Fruit Run

Under the category of Gwyndiculousness, allow me to share one of Gwyn's favorite summer games: playing with pears! We have a pear tree in the back yard. We've never actually eaten any of the pairs from it....but Gwyn has. :D She discovered this game last year. The first time she did it, I had to Google to make sure that pears weren't toxic for dogs! They make wonderful toys....you can do zoomies around the yard with them, and then lie down and eat them at the end!

 I know that some of the pears that have become hound toys have fallen off the tree prematurely, but I have a strong suspicion that some of them have had a little help!

Best Toy Ever! (part the second)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the Kong Extreme Flyer is the *best* (outside) toy ever! At least in Gwyn's not-so-humble opinion! And, no, I'm not receiving anything from Kong..they don't even know I said this. I've mentioned that Gwyn's first Kong Flyer was given to her when I took her for her first photo shoot with the wonderful Joe Frazz. It lasted over a year, but I had bought a back-up knowing the day would come...

This is what they look like out of the box:

This is what they look like after a year + of heavy-duty workout. To be fair to Kong, there were times I left it out in the elements...and when it did finally start cracking and tearing away I got the rubber bits that pulled off and took it away so we wouldn't have Gwyn swallowing rubber!

 It leads to great interactive fun, like this:

I've got this, Mom, let 'er rip!

This last one was caught using a super-fast shutter speed...while there's only brief periods of time her view is completely obstructed like this, I sincerely hope she doesn't plow face first into something one of these days!!!

The Art of the Play Bow

The play bow is not unique to the greyhound, but they are particularly proficient at it. A friendly, goofy invitation to play...it may be directed toward another dog, a person...or a favorite toy:

 

It never fails to make me smile. Have a greyt day!

Zoomies and Color Boost

I love that my Brit' hound friend refers to the wild running around of her hound as "zoomies." Perfect description! Thanks to the sport continuous mode on my Nikon I am able to capture some great shots with one hand and throw the Kong Frisbee with the other (admittedly not the best throws...but they rarely are!).

 

Built for speed and ready to launch!

 Generally speaking, about the only editing I do of my shots before posting is to crop extraneous background out and to reduce the file size for ease of uploading. I know there's great software out there for amazing editing, but I'm fundamentally lazy (shocking, but true) and would rather get a good shot to start with and not spend a lot of time (time that I'm woefully lacking) messing with fine-tuning on the computer. However this weekend I did start playing with the "color boost" setting on my Nikon software. I was impressed. These are the exact same shots as above except for that one change. Pretty cool, eh? It actually looks like we have lush grass in our backyard. I'm thinking that's way easier than actually planting new grass :D

My latest favorite shot

Here's a few more examples...without color boost:

 

...and with:

 



Play Bow

with the possibility of attack!

The Fox and The Hound...

...or, The Best Christmas a Hound Ever Had!

Gwyn here at the keyboard. Just wanted to report that it was the best Christmas ever around here! Mom didn't realize that even though Santa barely slowed down when he went by on Saturday (see Mom's Christmas Eve post) that I had time to tell him what I wanted. And boy, did he deliver! First, here I am, admiring the tree, being good, and hoping Santa won't forget me!

 My lil' kitteh, Xander, got him a sparkly mouse:

 He likes to pounce it.

 And then drag it backwards towards his lair:

 Here's the moment! Mom's handing me my new bestest toy ever....a fox!

 Xander also got a catnip toy (since Wil' got some treats she likes)...but Wil' decided she might like the catnip toy for herself!

 Me & my fox :D

 I have to keep checkin' on him to be sure he's okay.

 Meanwhile, the Orange Menace looked particularly cute in his pile'o'papers. He thought that was the bestest part of the whole Christmas morning deal. He thinks Mom & Dad should keep the papers out the whole year round.

 I tired myself out, but didn't let Mr. Fox get far.

 But here's the great thing...not only did I get a fox, I got a treat maker!!!!

 I had to supervise Mom to make sure she knew what she was doing.

 Fifteen minutes is a long time to expect a greyhound to wait for a peanut butter cookie! Even worse was when Mom found that this particular recipe did better cooking 20 minutes!!!

 I about gave up..(Mom thinks this shot with my back leg sticking out is funny for some unknown reason!)

 Me & Mr. Fox...watching the world go by....wondering if we'll ever get to try peanut butter cookies.

 Mom wants everybody to know that Dogs Rule! She & Dad got me this t-shirt at Westminster Dog Show one year (well, maybe they got it for my great-uncle Phil, but it fits me better!)

 After an epoch or so, they were done:

 Ah, mana from heaven!

 Nom nom nom nom nom...

 I didn't get to see her, but Mom thought her bro'n'law's little Yorkie, Zoe, was over-the-top cute in what she & her other SIL decided was a kilt!

 Mom says even though we really enjoyed all our goodies, that this Christmas was nice because we got to spend time with the people, hounds, cats and horses that we love and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. (*And* eat peanut butter cookies with Mr. Fox!)
Love, Gwyneth