Introducing myself & some agility dog pics
Agilehound
Registered Users Posts: 23 Big grins
Hi there!
I'm Michelle. I've been lurking here for a while; thought I'd come out & introduce myself.
I'm only a few years into photography - just enough to have an inkling of what I don't know & be intimidated by it - but I keep working at it. Thought I'd share a few pics I took at a dog agility trial last weekend.
A border collie in the weave poles. For those that aren't into this stuff, the dog is trained to thread it's body between 12 poles as fast as possible. The poles are set approximately 12" apart. A hard-driving dog can complete this task in 3-4 seconds, and for the bigger ones their body may be snaked through several poles at the same time. Very difficult to train your dog to do - definitely not something they'd ever dream up on their own.
This standard poodle (the size of a small lab) was adopted from a rescue by one of the people that helped throw the trial. I met the dog towards the end, and it gently melted into my leg. She told me the dog had been fearful of just about everything when she first brought it home, but having an agility "job" helped to really bring it out of its shell.
You don't see too many of this breed - a bearded collie - around agility trials. After watching it run, I have no idea why not! It was super fast, very driven and accurate. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it's handler as well - you know that old "you look like your dog" thing? Well, there were definitely similarities. Not that she had a beard or anything, but her hair was the same color and she was just as wild as her dog was.
The closed chute is barrel with a long stretch of cloth attached to it. The dog dives into the barrel and pushes it way out through the canvas. The canvas is not anchored, so if the handler speaks to the dog while it's inside there, they tend to curve in order to follow their handler's voice. This I find is one of the harder obstacles to shoot . . . you never know how fast or exactly where the dog is going to erupt from the chute. I love some of their expressions as they do so though.
This was my 70-200 f/2.8L's maiden voyage. It was pretty heavily overcast (scattered rain showers & some thunderstorms), but I was happy with what it did for me.
I'm Michelle. I've been lurking here for a while; thought I'd come out & introduce myself.
I'm only a few years into photography - just enough to have an inkling of what I don't know & be intimidated by it - but I keep working at it. Thought I'd share a few pics I took at a dog agility trial last weekend.A border collie in the weave poles. For those that aren't into this stuff, the dog is trained to thread it's body between 12 poles as fast as possible. The poles are set approximately 12" apart. A hard-driving dog can complete this task in 3-4 seconds, and for the bigger ones their body may be snaked through several poles at the same time. Very difficult to train your dog to do - definitely not something they'd ever dream up on their own.
This standard poodle (the size of a small lab) was adopted from a rescue by one of the people that helped throw the trial. I met the dog towards the end, and it gently melted into my leg. She told me the dog had been fearful of just about everything when she first brought it home, but having an agility "job" helped to really bring it out of its shell.
You don't see too many of this breed - a bearded collie - around agility trials. After watching it run, I have no idea why not! It was super fast, very driven and accurate. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it's handler as well - you know that old "you look like your dog" thing? Well, there were definitely similarities. Not that she had a beard or anything, but her hair was the same color and she was just as wild as her dog was.
The closed chute is barrel with a long stretch of cloth attached to it. The dog dives into the barrel and pushes it way out through the canvas. The canvas is not anchored, so if the handler speaks to the dog while it's inside there, they tend to curve in order to follow their handler's voice. This I find is one of the harder obstacles to shoot . . . you never know how fast or exactly where the dog is going to erupt from the chute. I love some of their expressions as they do so though.
This was my 70-200 f/2.8L's maiden voyage. It was pretty heavily overcast (scattered rain showers & some thunderstorms), but I was happy with what it did for me.
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Looking forward to future postings.
Ian
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
Excellent post.
I can tell you from a lifelong affair with animals that they all benefit from activities such as you showed. The worst thing for an animal companion is to sit idle, any animal including human ones
Ben
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