On Dogs and Photos

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd try to get some photos today of the dogs for the blog.  And, as fate would have it, the clouds and rain broke for a bit around 3:00, and I took the dogs and the camera outside.  And that was the extent of my luck.



You see, I've sort of started to fancy myself a bit of a "pet portrait" guy.  I've gotten some great shots of Kiko, Luana, Popo and Honi since I've been here.  Also some really good ones of River (the dog that walked out of the jungle and lived under the yurt).  AND I got some really good ones of Annie's dog Smith.  So I kinda figured that while it's not a real cash machine of a job or anything, it might be something that I use to pass the time and make a little extra income in my retirement years or something.

So isn't it a particularly interesting twist of fate that I've been paired with a dog who, like me, is camera shy?

Although she doesn't have the same reasons I do.  I usually figure that not only am I not photogenic, but who really wants a photo of me anyway?  And if they do, chances are I've got one somewhere that's not too bad and will do the trick.

No, with Dagny it's a case of "too smart for her own good."  You see, Dagny is very very very afraid of thunder.  So much so that she's made the connection between lightning and thunder.  She starts shaking before the thunder arrives.  Therefore, the flash on a camera makes her think it's about to thunder and she goes looking for a safe spot to hide out.

But wait, there's more!  Because that wouldn't be too bad, as I could still take photos during the day.  No, no.  She's taken it further.  Now, because the camera makes that click noise before the flash, she's connected those two stimuli together, and the click sets her off shaking.

So here's the photo I got today, of Dagny learning how to let herself in to the yurt.