Daisy The Bully

Happy 4th of July!

2013-07-04T17:31:00.001-07:00

Daisy May hanging out and watching me work.

Bugsy with a toy mustache, sort of like a milk mustache only this one happens when you eat toys.

Little Joey came back and spent a few days with us while his family was out of town. Bugsy refused to share his toys.

Until next time, keep those Bullies cool this summer.

Old Dog New Trick

2013-06-24T02:09:00.001-07:00

My mother stopped by yesterday for a quick visit and brought her dog with her. A corgi named Beacon. They were here for about an hour. My mom left Beacon outside but after he was done checking the outside area out he decided it was time to let himself in. The next day Mickey started doing this:

Unfortunately neither of the dogs have learned how to shut the door behind them.

BTW did I mention that Mickey runs in and out of the house all day long! Every time that door opens he thinks he has to go through it. Here's an example of how crazy this is. Mickey is laying on the dining room floor and I walk in the house. He jumps up and runs out the door, you know, because it's open. I close the door behind me and Mickey is now outside on the deck. Only he forgot why he went out there, it's hot and uncomfortable. So before I have walked more then five steps away from the door he's already opening it and coming back in the house! He does this EVERY time someone walks though that door! I really dislike this new trick of his! :)

Catching up

2013-06-13T17:11:00.001-07:00

Today I found out I can blog from my phone, which is cool because lately I take a lot more photos on my phone then with the canon. Also it's harder to type so there will be much less chit chat. Anyway I thought I would show you all some recent phone images of the gang as I figure out how to use this blogger app.

It's Bugsy! All grown up.

Father and son.

Mickey doing what he does best.

There's Daisy and my 11 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback looking out the people door of our new living room addition. No steps yet and I locked the dog door so they couldn't follow me.

So there they are. We have been enjoying the cool spring weather and spending our time outside. The dogs like to help me in the garden. Bugsy tries to eat every weed I pull while Mickey sleeps on the front porch and Daisy runs around chasing rabbits like a maniac. Hope the rest of you are enjoying the nice weather as much as we are!

April Showers

2013-04-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

Buggsy

Over the winter we put a dog door in the living room, now I'm having 2nd thoughts. I think next time I pick out laminate flooring instead of taking the samples into the house to see how I like them, I'm taking them to the back yard, to see what ones best match the dirt there.

Another fun thing for your EB to do when it rains and they have access to a dog door. Wait until you are dressed for the day and just getting ready to walk out there door, then body slam you while they are soaking wet. You know just in case the bulldog snot missed you earlier.

Daisy's in heat!

2013-03-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

Daisy went into heat today, but we are debaiting whether we will be breeding her or not. If we do the puppies would be 8 weeks old in mid Augest, way to hot to have them flown anywhere so they would have to be picked up here in Iowa. If we don't her next heat will be in 6 to 8 months. We have 10 days to make up our mind!

Transformation Tuesday

2013-03-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Remember him?

It's Bugsy!

Here he is now, 1 year old.

This is how he sits when I'm eating chocolate chip cookies and he wants one.

How about another one?

Wasn't he the cutest baby?

Here he now.

He's still so stinking cute, I gave him one of the kids goldfish crakers. :)

If any of the rest of the gang want's to send us current photos we will do a Transformation Tuesday for you too.

Daisy, Mickey, and bad photos

2012-04-15T07:46:00.004-07:00

I was going through my facebook photos today and though I would add a few of the fun ones here. Many of them were taken quickly before the moment passed, so a lot of them are just cell phone photos.

As many of you know my just turned 10 year old Chloe and Daisy are best buds. Most the photos I have of Chloe have Daisy in them, and vice versa. Daisy is rarely hanging out on her own so many of these photos have Chloe in them also.

This is Chloe's birthday party invite photos. She was having a slumber party.

This is Chloe's valentine card from a few years back. She was a sock monkey for Halloween and wanted to dress up like one again for Valentines Day card photos.

