Fast Eddie!

Show me a Golden Retriever and I'll show you a ball-loving dog. I'll also show you a handsome, photogenic dog. Eddie was no exception.

As I arrived at the house, Eddie immediately invited me to play ball.

 

Eddie is three but has the energy of a puppy. It was sometimes a challenge to capture him crisply because he moved so quickly (and with an increasingly rainy and darkening sky, satisfactory light was hard to come by), but a little persistence took care of that.

He was encouraged to do a few tricks, including carrying his leash

 

and making himself at home on the neighbor's trampoline.

His most amazing trick, however, was the ease with which he could scale a standard chain-link fence, a feat I tried very hard to capture on camera with hit-and-miss success. He was just sooo fast.

But the enduring image of Eddie was of a happy dog obsessed with his ball.

Golden Retrievers, you have a blanket invitation to enter my camera!

Itty Bitty Izzy

When an eager dog photographer sees an advance picture of a little cream puff like the one shown below, he's licking his chops.

Pushover, right? Not so fast. Turns out, one-year-old Izzy, a Schnoodle, is a ball of fire and very protective of her owner -- at least inside her apartment. After a little careful coaxing, Izzy decided I wasn't so bad.

Once we got outside, the shooting was a challenge because of rain and early darkness. We re-scheduled a second shoot and were greeted with a sterling late summer day, providing the kind of light and azure blue sky photographers dream about.

Izzy also found time to energize my "youthful" geriatric dog, chasing him in endless circles (he was about a half lap behind).

 

After play was over, Izzy went from being a ball of fire to a ball of cute fluff.

Thanks Carrie and Izzy!