I got up very early to get this photo of Butters. Generally his obedience is pretty good but he’s basically still a puppy and loves testing the boundaries. This rock wasn’t far from a walking track where people had their dogs off lead and Butters had major FOMO (his middle name). When he’d had enough of being told what to do he let me know and scared the crap out of me by not coming back when I called him. He didn’t quite run away but he went just out of reach and kept moving further away as I got closer. I’d taken the tag off his collar for the photo and we were at an unfamiliar cliff side location, so he gave me quite a fright. The things I do for art!
This week was Best Friends Day so we celebrated it with Chopper. We’re keeping Butters’ testicles until he’s a year old to help prevent joint issues later in life. Bruno has never been a huge fan of entire dogs so he’s not being his normal playful self at the moment. Chopper has become Butter’s playmate of choice while Bruno is sulking. (Poor Chopper, doesn’t always get a say in the matter!)
I had hoped to be into my new studio by now for this series but I was impatient, wasn’t I? And now I have to live with the dodgy makeshift blue fabric backdrop in these photos forever!
While Dave was hard at work fitting out my studio he had his two assistants on site, on Take Your Dog to Work Day, to make sure no one stole his tools. Such tough guys.
The Peanut Butter had an emergency vet visit this week which meant I didn’t get to do the photo I had planned, because he was still recovering. This was a test shot for a new piece of gear but he has a lovely expression so I think it’s an acceptable inclusion in the project.
More about PB’s brush with death here. (That may be a little over-dramatic but dogs have died from it. More than a few.)
#7 in my Watch the Butterball Grow series. I don’t think Butters has had a growth spurt as big as these photos might suggest, he was just a fraction closer to the camera and sitting up straighter. I have to do these pics before Bruno’s had his breakfast because he has no desire to work for food afterwards. On this day a tradie had come early which meant their breakfast was delayed and they were both way OTT for treats when I wanted to get this shot. I’d generally try harder to get everything as close to the same as the previous month’s set up but they were being stupidly intense and continually breaking their stay to get a treat. So I settled for “done is better than perfect” which is hard for me as a perfectionist!
If you want more of my dogs in your life you can follow them on Instagram – @ruthlessratpack. I also just posted a video of the last six months of this project, so you can check that out while you’re there.
