...Two Dapper Hounds...
I decided to have some fun with the puppies this Christmas. I figured
that it would be cute but not cheesy (note the lack of festive sweaters
or blurry-edged professional photography), challenging but fun, and
pretty hilarious. I wasn't disappointed on any front.
My first idea went pretty well: the kiss under the mistletoe. How to do this at home? Easy...
Kick one puppy outside and let the other puppy lick out an almost empty yogurt container. Bring back puppy # 1 and taunt him with yogurt-covered puppy # 2.
Hold mistletoe over their heads and snap away as the make-out session unfolds! Pretty fool-proof, really, with adorable results. If you don't have puppies, this could potentially work on a small child or maybe even an unsuspecting significant other.
My next idea also went as planned: puppies opening their Christmas presents. It's even simpler than the mistletoe trick: simply put doggie treats in a couple of decorated boxes and let the puppies have fun getting them out!
I just used dollar store boxes with easy-off lids, but I could have tried actually wrapping the gifts and letting them tear away on the paper. All you have to do it make sure they know that there's a treat in there somewhere and click away at the ensuing frenzy.
My third festive photo-op was admittedly the worst, and with good cause: what dog wants to wear a bulky wreath around its neck? Well, I didn't want a door full of muddy scratch marks either, but that's what I have, so the wreath-a-thon was ON!
I wanted to do this one outside maybe in front of the pine tree in the backyard, but it was not to be. Nanuq instantly ran to the door and desperately wanted in.
I obliged and unsurprisingly he wouldn't rest until he had the garland off of his collar.
Reina hated her wreath even more. I had to corner her in her cage to get this shot and she promptly shook it off after I let her go. At least her one eye had the courtesy to glow a nice, Christmas-y green for the occasion. My red eye reduction function does not seem to recognize reflected puppy dog eyes. The poor thing looks so miserable!
Not surprisingly, Reina wouldn't go anywhere near the wreath and wanted outside again. I had been hoping to get a nice shot of the two puppies together, but that was never, ever going to happen this year. Hopefully next year they'll be trained to be still a little longer. Or maybe next year I'll smarten up and stop torturing my dogs for the sake of a good blog post!
My last photo session was the funniest, the cutest and the most frustrating. The Reindeer Antlers. Or, as my puppies would call them, "Hell on Headbands" (that is, if they were able to understand the concept of Hell and also the concept of headbands and if they were able to communicate with humans). I did get Nanuq to stay still once or twice, and this is the best photo of the whole bunch.
Once again, I was trying for a picture of the two of them together, but it was not to be. This is the best I could do of the two of them, and the only one for which I had to coerce my partner for help. Every time I look at this picture, the look on Reina's face framed by those little reindeer ears makes me laugh.
The moral of the story is that where puppies are involved, things don't always go according to plan, but the results are always adorable. As a side-note, my partner says that an alternate title for this post could have been "This is Why Dogs Bite". Touche.
Happy Holidays from Reina and Nanuq!
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