Tag: Pets

More Publications in Dogs Today

I was fortunate enough to be featured yet again in Dogs Today Magazines October, November and December editions.

October

Dogs Today October Front 2015

Octobers edition yet again full of interesting articles and featured an image of my Mini American Shepherd in The best dog photographers in the World section. The image was taken in a local bluebell wood. I had a gap between client shoots so decided to have a play with my dogs. Buzz is training to be an agility dog so this image of him jumping is great. However, getting him at to stay and wait while I got to the other side of the log and on the floor took a little bit of doing!

Dogs Today October 2015 image

I particularly like the articles they do on breeds, the October issue was all about Corgis. Some great info on the breed and some lovely images too.

November

November Cover 2015

Now that’s a cute pup on the font cover!  Who could resist him?

This months magazine published an image of my Working Sheep dog. Take on a lazy summers evening. She just loves jumping up on the hay bales.

November 2015 image

The Dog Crush article in this magazine was all about the Newfoundland.  They give you facts about the breed. For cleanliness apparently 75% of their respondents said if you cant stand the dribble then you are not a proper Newfie owner and they apparently shed a lot of hair and they are huge dogs! Probably not the dog for me based on that information.

December

December 2015 Cover

Now this cover was a definite eye catcher for me. Not only because of those stunning blue eyes but because its another Mini American Shepherd and a very handsome one at that!

This issue published an image very dear to me indeed. It is an image I have in a 30″ frame on my wall. I just love having large images. This gorgeous lurcher is sadly no longer with me. The image was taken on my very first digital SLR camera. I love the softness of the daisy’s and the rim lighting of the evening sun on her.  When you loose a dog its like loosing one of the family and a big gap is left.  We miss her but at least get to see her every day.

Decmeber 2015 image

The step by step guide in this months magazine had an interesting article on Food etiquette. Some sound advice.

Thank you for reading my post. If you are interested in booking a shoot then please look at my website. www.meltaylorphotography.co.uk

Exciting News

Some exciting news for me. Two of my images have been short-listed for the Image of the Year with the Guild of Photographers!

The Guild is a highly respected UK based association for photographers which has members from overseas as well. Each year it runs an on-line monthly photographic competition with awards being given each month to the very best of the entries.

Around 10,000 entries were taken into the Image of the Month Competition throughout 2015, the Judges have selected just 10 images in each genre to be short listed as Finalists in the Image of the Year Competition. I have been selected as a finalist in the Pet genre with the attached images.

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“H” was an absolutely  gentle and adorable Lurcher. Having had 4 Lurchers myself over the years I did have a big soft spot for him! Sadly he was a little to big to hide in my pocket!  He is devoted to his owner as you can see from his expression.

His owners bid for the Complimentary photographic session and 20″x16″ Wall Art of the image of their choice from the session that I donated to the local pre-school for the Auction at the Enchanted ball held earlier in the year. The auction was helping to raise funds for them much needed relocation of the wonderful Little Ducks pre-school that both my boys attended.

Guild Director Lesley Thirsk said “One of the Guild’s aims is to drive standards and creativity amongst photographers. Our monthly competition certainly does that, for the standard of the entries we see each month is quite staggering. To have an image recognised by the Guild in the monthly competition is difficult enough, so to have an image selected as being one of the best 10 in a category for the end of year Final is a quite remarkable achievement, and shows just how talented a photographer Mel Taylor is”.

During January the Judges will assess the final few images in print format and choose their overall winners and runners-up.

The final results will then be announced the Awards evening at the fabulous Crewe Hall in Cheshire on Saturday 6th February, 2015.

So not only is it exciting I get to buy a new frock too!  There are lots of stunning entries this year and I am thrilled to be short-listed.

Here are a few more images from “H’s” session.

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Many thanks for reading my post.

www.meltaylorphotography.co.uk

 

Dashing Dash

Was it only four months ago that I shared some images of my lovely new Mini American Shepherd – Dash… how did he grow so quickly… cruel how we are cheated so quickly from all that gorgeous puppy awesomeness!

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As puppies go he has been a star. Only a little whimper for the first few night and very quickly house trained. He has become best buddies with my other Shepherd, Buzz and even Maya my collie likes him a little. Buzz is still trying to gain her affections but doesn’t realise that trying to plant kisses on her every morning will not win her over!

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Dash is not backwards at coming forward, he enjoyed his two puppy socialisation classes where we realised that bouncy puppies are not something that he is keen on and he can have a little temper when confronted by bounciness! Can’t say I would be too happy if a stranger came running up to me and started jumping all over me.

We have gone through the weird ear phase but they have now settled down but he has had a few different looks.

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He has been a joy to train and once we get over the initial excitement that training involves food, and food is something that Dash is very keen on and is very vocal about letting me know this at feed time!

We have already started our agility training. Lots of fun games at the moment and just working with poles on the ground and learning our left from right and he has a fantastic wait which will be a great help once we start competing.

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Apart from his agility he loves to snooze, more so now that the weather has turned wet and nasty. Getting up in the morning is hard, we would rather snuggle into Maya’s bed than go out for a walk and getting our feet wet is not something we like to do and will avoid going out to do what little pups need to do until physically taken!  He will then tiptoe around and walk like John Wayne!

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So we continue our journey together learning new things every day, having lots of kisses and cuddles and he has grown into quite a Dashing young fella.

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Thank you for reading my post.  www.meltaylorphotography.co.uk

 

 

Paws in the Park Event….

