Puppy Love...

Meet one of the little Misses.  Or it could be a Little Mister.   There were nine of them (4 girls and 5 boys) and they were darting about all over the place so I could never be sure who'd been plonked in front of me at any one time :-))

I can't remember if I mentioned in a previous blip that my friend and ex-work colleague Carole's beautiful golden retriever Lily had had nine pups.  They are now four and a half weeks old and I couldn't stay away a moment longer.

Carole asked me if I would photograph the pups and I didn't have to be asked twice, even though I knew it would be a challenge.  Carole is a great photographer but it's an impossible task to get natural shots of the puppies in day light whilst also trying to herd them up and get them to sit.  

When we arrived at Carole's the puppies were all in their pen and most were snoozing.  New mum Lily and Carole's other beautiful Retriever Mia were there to greet us along with Carole's mum Margaret, who'd made her famous carrot cake.  D and I managed a sizeable chunk of that with coffee as we sat in the kitchen catching up and gazing at the nine little bundles of fluff.  

To our delight, the sun came out so we went into the garden and so began the task of trying to get some decent photos of these precious little bundles.   

I'm not sure I've achieved that as I've still to go over the photos (I had two cameras round my neck, with different lenses and settings so that I could quickly swap between the two depending on how biddable the pups were) so I have blipped a shot I took on my phone, as I suspect it will take all weekend to edit the camera shots.

We had such great fun.  I had the easy job, sitting in a chair firing shot after shot on the cameras.  Poor Carole (and David to a lesser extent) spent the whole time running after the puppies and keeping them in order.  It was like trying to keep an octopus in a string bag! :-)) At four and a half weeks old they only have two speeds - full pelt and unconscious.  I have no idea how Carole has coped with them all.

After spending time taking photos and watching David getting lots of puppy cuddles, I finally put the cameras down and got to have a cuddle myself (with the pups, not David :-) 

 Oh my goodness, they are just little bundles of love.   I was licked and nibbled and nuzzled and I loved every second.  If I'd had a bigger handbag with me I would have been seriously tempted to sneak one home with me.

A busy weekend ahead but I am looking forward to grabbing some time to edit the camera shots.  These little guys didn't sit still for longer than a split second but I am hoping I've managed to get some in focus.