I love this image for several reasons.  First, I love that this Dalmatian has liver brown spots and not black ones.  I think this was the first time I’d ever seen a brown spotted Dalmatian.  In the image the dog is being spritzed with water as it was a warm day at the show.  So that’s not graininess that you see in the image, it’s the spray of the water.  In the upper left corner you can slightly see the water bottle and hand of the dog’s handler.  I could have chosen to remove that from the image, but decided to leave it there for context.  Actually, I wish that I had included more of the water bottle and hand in the image but since my dog show photos are candids and not posed, and things happen very quickly, I take what I get! 

Congratulations to Hickory, the Scottish Deerhound, on winning Best in Show at Westminster last night!  What a beautiful final 7 and a tough choice for the judge!  I wasn’t able to attend Westminster, but I do have this photo of Hickory from the National Dog Show in November.  Little did she know when this image was taken that she would be top dog at Westminster in just a few short months!