Who let the dogs out?!

I have come to an unscientific hypothesis about horse owners and please feel free to prove me wrong. Most (I mean 99% of the horse owners I have met) have one or more dogs as well. Dogs and horses seem to go together like turkey and potatoes (ok I'm still thinking about Thanksgiving...). This past week has been the busiest of my entire equestrian photography career and as a bonus, I think I have photographed as many dogs at these farms. Let me give you a sampling of the past week.
It started at Hopeful Farms in Bracebridge on Friday (they are hopeful they will pay the mortgage Jayme says ;oD). I pulled into their driveway after a lovely drive through the country. No one seemed to be about so I stayed in the car for a few minutes with the driver's side door open while I went over some notes. Suddenly there was a lttle white dog in my lap, wagging his stub of a tail and subsequently his whole behind in welcome. Ah...this is the kind of farm dog I like, small, friendly, welcoming, small, cute, small...I continued looking over my notes when a large shadow fell over my page. Seemingly apparating out of thin air, a large German Shepherd was now mostly in my lap as well. Now I have a theory about farm dogs; I am quite sure they would not just outright attack me just for pulling up in the driveway, as I'm sure many people are always coming and going from horse farms. With this thought comforting me I said my hellos to the curious beast and extricated myself from my car. No sooner had I closed the door when a third dog (this creature was moving so fast it took me several seconds to recognize it as canine) was launching himself at me. A whisp of a shaggy border colllie, he circled me at the speed of sound and then shot off like a rocket through the nearby paddock. Did I just imagine that dog I wondered? I made a mental note to ask the owner what kind of rocket fuel she was feeding him.
Well I found the owner and with pack of dogs in tow (another dog joined us, a sweet buxom lab, seemingly a chew toy for the others) we started our photo shoot. My first error of judgement was to choose a spot in a field at the far end from where the rest of the herd of horses grazed. Jayme may be a collector of canines but the equine collection far outnumbered the dogs! My perfect location, a grassy knoll with the distant fall colours in the background, soon was as crowded as a Tim Horton's on a 2 for 1 muffin morning. An assortment of dogs and horses freely walked back and forth in front of or behind my subjects. I was breaking out in a cold sweat thinking of showing my client the proofs, every frame with another horse or dog's body part jutting into it. I realized then how comical the situation was and how much more it just made me love my job. The problem was eventually solved with some treats scattered down by the barn. The dogs did find their way into many a photo but that is life on the farm where the people, horses, and dogs must live in harmony...and share the spotlight sometime.
Leslie

p.s. I wanted to share a few other photos of dogs from that week: Sue's sweet Golden, Laurie's beautiful Wheaton Terriers, and all those hilarious Jack Russels at Erins, man can those dogs jump!!