This is Chloe and Daisy asleep in MY bed, where not only are neither one of them supposed to be sleeping for the night, but they also didn't leave any room for me!

This is Chloe, newborn Diggity and momma Daisy hanging out on the sofa on an early Saturday morning. This is how we did most our early puppy work with the babies.

I love this next photo. One of the few times I actually had a good camera up stairs. This is pumpkin carving gone crazy and Daisy doing her human sit position. She is pouting that she didn't get one of those big orange "balls" That night while we slept she chewed the heck out of the last pumpkin that didn't get carved. We set it out wit the others and I said to Chloe "I told you she was jealous that she didn't get to carve a pumpkin when you did." :)

And lastly a photo of Daisy, all by herself. Know why? She's watching for the school bus. :)

We can't forget Mickey can we. We have only had him a year and like most men he hates it when I grab the camera. He refuses to go into the studio with me, and usually if he sees me coming with any type of camera, even a cell phone he runs to me and lays at my feet for a good tummy rub. Hard to take photos of him when he's practically on top of you. :) I catch him unaware now and then though, and here are a few shots of our old man.

Mickey and Kurt doing dishes shortly after Mickey came to live with us last year. After this photo I told Kurt he could help, but standing on the dish washer door was not allowed. :)

I went looking for Mickey so I could wash his face and found him here. He was so lucky those clothes were dirty. :) See the dog chew marks on the door frame behind him. That's what happens when you lock a pregnant Daisy out of her little girls bedroom. She was waking Chloe up at night to be given extra attention so we tried having her sleep just outside the door, it didn't go over to well. :)

This is Mickey pouting because he got locked in the kitchen when Daisy's pups were born.

And this is Mickey acting as an accomplice in Rudy's escape plan. Can you see Mickey's feet straight out behind him. My vets jaw hit the floor when she saw the old man could still lay like that.

For those of you who have not met Rudy the hyper Chihuahua owned by my teen who thinks EB's are gross and smelly, here is some video of him playing with the puppies during walk time. Of course we took this back when all the babies were still here.

He makes me love bulldogs that much more. :)

Now you can all see how bad some of my photos are, but I don't think that makes them any less cute, it's better then missing the moment. So don't be afraid to send me your puppy photos. I would rather see my babies in bad photos then not at all. :)

Bitter Sweat Goodbyes

2012-03-29T22:10:00.001-07:00

The 1st and last studio phograph of the whole gang, as our 1st baby leaves for her new home 1st thing tomorrow morning.

And my little country clown Dezzy turns into Roxxy, diva of the city.

I will miss you my little clown, I hope you bring as much laughter to your new family as you have to mine.

The Grumpy Bulldog Puppy Returns

2012-03-24T12:45:00.001-07:00

So Fat Louie, AKA The Grumpy Bulldog Puppy was very upset with me when I told him that the people that call me for puppies only want girls, that no one seems to want a boy. He got so upset he told me he decided to prove that boys were cuter and cooler then girls.

1st he decided to go for looking cooler then the girls and put on his biker outfit because bikers are cool. I had to tell him that old ladies wore bandannas like that not bikers. So he was still not happy.

Then he put on his lion hat because he thought lions were cute and cool.

But I had to tell him that lions ate people so they were scared of them.

That made him sad

So then he decided to put on his pirate hat because he thought everyone loved pirates but again I had to tell him that pirates were not nice people so he was grumpy again.

He knew that everyone likes me to take photos of their skin babies wearing hats so he decided to try that next, but was disappointed to learn that bulldog heads don't fit well in skin baby hats.

Then he decided to play it safe and just sit in a cup decorated in flowers, I was a little worried about telling him he looked like a girl.

Oh, come on Louie, don't be like that. I promise you don't really look like a girl. Please come back.

