Bishop is Cabo’s younger, more ball-obsessed brother. A retriever mix of some sort – maybe a little flat-coat? – with a polka-dotted tongue that looks a lot like my Bear’s. He may be a bit of a mutt, but he definitely got a full dose of the fetch DNA.
Isn’t he handsome?
Another from the bluebonnet mini-sessions… This is Cabo. Sweet Cabo. He and his brother, Bishop (coming soon – along with the newest addition, foster-failure Phoenix), had originally planned to have a regular session last fall, but unfortunately, right before the scheduled session, Cabo tore a ligament in his knee and needed surgery. But now he’s fully healed, bionic knee and all.
Cabo’s a lab — but one of those easy-going, mellow, love-bug labs. He enjoys a good game of fetch just as much as the next lab, but he’d just as soon hang out and leave the crazy for his siblings!
He will give you an earful if you don’t throw the ball fast enough.
That field is magical. Love all the shots but the first and third are my favs 🙂
Beautiful shots of a gorgeous dog!
LOVE the 3 panel of the lab – looks like he’s sneezing – or telling a story! : )
I get a fair number of questions about Belle, and Newfoundlands in general. They’re not a terribly common breed, especially down here, so, here’s a couple of fun facts about them…
Newfies are swimmers. Their main “jobs” included pulling boats and fishing nets to shore and rescuing drowning victims – it’s what they were bred to do. There are loads of stories of Newfoundlands rescuing people, including one that famously saved Napoleon when he fell overboard while escaping from exile. Their skeletal structure and musculature is designed for maximum buoyancy and power, they have tremendous lung capacity for swimming long distances, their oily double coat protects their skin from frigid waters, their lips and jowls are designed to allow them to breathe while swimming and carrying something in their mouths, their giant paws are webbed for maximum propulsion, and their big, thick tail acts as a rudder. They have a unique and powerful swimming style – not doggie paddling, but rather a sort of modified breaststroke, down and out. It’s so smooth and effortless.
Oh, and they LOVE to swim. Belle hasn’t had an opportunity to rescue any drowning victims (or pull any fishing nets to shore), but she does a great job rescuing sticks.
Newfoundland’s other job is as a nanny – most famously, Nana from Peter Pan was a Newf. The breed standard actually states that sweetness of temperament is the “most important single characteristic of the breed.” They are natural nursemaids — in fact, Dogs 101 called them the best dog for kids. Belle has had relatively limited exposure to kids though, so to give you an idea of their nature with little ones, here’s my favorite Newf video (the dog in the video is a Landseer, or black and white. They also come in black, brown and grey, with black being the most common). [If the video doesn’t appear, try refreshing your browser – I don’t know why, but it works for me.]
All that being said… they are not the dog for everyone. They shed. A lot. They blow their coat twice a year, and shed heavily the rest of the time. They drool. Belle’s actually the least drooly one I’ve ever been around (I don’t complain!), but a lot of them are big-time droolers. They’re big. Again, Belle’s not the norm – she’s very small for a Newf, and she’s around 90-95 pounds. They are prone to medical issues, and vet bills can be very expensive due to their size. They do get really hot in the summer and need to stay in the A/C and swim as much as possible. They’re messy – the entire yard sticks to their fur and they tend to play in their water bowls. They’re high maintenance when it comes to grooming. They are smart, but can be stubborn and require early training to ensure no bad habits develop. Did I mention they shed?
I love ’em. Excuse me while I go eat my peanut butter and newf fur sandwich.
Awww…this post makes me smile so much. 🙂 While Phaneuf has never saved an actual drowning person, she does not like it when I go swimming, and she will come after me and try to bring me back to shore. One time she got so tired of swimming after me that when we got back to shore she started walking back to our cabin, as if to say “It’s obviously not safe here for you…Let’s go home.” She’s also not around kids often, but she LOVES kids…and puppies…when she does meet them. — She’s a newfie through and through!
Atticus and Abby are another pair to take advantage of the bluebonnet special. Their session was at the very tail end of the bluebonnet season, and, unfortunately, the skies were seriously grey and it was quite windy. But these schnauzers weren’t going to let a little weather stop them from having the bestest time!
Atticus is the larger, lighter-colored pup, and his name came from his mom’s favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird (I fully approve of the inspiration – my first dog’s name was Scout). He’s super laid back and very devoted to his mom. Abby, the little girl, is a quirky one. I was cautioned that she is timid and shy around strangers and tends to be pretty vocal. I got a single bark as they got out of the car. And then kisses.
Of course it helps that they were meeting me when they were getting to do their favorite thing — RUN!
And run some more!
That’s Abby on the right below. She was pretty much in my lap (I actually had to photoshop my knees out of the shot!) — not so shy! It makes me happy when the timid, reserved ones warm up and have some fun!
And lastly, two shots of Atticus and Abby showing off their synchronized leap-and-sniff routine (a.k.a. rhythmic gymnastics)… They must practice when their mom and dad are at work.
Pete and Tucker are a pair of boxers who took advantage of the bluebonnet special I was offering – and they were the lucky ones to get the flowers at their fullest bloom (with the indian paintbrushes popping up as well in some patches).
If Pete looks familiar, well, he’s been here before. An old hand at the modeling thing, that Pete (or PETE!!! as seems more apt). He’s still a big, adorable, snorfly, giant-tongued boy. Tucker is a handsome gentlemen, as sweet as can be, just a little less capsy-exclamation pointy. His greying face is the only giveaway that he’s getting older, as he did a great job keeping up with PETE!!.
Tucker is so sweet that he inspired Pete’s mom to adopt her first boxer (who I sadly didn’t get to meet). I can see why.
“just a little less capsy-exclamation pointy”… 🙂 half the fun of your photographs is knowing I’ll get to read your commentary on the session! 🙂
GORGEOUS! Nothing like frolicking pups in a beautiful field of flowers 🙂
Gorgeous colours – so well done!