one better.

What a good boy. :)

Go Niners!

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Cookie Train

???

Dog Blog Post #2527

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 15, 2020: "Food Chain"

I was originally thinking of a "chain" (line) of Cookies, but they refused to stand up on their own.

So I recruited the LEGO men to help me out.

If it makes you feel better, think of the dog being higher on the Food Chain than the Cookies.

Or the LEGO men, for that matter.

Work with me here!

I'm sure it will come as surprise to no one, but I did NOT try this shot with Toby. :)

He did give me a nice profile shot, however. Baby steps... photo shoots are fun when taken in baby steps!

Portrait of a Golden

This was actually harder than it looks, as my "Studio" (aka Kitchen) is only a couple feet wider than what you see here, which means I'm flattened against the cabinets leaning over to the side (don't want to block the reflector) waving a Cookie to get Toby's attention.

He stayed. He looked. And there was great rejoicing!

Photography Assignment

120 Pictures in 2020 - #119. "You don't see that everyday"

At least, Henry is probably thinking that.

Daily Dog Challenge 2982. "Waiting"

Henry's patience was well rewarded (and all the LEGO men are safe).

100x : 7

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Handsome in Purple

Too much football, so today's shot had to be simplicity itself...

Mr. Henry

Mr. Toby

Go Niners!

Dog Blog Post #2526

Watching 6+ hours of football has a way of eating up the day - and they weren't even my teams!

Photography Assignment

52 Weeks for Dogs: Toby posing pretty for me. I *did* get a shot of him wearing the purple hat and Toby's head was up and his neck "normal" - but the shot above was just to sweet to pass up.

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© 2020 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Business Casual

Dynamic Due

Behind the Scenes

Dog Blog Post #2525

What a handsome pair!

Toby was such a good boy. I was able to sidle them up together (using Cookies) without issue and Toby sat tall and straight.

The collars and ties were all handmade - the collar from a pattern of just collars, modified to accommodate a dogs much thicker neck. The tie was kinda based on a dog clothes pattern, but mostly just playing around until I was happy.

The "knot" is a clip-on form (thank you Amazon) plus a YouTube video by a very helpful guy who shows how to wrap a scavenged tie around it.

Photography Assignment

120 Pictures in 2020 - #108. Ties

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 7, 2020 - "Repeating"

Two dogs, two collars, two ties!

100x in 2020: #5

Behind the Scenes

Welcome to my "Studio" (aka Kitchen)!

This is my standard setup, used for the vast majority of pictures.

The black stretchy velvet fabric is binder-clipped to a pair of stacked tri-fold (science fair style) pieces of cardboard, with the fabric edges stretched left and right by additional binder clips tucked into handy drawers.

The reflector is clipped to the fridge handle on the left, and the umbrella (behind which sits the flash - not used for this shot) is off to the right.

The towel roll in the corner is to keep Toby from shoving a Lacrosse Ball into the hole he made in the baseboard (sigh) - yet another fix-it project on the list.

Speaking of Toby, I was particularly pleased that he stayed where I put him as I'm standing a good 15 feet back to get this shot using my iPhone - originally normal focus and then this shot which was 2x.

I was prepared to take this shot with just Henry, but Toby didn't want to be left out of the possibility of Cookies.

Daily Dog Challenge 2974. "It's Routine"

120 Pictures in 2020 - #34. Daily Ritual


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My Ball

Looking good, Toby!

What's wrong, Henry?

Dog Blog Post #2524

... or, perhaps more appropriately "Wrong Ball" as it isn't one of Toby's precious Lacrosse Balls.

We are still working on simple poses, and it's hard to get simpler than this.

But he isn't slouching, his head is up, his eyes are open and I even got a little catchlight, and he's looking at me.

So... a win!

And I haven't a clue why Henry is giving me a sideways look.

Perhaps I bumped the reflector while reaching for the Cookie cup, which was sitting on the fridge water dispenser shelf, as the reflector is clipped to the fridge handle during shoots.

Photography Assignment

120 Pictures in 2020 - #32. Cuddly Toy

This is one of the puppy toys, trotted out just for special occasions as the boys would have it in shreds in the blink of an eye.

Daily Dog Challenge 2973. "Delightful"

Well, *I* was delighted :)

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 6, 2020: "Sphere or Spherical"

100x in 2020 : #4

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Sitting Pretty

Dog Blog Post #?

Henry's the pro... Toby is... not. But he's trying!

Especially when I pulled out a piece of King's Hawaiian Bread. :)

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 2972. "A Pop of Color"

100x in 2020: #3

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Dog of Mystery

Two in a row? She's on a roll!

They say if you do something 21 days in a row you'll form a habit, so two down and 19 to go.

Dog Blog Post #2522

You know the type... the quiet ones, down at the end of the bar. The ones that look like they are there for a reason, and it isn't a good one.

Photography Assignment

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 2, 2020: "The Roaring 20's"

I was thinking Gangster... maybe Speakeasy... but ultimately lacked the props to pull it off on short notice.

This is the usual black Fedora decorated with some white bias tape, as I couldn't figure out how to make satin ribbon lay flat (tips? anyone?)

The Bottle is real (originally held ginger ale) but the Old Fashioned "Glass" is plastic (safer).

I also shot a version just like it plus a white Boa - perhaps our Gangster was drinking over a woman? But it looked cluttered, and being white was too bright to fit with "Dark" (below).

As for Toby, we practiced "Hats" several times today and by the time of his shoot he accepted the hat without complaint.

Alas, he's very stiff, lays awkwardly and is hard to reposition as he pops up every time I try to adjust anything.

I think we need to have some Posing Practice along with Hat Practice!

He's smart - he'll eventually figure out that popping up only delays getting to the GOOD cookies at the end.

Daily Dog Challenge 2969. "Dark"

100x in 2020 : #2

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© 2020 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Happy New Year

Gee... I guess it's been a while!

Much has gone on, and yet not much to write about. We've done a fair bit of Home Improvements (mostly in the yard) and long overdue maintenance, and the boys have enjoyed a long sabbatical (and a whole lot of fetch).

If you've been following along on Flickr, you kinda get the idea.

But it's a new year, and so it's back to work!

As always, Flickr (click on image) is always the best place to go to get the latest and "greatest"!

Dog Blog Post #2521

How come I never get invited???

The boys obviously were somewhere swanky last night. I really must keep better tabs on them.

Henry's too laid back to get into trouble, but Toby? Well... you know teenagers.

Photography Assignment

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 1, 2020: "Beginnings"

We are basically beginning all over again with Toby and Studio Photography.

And while I did manage to get a picture of him wearing a Top Hat, it wasn't pretty. :)

So... the Top Hat is now sitting in the family room, and will make an appearance every time the Cookies come out.

By this time next week, with luck, he'll be begging to wear a hat!

For this shot, we begin with the most basic of costumes - a bow tie.

Daily Dog Challenge 2968. "Let's Go!"

100x in 2020: #1

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