Fat Louie $2,200 - not a girl - and still cute, but don't tell him I said that. You know how big bulldog heads get. :)

Dezzy Now Roxxy Going to NY

2012-03-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

Dezy is the clown of the group. She is just always making me laugh.

Look at the nose rope on this girl!

See how funny she is. Here she is making the most of our time outside by chasing Chloe around the deck.

I think she is the most wrinkly of all the puppies

Have you seen the image going on pinterest that says what I feel like when I'm running, what I actually look like - that's Dez, doing the part of what I actually look like. LOL

Always playing

Bugsy at 7 weeks old $2,200

2012-03-17T11:20:00.001-07:00

I have to tell you I am in love with this boy, and I'm having a hard time not just keeping him for myself. He is just everything a bulldog should look like to me, not to minute he has the sweetest personality.

He is always dropping that big head of his down to rest it, like it is so big it's just to much work for him to carry it around anymore.

I also just love this expression, my youngest says that his "eye brows" make it look like he has cartoon eyes. :)

7 weeks old and already has the wide chest narrow hips that an EB should have.

And he is built so square!

Moo Moo - Now Emily going to NY

2012-03-17T07:59:00.002-07:00

Here she is the girl everyone is talking about. 486 pins 162 likes in under 30 minutes. Little Miss Moo Moo:

As you can see the weather was s o nice we got to take the pups outside for the day.

Little Joe - 7 weeks old $2,200

2012-03-16T09:31:00.003-07:00

Not so little anymore, at least compared to teh girls. :) Still the smallest of the boys but as spunky as can be.

Fat Louie @ 7 weeks old $2,200

2012-03-16T09:26:00.001-07:00

Fat Louie is turning onto such a pretty boy. I just love his dark read color and he has the most expressive face. :)

Da Bomb Diggity - 2,200

2012-03-16T09:23:00.001-07:00

Da Bomb Diggity also called him "Dig Dog" more often then not. :) He is a flashy show stopped that's for sure. He is the most layed back of all the puppies, sometimes to lazy to go play but happy to sit back and wach.

How I get natural looking photos of my puppies

2012-03-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy this week! My husband works for the post office, and if you see any news at all you know all the stuff going on there! Locally they closed our processing facility, which left my husband with no job to do here in town. He is an MPE level 9?? Basically he is a mechanic on the processing machines, he has a degree in Industrial Electronics. So now he is being transferred into a position as a clerk working at a window selling stamps. Which they have to send him to school for, so he has been gone all week. Leaving me with two kids and 6 pups to care for all on my own. So that is why the blog has been so quite this week. Lucky for me he will be home tomorrow, then I might need a vacation. :)

Anyway I meant to post this video much sooner. I have been getting quite a few questions about photographing puppies. So I sat this video up so you can see how these last photos were taken. The big thing to remember is that I wanted to work in an environment that would leave the pups at their most comfortable, and at a time that they were most active. So we started in the morning right as they were eating, even before I had a chance to clean the mess up - right in the area they make most their mess in.

In this video you will see my set up and Bugsy's photo shoot the images from the shoot can be found in this post. More video of the other puppies will follow as I have time to set them up.

Some questions I have been asked:

What camera do I use: Canon 5D

What lens do I use: For this shoot I used the 24-70 2.8L lens

Lights: The photo shoot before these on the gray were in natural light but for these I used an AB400 on a 3x5?? softbox also from Alien Bee.

The backdrops: The blue one is distressed - not peed on. It came looking like it had stains. :) I got it from Photo Prop Floors and Backdrops you can find them on Facebook, the actual backdrop can be found here

The ivory tiles one came from Denny's Mfg It's a 5x7 freedom cloth and that actual background can be found here: Euro Mix Ivory Tile

Raw or Jpg: RAW always. :)

If you have any other questions about how I photographed the puppies or about the puppies themselves please leave a comment or drop me a line. Also don't forget to join my blog so you can follow along as there is more video and photos coming up in the next few days!

