Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Belton Trials are Over...

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We made it through the Belton Horse Trials without any real problems. A couple of the routines went a little wrong for one or two of the dogs, but not enough to spoil anything for the spectators. Overall, it went really well. I've got thirty minutes of fantastic video footage to get through and edit. Watch out for that in the next couple of days.

I have to say that I've loved every second of the last three days. What was there for me not to love? I was surrounded by a plethora of the most gorgeous dogs (especially Teal'cy, the Rotweiller who I am boarding next week), met some exceptionally nice people who were very patient with while I shoved my camera in their faces, and the weather was hot and sunny. In terms of photographs, it wasn't ideal taking photos in the midday sun, but I can't complain at all.
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For the last day, I made a special effort to try to focus on the dog owners and the dogs, as opposed to just the dogs.

I hope that those who I captured will forgive me for my sometimes glaring errors, but I do hope that you are at least somewhat pleased with the final result, and that I've managed to do you and your canine friend(s) some justice.

Of course, I will always wish that I'd done x, y, or z a little better, but that's the artist in me.
Lucy and Ash II
I've lost count of the number of photos that I have to wade through and upload to my Flickr pages, but I took over a thousand. (Obviously, only the best few will see the light of day in the end.)

Ellie seemed to enjoy the outings and it also seems to have cured her of her fear of horses. Hey, if anything was going to solve it, I'd have put my money on it being her attending the Belton International Horse Trials.

You can view a slideshow of the dog photos, or view them individually.

Again, bear in mind that I'm still working my way through them all and so the set will grow each day for a while.

3 comments:

dawnie said...

When you foster a dog, you take it into your home and try to introduce it to as many day to day things as you can, in my case i also tried to find Ellie the best life could offer her - today i realised i hit the jackpot. I haven't seen her for quite a while but not a day goes by without a thought of her in some way. Today, had u of known me, and been close enough you would have seen how i struggled to stop myself bursting with pride, watching her today, still so young and yet so very very talented, i cannot tell you the feeling i got inside. They say the dog is only as good as the owner - in my opinion that could not be more true than in Ellies case, things could have been so different, she could have ended up in a home that saw her just as a cute puppy that was just there as a toy/hobby. Instead she found Maz & Jan who have worked with her, educated her, loved her & turned her into the amazingly clever dog that she is today. Ellie you are a gem and a very special girl - Maz & Jan - thank you for making her what she is today. x
Sorry for all the soppy s**t

Christina said...

I couldn't agree more. Jan and Maz are two very special people and it has been a joy to get to know them. They have been welcomed into the team partly because they're lovely people but also partly because I wanted them to be able to inspire others with their dogs - to think of their dogs more along the lines of how they think of Ellie. Ellie - you and your 'Mum and Dad' were made for each other and no home on earth is more of a perfect match for you than the one you've found... With love from Christina (Founder of ICC Dog Training)

The Dog Man said...

Thank you both for the lovely comments. What can I say? We do our best and that is all that anyone can really do.

With her overly timid personality, she may not always make training as easy as it could be, but she does make it ultimately rewarding.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that she's not even two years of age yet.

Thanks again for the comments...