I have been spending a few days in the land of the forest; and, fittingly, I have been hanging out with a forest dog. You have met her before if you have been following my Dog Blog (and, if not, check out an earlier posting "Dog-Dogs vs Doggy-Dogs"). Penny, my forest dog friend, is the former. Through and through. No doubt about it. Absolute Dog-Dog.
Dogs all started as wolves before they began to develop their doggy off-shoot. Some say 10,000 years ago; some say longer. Some dogs, however, despite their fluffy bums and floppy ears have retained a wild side, an abject, no holds barred connection to mud and goop and pungent forest floors. Is it contextual, I wonder? If an impeccable urban Lhasa Apso was let off its shiny leash and permitted to run, wild through the bush, would they go? Would they jump in a murky pool? Role in the dirt, salivate and drool? Hmmm. Do you have a luxurious Lhasa Apso? A precious Pomeranian? I Promise I will give him or her a bath after if we try!
Penny knows where every forest pool is and leaps in all of them! She then roles in the forest floor (and I am intentionally not saying 'on'; there is nothing 'on' about this rolling ritual: she is in it).
Where does the forest end and the dog begin? Or, the dog end and the forest begin? Here is an example of absolute reciprocity between being and environment. Go Penny!
And the finale, the Queen in her leafy nest, framed by ferns. Post euphoric soil bath. For a Forest Dog, it doesn't get any better than this.
However, despite Penny's overt wild side, she has an adorable fluffy bum and swishy tail. The first fluffy bum I ever photographed is Teddy. He is the complete opposite of Penny in terms of his preferred environments and favourite activities. I honestly don't think Teddy would have a wild mud bath, even if offered and encouraged to do so. According to his similarly urbanized human companion, Teddy prefers pavement to grass and dirt. Here he is in all of his teddy-bear glory, swishy tail a swish, in Park Royal Village:
One can barely imagine mud on Teddy's pristine derriere or impeding the flow of such a divine, feathery tail. In this photograph, Teddy is demonstrating the 'side-swipe trot check out my 'hood swish.'
Teddy was my first fluffy bum photograph. And, like all firsts, alas, it came very easily. Within a couple of shots, I had the perfect tail swish, fluffy bum shot. His legs are in ideal trot position, perfectly spaced, his ears are visible, one can sense that he is looking around and, therefore, imagine his face. People love this portrait and have often commented that this bum shot conveys as much or more of his personality than a frontal shot could.
The Penny bum-shot was more challenging. Intoxicated by forest smells, she runs far ahead during our walks. It is difficult to get a good fluffy bum shot when you are chasing a dog. I had to keep calling her back, relying on her inbred tame side. Then, as she sat and stared at me, wondering for what reason I had disrupted her forest time, I positioned myself in crouch position and framed the shot before I said "Off you go!" I then shot multiple frames as she gleefully took off again.
Here she comes when I called her back, blindly obedient, and I think she is wondering why she keeps coming back, this mechanical response bred into her with 10,000 years of tamer and tamer ancestors. She doesn't really want to come back, but she does, sweet loyalty over-riding any possibility of annoyance. Oh, Penny ...
And then off she goes again! This is the "And she's off, nose to ground sucking smells, galloping tail swoosh."
The mud and twigs cannot conceal such an adorable fluffy bum and swishy tail!
That is a fabulous 'side-swipe laid back trot swish'.
Here is an 'ears perk up, just heard something I am going to chase in the forest alert upwards swish'.
Why do you photograph dog bums? (You may be wondering). Are you nuts? Is all of this dog photography pushing you into a bizarre realm of canine trivia? Well, yes, I admit, I do have dogs on the brain. However, in terms of the 10,000 year relationship between us and our dogs, when we let them off-leash, be it on city side-walk or forest path, that is what we see: fluffy bums and tails a-swish. And, temporarily freed from our collar tugs, limited extendo leashes and healing up, every dog has a fluffy bum and swishy tail with a distinct personality. Therefore, I say in my defense, index finger flourished, dog bums are a distinct part of the human relationship with dogs. We have been walking behind them for millennia.
