Ryleigh and Me

I got up earlier than usual for me this morning and decided to attempt to take some pictures of our puppy. He is 5 1/2 months old and is a black lab mix. He weighs over 34 pounds now from the 4.7 pound little guy he was when we got him. He's certifiably NUTS! He's got more energy than I ever thought a puppy could have but then again, I've not had a dog from newborn puppy age before. He acts a lot like that dog Marley on the movie Marley and me and though sometimes he drives us a little nuts, he is a super fun family pet. I'm so glad we got him.

Now since you know that he's NUTS & energetic you can probably guess that it's quite a challenge to take photos of him. The only way I was able to do it was to give him a toy that he could chew on. He's still teething so he loves to chew on toys. I just pulled up a chair and started snapping shots.

This one I snapped just before I realized he wasn't just chewing on it but he was pulling the stuffing out! When I got up to get it from him, he thought I wanted to play his favorite game which is Keep Away....from the humans! He runs in circles around the dining, kitchen and living area divider wall while we chase him and try to sneak up on him. After a couple of rounds, I was able to sneak up on him in the opposite direction and get it back from him.

 

He is also a complete goof ball because he throws himself on the floor as if the toy is taking him down...even if it's small enough to fit in his mouth!  :-)

 

I was so happy when I saw this one because for 5 1/2 months I have been trying to get a picture that showed his face and eyes really good.  He has beautiful "Lab" eyes and this one is definitely going to get printed and framed.  I think he is an especially photogenic dog.

 

 

This is another one that I'm super pleased with too.  This totally captures his sweet, playful and loving nature.

 

 

Here are a couple of him just playing while I snap away.  :o)

 

 

 

He also loves tug of war.  And for a dog that has the most gentle bite I have ever seen in a dog when he is taking treats and such from us, he sure can grip onto to things when playing this game.  This is my favorite shot out of the entire set.  Man is he a beautiful boy!?!?  Of course I'm partial to him over any other person's dog too.  :-)

 

 

This one was just a fun Photoshopped one.  Since he's so energetic and fast when he runs, I thought that it might be neat to use the zoom motion blur filter around him so it would look like he was pulling whoever was holding the toy out to him across the room.  Though I don't like to do too much faking up of pictures in Photoshop, I thought this was turned out cute and is quite a fun shot.

 

 

So even though it took me five months to get some good pictures of our sweet boy, it was sure worth the wait in these.  I love them.  As always, your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.