Fat Louie 5 Weeks

2012-03-04T18:35:00.000-08:00

Fat Louie Male English Bulldog For Sale $2,200

Fat Louie is going to grow up being the image of "Big Bad Bulldog". He was the star of The Grumpy Puppy Post His face just has that mean grumpy look. Look back at the 6th and 7th photos from this text. The ones where he is trying to get the toy to the right. Look at the shoulders on that boy! He is only 5 weeks and you can already see he is getting the huge shoulders that a true big bad bully should have.

Now I'm going to tell you a secret about Fat Louie, but you have to promise to not ever tell him I told you. Today the smallest of the boys, Little Joey had Fat Louie down on his back and was biting his legs. while little tiny Moo Moo held him down by sitting on his head. Fat Louie was crying like a baby and had to be rescued by a 9 year old girl. True story. While Fat Louie is going to look big and bad, he is soft and cuddly at heart. Just remember you didn't hear that from me.

Moo Moo 5 Weeks

2012-03-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

Moo Moo Female English Bulldog Puppy For Sale $2,400

About Moo Moo

Moo Moo is the doll baby of the bunch. She is the smallest of them all. Maybe that's what makes her such a little rascal. If her larger brother Joey is on the floor crying 9 times out of 10 Moo Moo is the one standing over him pinning him to the floor. If my 9 year old daughter is complaining because someone is pulling her hair - it's Moo Moo. She runs to me the minute I walk into the kitchen and if I sit on the floor she's the one that wants into my lap. If I'm walking around she is attached to my leg, literally, pant leg in mouth attached to my leg. If I'm not paying enough attention to her while she is in my lap she does the same move her mommy does, sticks her little paw out and taps me with it, like a person would tap you on the shoulder. That one sweet move and all her orneriness is forgiven.

Moo Moo is fun and endearing all rolled together in a ball of wrinkles. So cute people are always saying she doesn't even look real. She has the perfect nose rope and the corkscrew tail, the dark red coat contrasting with the white mask. She is the vision of perfection, with attitude. One way or another she's turning heads.

Outtakes

During the shooting of these photos the girls got to discussing how we should write up their for sales ad.

Questions about the puppies and/or the photography welcome.

Bugsy 5 weeks

2012-03-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

Bugsy - Male English Bulldog Puppy for sale $2,200

About Bugsy

Bugsy is the cuddler of the bunch. I just love when he comes over to me and plops that big head down on my lap as if it's to heavy for him to keep up on his own anymore. Then he just stands there, head resting on me and staring up at me with that adorable face, how can I not help but fall in love.

Bugsy is low and square when viwed from the side, and triangular when viewed from the top with a wide chest and narrow rear. He is only 5 weeks old and already has a large head for his age, and the nose rope, well just look at the photos, he has it all.

Dezzy the Clown To The Rescue

2012-02-28T08:24:00.001-08:00

I hate tech support. I hate then when you send them an email the must just read half of it. They never address the whole problem and what they do "fix" is still broken!.

You can see my 1st response to my ticket at the bottom of the screenshot, then the test emails ran by the tech support people. Then an email from Kristi, and a couple of emails from the tech people. The tech people say it is fixed because they got blue reply arrows going to their test emails, except I have replied to every email in that screen shot except to pinnerest - no reply arrow, I think they just pasted theirs on. I also am still missing all the emails from my sent folder, but they didn't even address that issue. Just closed the ticket without even a comment about it. Did they even read the whole email I sent to them???

So I am extremely frustrated this morning and getting more and more angry. Time to calm down. Watch a video and smile again. Dezzy the english bulldog puppy to the rescue.

Yea, that always cheers me up. Maybe I'll go wake all the sleeping puppies. Puppy breath, kisses, and and little balls of warm wrinkles tottering around always puts me in a good mood.

