Cupid is absolutely one of my favorite show dogs!  Cupid is a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen and his registered name is Celestial CJ’s Hearts on Fire.  PBGV’s are members of the Hound Group and this breed is happy, extroverted and confident.  Their name means Petit=Small, Basset=Low to the Ground, Griffon=Wire Haired and Vendeen=the area of France where they originated.  I love their touseled look and fun-loving personality.  Cupid is the #1 PBGV in the country and definitely a dog to watch as we head toward the AKC National Championships and Westminster!

You know you’ve been off from work for too many days when photographing the cat wearing pearls seems like a good idea!  🙂

Technically it’s not winter, but in my mind, winter arrives when the leaves fall off the trees and the temperature turns colder.  I don’t care what the calendar says!  […and Spring arrives when the flower bulbs burst forth from the ground!]  I’m not a huge winter fan, but it does have some advantages…..no bugs or snakes, no lawn mowing, no humidity, no weed pulling, etc.  But the best advantage is that I can photograph indoors without a flash!  Whoo hoo!  That’s because the leaves are off the trees and the sun shines nicely through the windows in the morning leaving my house much brighter than in summertime.  Here’s a photo of Sebastian shot with the Canon 50mm, at ISO 400, 1/60th, and f/2.0. 

I had two great pet photography sessions today – what could be more fun?  First I photographed a Springer Spaniel and his 3 kitty pals and later in the day a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and their human siblings.   I so love photographing pets!   Thanks to Bridget and Jean for inviting me to photograph your furry family members.  I’ll have some photos to post soon.  In the meantime, I have lots of processing to do!   The image above of a Parson Russell Terrier is from last month’s Devon Kennel Club Dog Show.  

Can you even stand the cuteness?  This is Torre…a cockapoo, a diva, a model, a therapy dog and just an all around cutie-pie!  She seems to have two poses….ears up or ears down.  I didn’t see her with her tongue out once in several hours.  She has the cutest profile ever….check out the image below:

Absolutely nothing phases Torre, which is what makes her an exceptional therapy dog.  She was able to be off leash without fear of her darting away in pursuit of a squirrel.  She sat perfectly still and allowed the “paw-parozzi” to photograph her to our hearts content.  At one point we were testing out a reflector to add some warm light to her soft fur and she just tilted her head up as if to say, ‘Is this my best side?’.  Below is an image with the reflector taken by Amy Driscoll.  Great shot Amy!  Torre is Amy’s dog and she was a model in my pet photography class last month.   I’ve posted a bunch of images from the class on my website.  Here’s a link: 

 http://www.betsydallasphoto.com/Pet%20Photo%20Class%20Oct%202010.html