I have been having a lovely time just recently with my Pet Portrait Promotion in the bluebells and am always on the look out for interesting dog events and shows. Not that I have much time with the photography and my agility competitions.

Elston Vets_0021Anyway for you dog lovers out there, there is an event on the Saturday 18th July 2015, that may be of interested of you. A lovely walk around the grounds of St Giles Park, on the Shaftesbury Estate which is not normally possible and raise some money for a good cause. The Worldwide Veterinary Service which is a registered UK charity whose emphasis is on providing a sustainable veterinary resource to help animal organisations around the world.

Elston Vets_0018There are lots of other things to do, a dog show, kids area, displays and trade-stands. Take a look at their website for full details and information. http://www.pawsinpark.org/home

If you are interested in a Pet Portrait session, I currently have an offer running for May, please look at my offers page on my website http://www.meltaylorphotography.co.uk. Fathers day is just around the corner so maybe if Dad loves his dog that would be a great gift for him!

Thank you for reading my post and if you go the event.. have a great day!

National Pet Month

National Pet Month runs from 1st April to the 4th May 2015. It is sponsored by Agria Pet Insurance and the Medivet Veterinary Partnership.

National Pet Month
National Pet Month

What is it all about?

Well the main aim is to promote responsible pet ownership and provide 10 top tips  http://www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk/downloads/Top-Ten-Tips.pdf . All common sense but you will be amazed at the number of people who do not take heed of some or all of these.

I was recently at Badbury clumps, in Oxfordshire, I walk there regularly and it is well known for its bluebells at this time of year. A beauty spot! So on the Monday I noticed by a tree near the car park that someone had left a bag of poo. Great they picked it up…. so many don’t give good dog owners like myself a bad name. So why if you bother picking it up would you leave it?  There is not a bin at the car park. It’s a natural beauty spot run by the National Trust, if bins are provided then someone has to pay for them to be emptied so dog owners are expected to take it home.

I tutted as I walked past, and hoped that someone had left it there to pick up on return to the car and not for good. I was not expecting to go three days later and find that many others had followed suit. There were about 20 bags in total. I am also sad to say that It got larger before it disappeared!

So please if you are reading this and you are a dog owner please go for tip 5 and clean up after your dog and let everyone enjoy the areas you walk in.

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Sorry rant over …… back to the point of National Pet Month..

They also highlight the mutual benefit of pets for people and vise versa.

They help increase public awareness of services available from professionals who work with animals and also raise the awareness of working companion animals.

If you are interested in finding out more or supporting them next year than take a look at their website. http://www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk

Thank you for reading my post.

A Happy Ending

In March last year, I had just set off for a walk along the Ridgeway with a friend and her two black labs when with great camera excitement I noticed something moving in the undergrowth. It was a Ferret!  A second look confirmed it and Dylan was already investigating.Wedding_0420I was a little surprised to see him and also how calm he was around the dogs, but by this time all four dogs had gone over to say hello. We watched him for a while and after some discussion with my friend I decided that he was obviously tame and if left would no doubt get eaten or run over as we were not far from the main road.

He was quite happy exploring the area while the discussions took place. A few more photos were taken! I couldn’t resist! He looked so sweet and harmless.Wedding_0422How do you catch a Ferret? They have big teeth and don’t let go if they get hold!

My friend was on crutches so she would not be able to participate in the catch! However, like a knight in shining armour came a neighbour on his mountain bike and stopped to see what we were doing.  I explained that the plan was to capture the Ferret and put in one of my dog cages. So off I trotted back to the car, got the dog cage, and the fun began!  I won’t bore you with the detail but the brave knight got behind the Ferret, picked him up (Gloves on) and hurled him (gently of course) into the dog cage! BRAVO!

I took him back to the car, and left him in there while we walked the dogs. I gave him a towel I had in the back to snuggle into.  It wasn’t until we were half way round that I started to panic, … what if he escaped and I had visions of him shredding the car in his desperation to escape!!!

I was rather relieved to find him asleep when I returned. So home he came and I moved him and the cage into the shed, he was rather smelly so there was no way he was coming into the house and it was evident from the little black dots now moving all around the towel that he was infested with fleas too… what a delight and what to do with this little fella…

Wedding_0421After a little search on the internet I came across STA Ferret Rescue and sent them an email. I got a very quick response and they said they would not be able to collect him until the morning… Phew!  Little Ferret was happy in the shed and had enjoyed the chicken breast I had given him for supper!

The next morning he seemed happy enough,  was waiting at the front of the dog cage for breakfast and had some more chicken before he was collected at lunchtime.

Wedding_0423I checked up on him later that day and Claire confirmed he had arrived safely she said that the Poor little boy was covered in ticks as well as fleas, but he was very patient and let her take them off without objecting. He was quite nervous and gripped onto her like a little koala, and she had got the feeling he’s been kept in a very small cage as he pooed in the nest box and eating area which apparently is not normal for a ferret, as they are very clean animals, and tend to “do their business” as far away as possible from those areas. He was named Pip as in Pipsqueak because he was so small.

She said he was a sweet boy,  was eating well and would now have the chance to find a lovely home.  He had also been booked in to be castrated and would they would try to mix him with a friend. – All in all a very lucky boy!

I came across his photographs a couple of days ago and wrote to ask if he had been rehomed!  Of course he had. Click on this link to see him all cleaned up. He was rehomed in April 2014.  http://www.starescue.org.uk/pip/4583734592I am glad he got the chance to have a good life.

Thank you for reading this post.