So, the Blue Angels were neat and all, but, the real fun was in meeting Peaches the Australian Labradoodle, and her folks, who were also out on the docks watching the air show. What a sweetheart of a dog Peaches is, and, she wasn’t scared of the loud jets passing by at all. Here are a few captures of Peaches and her folks. It was great meeting them and enjoying the show together!

She’s a real lap dog…

…and a kisser!

…and she follows her folks wherever they go without being leashed!

We happened to catch the amateur dock diving competition, which featured a lot of “gentle encouragement” (aka nudging and pushing) from owners:

Though on the second go-around she went right for the water…

(Also love the facial expressions of the gal in the hat in the background in that series)

This guy looked like he had done this before…

…preparing for a soft landing…

Second time around…

This guy had just gotten out and wondered if he could jump in from the other side…

Another pro…

This next guy got all the style points. Here’s walking on water…

…and the tennis-ball cat-pounce…

Ooooof!

Next up was the police K-9 exhibition, in which they demonstrated how canine police officers assist in the apprehension of criminals. This team worked great together…

He looks so friendly while chasing the “bad guy”…

…but he caught him by the arm…

…held on…

…and took him down…

Seemed like everyone had an awesome time…

…except maybe this cutie, who didn’t like being left outside the door…

We can’t wait until Pet Fest 2011!

I have, however, committed to a personal project 365, in which I will (try my best to) take a photo a day for the entire year. So far so good—though, full disclosure: New Year’s Day I did not take a photo, and thus the photo posted for that day was actually taken on January 2. I’ll make up for this by taking a photo on January 1, 2011, which will complete my 365 project. (I always have been one to do things my own way, for better or worse.) Anyway, if you’re at all interested in what I manage to find to photograph daily, you can check it out at www.elssipkes.com. There’s also a link in the menu bar at the top of this blog page called “365 project”, and you can access it from there as well.

Aiding in my search for subjects for my daily photo is the “Be a Tourist in Your Own Town” pass I received for Christmas, which allows me to visit 33 local attractions in the month of January. Yesterday, we visited the Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw, SC. Lots of cool birds to see and learn about, but of course the highlight was watching the bird flight show.

Included in the photos here are a Common Hawk soaring over the trees, Center for Birds of Prey trainer Aubrey (or was it Audrey?) with a Ural Owl, another trainer holding what I believe was a Falcon, and, in the rest of the photos, a (non-native) Kite who eats insects as his main diet (they use bits of meat in the flight show.) Interestingly, he (she?) catches his food in his claws and then brings the food up to his beak. If you look closely you can see the food in the air, and then in his claws. Also, you’ll see that the birds all have radio transmitters attached to their tail feathers so they can be tracked and located in case they wander off during the show. In the one photo the Kite flew by and took food off the fingertip of the trainer. We could have watched him fly for hours, and I can highly recommend it to you locals to go out there and check it out for yourselves!

Speaking of wildlife, this week’s Blast from the Past photo shows me feeding ducks at a vacation rental in Holland at about age 7 (I’ve always been an avid connect-with-nature girl.) The other photo was taken when I was about 25 at my parent’s home in California—I think I’d just come home from the beach and saw the ducks in their backyard and asked my mom to take a photo of me feeding them, a sort of re-creation of the same scene from years before. I guess in another few years I’ll need to seek out another opportunity to re-create the scene again…

Hope you all had a great first week of the new year. Enjoy the weekend, and maybe go be a tourist in your own town! See you next week!

I was greeted with nothing but wags and kisses upon meeting Jackson, but, before you know it he was hiding beneath the table.

I think he felt more comfortable up on the loveseat with mom and dad…

…where he was able to sneak in some kisses…

The gaze toward the Pupperoni treats was unbreakable…

I love how intently Jackson is following the action outside…

…and from the looks of it in this close-up of Jackson’s eye (from the image above) Casey is going all-out to keep Jackson’s attention:

The advantage of being a little guy is that you get to be held by your humans!

Thank you Casey, Hunt, and Jackson for a fun mini-shoot inside your beautiful home!

But before we begin with the action, may I introduce the most handsome black lab in Charleston SC? This is Remington, also known as Remi:

His coat was awesome…and such a sweet temperament. Can you tell I’m in love? (Don’t tell Cooper)

Love seeing these dogs jumping at this height:

Some dogs zigged when they should have zagged…

…more than once. But all’s still well…

This next team did everything right. Though I didn’t hear the results, I think they must have won this round…

Love the fact the dog is looking at his human on this finishing jump. A lot of dogs did the same…

Everyone got a kick out of seeing this boy (must have been 7 or 8?) out there competing and having a great time in his first agility trial. He did great, even though before the race he told me he was equal parts excited and nervous.

This next dog was FAST…

“How’d I do, mom?”

Love how this next dog has his paws crossed while jumping…

The woman in this next shot was celebrating a birthday and completed the course flawlessly and fast! Also, while waiting for the competition to start, she made an insane grab of a runaway dog’s leash and stopped him in his tracks…wish i had caught that on camera! If you happen to be the lucky birthday lady in this next shot, leave a comment with the name and breed of the dog whose leash you grabbed and I’ll send you a free 8×10 print of your favorite of these next two shots.

We got there around 4 in the afternoon, and it seemed like most of the crowds had already come and gone…but there were still plenty of dogs…

This guy was having a blast following Cooper around (i think he was really just after the tennis ball Cooper had in his mouth)

Same objective here…except that he succeeded in getting the ball Murphy’s Law of bringing tennis balls for your dog to public places: either you bring plenty of balls, and leave with one if you’re lucky….or, you bring no balls, and leave with at least one.

