Photo shoot, training class - very long day

What a long and tiring day! Our two puppies - Diva and Quest - along with their mom Miska and grandma Nova were chauffeured to Eileen Wilkes home for a photo shoot. Eileen and her husband Bob own Bowsers, a company that manufactures luxury dog beds and other top quality pet products. Eileen also happens to be Nova's breeder. The photo shoot was for their new catalogue and other advertising of their product lines.

Eileen initially said to bring just Nova and Miska but I couldn't leave the puppies unattended at home for most of the day because they are too young. Well, it turned out that Diva was the best model and star of the day holding her poses like a professional movie star! At 14 weeks of age, she was unbelievably obedient and a natural poser, just like her grandmother and great-grandmother Bree who has starred in previous Bowser catalogues and advertising. Diva knows very few verbal commands; therefore I couldn't command Diva to 'stay' but she stayed posed for long periods of time while the photographer snapped away. That's Diva pictured on the aqua lounger.

I think the photographer took over 500 shots of the dogs, mainly Nova, Diva and Miska but he also took several of Bree and Cooper (Nova's younger brother) and lots of the dogs together. One setup was of Bree, Nova, Miska and Cooper (3 generations) lying on doggie loungers by the pool. All they needed were doggie swim suits and sun glasses to make it a Wm Wegman scene. I can't wait to see how those shots turn out. Quest and his slightly older brother, Reese, didn't want to co-operate, preferring to play instead and thus weren't included in many photographs. I did catch Quest posing briefly in a wicker doggie bed. From Eileen's experience, males aren't as good at posing as the females and she is right. Well, I can't wait to see the photos and Bowser's new catalogue.

The photo shoot started at 10:30 AM and finished at 3:30 PM. It was very tiring for the dogs, especially the puppies but they showed an amazing amount of energy. Well, they are Vizslas after all and the breed is known for its boundless energy but I was astonished at how long they lasted.

On the way home, I stopped and picked up Linda Currie, a Vizsla owner and friend of mine who lives in New Brunswick. She was in town (Toronto) for work-related meetings. She asked whether she could come to obedience training class one night with me. As it turned out, tonite is puppy class so I suggested she visit tonite. The puppies barely had 15 minutes respite at home when it was time to leave for their class . I suggested that Linda handle one puppy while I took the other. Marie Sawford of Companion Dog Training where I am currently taking obedience training was very accommodating about having the two puppies in class together since I have only paid for one spot. I was amazed that Diva & Quest had any energy whatsoever for training. It wasn't long after we arrived back home and fed the pups when they FINALLY crashed and were snoring happily away in their new Bowser's beds - payment for a hard day's labour. Linda and I spent most of the evening discussing and comparing dog training methods, training philosophies and trainers and then I drove her back to her hotel. All in all, a long but very satisfying and fun day for all of us.