Telluride has a lot of Bernese Mountain Dogs in town….dogs that are perfectly suited for our weather. These two are actually new to Tellurde! Their mom and dad are in the process of making a transition from California to Telluride, but so far, I think the dogs approve. Sophie is five, and a sweet, mellow girl, and Max is a two year old rescue who spent the beginning of his life tied to a chain. He is a total love, and I’m so happy he found himself such a wonderful home. He was really into the snow, where as his older sister was a bit more reserved.
But he can be mellow too…..he enjoyed kicking back and enjoying the fresh powder.
Or do a little exploring on his own.
Here is the regal Sophie…..
It’s funny….I am so busy shooting that sometimes there are little expressions I don’t notice until later. Sophie definitely has a “big sister” attitude towards Max. I have many photos where she has an expression as if to say “Please, someone get him under control. My goodness he is an embarrassment.” Check out her expressions during his crazy run towards me.
LOL!!! But believe me, they have plenty of fun. They got a good wrestling session in….it was so out of the blue, I almost missed it!
But then it was time for some posing. Max was a natural, and then Sophie decided she couldn’t be outdone.
We headed off into a grove of aspens to see what kind of adventures we could find there…what we found was the sun setting and some beautiful light.
This is not a great photo, but had to include it because of Max’s history. Liz warned me that he was very shy, and probably wouldn’t approach me or be friendly. During the meet and greet, I said hello to Sophie, and Max came over, sniffed me and walked off. I told them what good dogs they were and we got started. I don’t usually use treats during sessions and this was no exception. I don’t even have them on me. While we were in the aspens, I was bending down getting a shot of Sophie, and felt a paw on my leg. I look over and Max is right next to me, with his paw on my leg and looking right at me. I stopped and started scratching his chest and he closed his eyes. Oh my, what a sweetie, he won me over right there. How anyone could tie a dog, much less THIS dog to a chain for years is beyond me. When I went to snap a picture, he looked away and got uncomfortable, but I still have it documented! I thought maybe Liz had been overly dramatic with me about his shyness, but she came into the store with a friend who said it took her three days for Max to warm up to her….consider me very privileged, Max!!
As I always try to do, I’m ending with a beauty shot. They certainly were not the crazy maniacs I am used to photographing (i.e. Zoey, or Kaiser), but they are truly gentle giants. Once of my favorite moments was when I was thigh deep in a snow drift, taking a photo of Max, and Sophie came over and plopped down right on top of me! It was quite fun being smashed by Sophie, I must say! Thanks Liz for the fun day, you have two wonderful dogs and I think that you and Max really got lucky. 🙂
by admin
12 comments