I really love this image…especially coverted to black and white.  It shows an owner/handler grooming his dog one last time before going into the show ring.  Among my favorite types of images are those that show the relationship between pet and owner.  For me this image shows what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ at a dog show.  Owners and handlers are busy grooming their dogs and getting them to the ring at the appropriate time for their breed or group judging.  Often times it seems to be a ‘hurry up and wait’ situation.  The dogs are hustled from the grooming table to the ring, only to find that they need to stand around and wait their turn before the judge.  These dogs are either Scottish Deerhounds or Irish Wolfhounds.  I continuously get them confused, but I can clearly tell them apart when I see them together.  Scottish Deerhounds are a much thinner dog and I’m betting that it’s Deerhounds in this image.  Please correct me if I’m wrong Hound afficianados!  🙂

It was a beautiful sunny day at the Bucks County Kennel Club Dog Show….until the Group judging began mid-afternoon.  Then the sky filled with rain clouds….and rain!  Steady rain that lasted for a couple hours.  Instead of judging the dogs out in the grassy area of the ring, they held it underneath the tents so the dogs, handlers and judges could try to stay dry.  Still, the dogs needed to be brought to the ring for judging and I thought this image of a girl carrying her Golden Retriever underneath the umbrella was just so cute.  You can see the rain falling and the strain on her face as she tries to keep her dog dry and looking pretty for the judge!