This girl was a bit skeptical…but her daddy gave her plenty of reassurances…

Some dogs never even got their feet wet…

…despite being all decked out for the occasion…

This guy was really interested in the big toy i had in my hands…but no way i was tossing that in the water! (my camera)

Cooper was having as much fun out of the water…

…as in the water. 10 points for style on this jump back in the water chasing his tennis ball…

Plenty of tennis ball chasing going on…

…except the other guy came out of nowhere and ran off with it…

Cooper was ready to get out of there…and five minutes later he was sound asleep in his crate in the back of the Jeep.

We can’t wait ’til next year so we can do it all again!

Check out the video of the event by Lowcountry Dog magazine!

Whirlin’ Waters Dog Day Afternoon at the Waterpark from Docent Prodigy on Vimeo.

You can check out Lowcountry Dog magazine online at: www.lowcountrydog.com, or, check out their blog at: http://lowcountrydog.wordpress.com

Shadow was my first dog, and, he was my heart dog. We went everywhere together, and, over our almost 12 years together he taught me more about loyalty and love and acceptance and humor and life than I ever thought possible. Mostly, he showed me I could open my heart again to love, despite my having vowed never to be that vulnerable again. He also taught me how to survive the prolonged illness, and loss, of the most important being in your life—a lesson I’ve had to lean on a lot this past year after losing my other best friend, my mom, last October.

My mom and dad both thought of Shadow as their boy too, and, they were as devastated at losing him as I was. Back in 2002, when Mascha and Shadow and I moved back to our homeland, Holland, (for what turned out to be only a year, but, could have been permanent), my parents drove with us to LAX. We said our goodbyes and see-you-soons, with dry eyes(!!!), but, when dad went to say goodbye to Shadow, his tears started rolling. I can’t stand to see grown men cry, so, there I went, and pretty soon we were all bawling in the middle of LAX. We still love teasing my dad about how he wasn’t all that sad about seeing US go, but, when it came to Shadow…

Shadow, with my niece, Carolyn, in Charleston, SC, summer of 2001. Shadow, Mascha and I drove across country from San Diego, CA, to Charleston, SC, then up to Chicago, and back to California following Route 66 all the way. In Los Angeles we rewarded his excellent travelling behavior with a hamburger from In-n-Out. He ate the entire thing in one bite.

Shadow, playing in the snow in the mountains, about 10 miles from where he was born in Pine Valley, CA—an hour's drive from San Diego. Winter, 2001. He loved chasing snowballs and then running to where they crashed and digging down to the dirt trying to find where they went.

Shadow, running on his favorite beach in Del Mar, CA, Christmas Day 2001. I'm sure wherever he is now, he's on a beach, with a stick in his mouth, searching for a friend to throw it into the ocean for him to retrieve. I'd like to think the "friend" he'll find there is my mom.

Rest in Peace, my sweet boy Shadow. You gave me everything I could have ever hoped for in a best friend, and so much more.

Here are some of my faves of the short session of Les, Sera and Jetta at Hampton Park in Charleston, starting with the three images I submitted for publication:

Thanks Les, Sera and Jetta for a wonderful afternoon in Hampton Park, and congrats on being named the essay winner!

When i got home, i ran into this handsome fella, who wants to share with the world his ability to let his tongue hang out the side of his mouth!

First up: downtown Charleston.

While i do think it would be neat to see Charleston by way of horse-drawn carriage, i just can’t get beyond the fact that these poor horses (and donkeys in some instances) are subjected to 95+ humid degrees (real feel temperature of 115+ degrees — that’s 46+ degrees for you centigrade lovers.) Let’s just say i will never be supporting these horse-drawn carriages with my money for a ticket.

Just around the corner from State Street, where the above image was taken, are the German Fire Department and the Old Slave Mart Museum on Chalmers Street. Slave auctions at this site ended in 1863. The cobblestones in the street originated in England, and were once used as ballast for trade ships coming over the Atlantic. The cobblestones were dumped in Charleston, and, were replaced on the return voyage with goods obtained here. The clever Charlestonians started using the cobblestones to pave the streets. The even-more clever British realized this, and, started charging for the cobblestones.

While not the famous “rainbow row,” Queen street also boasts plenty of homes painted in pastel colors. At the end of this street, toward the harbor, is an awesome fountain, and a pier overlooking the Ravenel bridge and the decomissioned aircraft carrier Yorktown, located across the harbor in Mount Pleasant.

Up next: Sullivan’s Island.

Poor Cooper had to stay home because of his ear infection, but we decided to see what we could find one evening this week around sunset. We found tons of parachute surfers and came across this super-excited kid who couldn’t get enough of watching the guys perform their tricks. Here he is calling one over to ask him to perform a specific trick . . .

. . . which he performed to perfection. The kid was really trying to get his fishing buddy’s attention to check out the trick.

The kid was so excited. Great to see. I’m sure we’ll be spotting him out there in another few years on his own board and parachute.

Meanwhile, the kid’s fishing buddy was busy reeling in fish after fish, and, was so focused on catching more that he completely missed the bird who kept stealing his catch. I’m sure he must have wondered why he kept catching fish, but, his tally on the shore wasn’t increasing. The guy on the windsurfer had the whole thing down pretty well, with the exception of turns, which he made by jumping off the board into the water, then climbing back onto the board and heading off into the other direction.

What would a pet photograpy blog post be without an actual pet photo? So, in closing, a somewhat “test” photo of Cooper taken only to check the settings on my camera. For whatever reason, i kind of like the end result. Probably because this is a pretty common view i have of Cooper when i am just settling down onto the couch for some relaxation, and he arrives with his nonchalant “hey-i’m-just-sitting-here-next-to-you-so-in-case-you-are-ready-for-a-walk-i-am-TOTALLY-ready-to-go” look on his face.