Email trouble

2012-02-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

Just want to drop a quick note and let everyone know that I have emailed you all back, but you may not have gotten a reply. My email host has been working on my account because that little blue arrow that shows you have replyed to an email is not showing up on emails I replied to. I have been just double checking my sent mail folder to be sure that things are still going through. Checked it tonight and it was EMPTY!!! I have a ticket in with my host, they are a paid for service and I am very upset about this. Hopefully everything will be up and running by tomorrow morning when you all get up and read this, but if you have not gotten an email reply from me please resend it because I have no idea if my emails are going through.

Will The Real Moo Moo Please Stand Up

2012-02-26T22:22:00.001-08:00

My facebook friends are commenting to me that my beloved Moo Moo does not look like a real puppy. Even people who see her in real life tell me she looks like a stuffed animal. If only they could see what I see.

Oh yea, they can...

Will the REAL Moo Moo please stand up.

Please excuse the towel, they are always dumping over the water dish and I have decided to save a few hundred trees and just keep a towel in easy reach at all times. :)

Now I am going to tell you about my paranoia as a 1st time EB breeder mommy. Friday I moved all the babies from the master bathroom to the kitchen. They walked fine in the whelping pool, but in the kitchen their little rear feet were sliding all over the place. I emailed my mentor and she told me to put carpet down. My babies were still not walking well even on the carpet. I searched the net and was getting worried my puppies were going to be stuck walking on only their front legs for the rest of their lives. I was like the mother who's taking their 1st born baby to the doctor at 9 months because the book says they should be walking but they aren't. I was searching the internet about crippled 3 week EB puppies who couldn't walk and I found an article about this shoot used for swimmer puppies here. My puppies aren't swimmers, but I thought for sure they were going to become swimmers if I couldn't get them up and walking. So right away I made my husband run out and make me one of these shoots.

Here is how a shoot like this works. The puppy walks down a very narrow "hallway" that is only as wide as the pup itself. This keeps the legs from sliding out to the sides and forces them to walk with their legs underneath them. For the type of shoot I wanted it would have to be very long because once the puppy reaches the end of the shoot you have to turn them around and put them back in it again.

So my husband comes in with the shoot he has made. It is 4 foot long and 6 inches high. No joke. The puppies take 5 or 6 steps and has to be turned around again, that's if they aren't just climbing out over the edge that is barley shoulder high. (oh yea, you can see the shoot in the video. It's the wood thing behind Moo Moo. That gives you an idea of how big it is and she is my smallest puppy!)

I send my poor husband back out to Menards for new wood, then I have a brain storm. I run and get one of the rubber bath mats that we had in the bottom of the whelping pool, guess what, my puppy can stand!! Then I remember that the back side of my $190 foflor from Bungalow, that I use for all my favorite photo shoots, is rubber backed & machine washable. I get my rug and put it rubber side up on the kitchen floor, right over the top of the carpet, and all my puppies are tottering around when my husband gets back home with the new wood that I no longer need.

To top it all off I had sent an email in a panic to another EB friend, I swear I could hear her laughing through the return email I got later that night. She said "all 3 week old EB puppies walk like that, they will be chasing you around the house by this time next week." If she could have just emailed before my panic attack. :)

So here we are just 3 days later and as you can see everyone is getting around as good as any new baby learning to walk. My husband stubbed his toe on the shoot we have never used except to let the puppies chase each other around it, so it's now out in the scrap pile in the shed.

All you long time EB breeders please feel free to laugh at my expense, but if you have any other tips for this 1st time mommy please feel free to leave them below.

Spoiled Dog

2012-02-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

Shocking video of starving neglected bulldog!

Well what do you expect from a dog used to the princess treatment.

The Old Man

2012-02-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

"I shall call him 'Squishy,' and he shall be mine, and he shall be my Squishy" - Dory

Fat Louie $2,200

2012-02-23T08:33:00.000-08:00

There is something about Louie's markings that makes him look angry all the time.

He looks grumpy doesn't he. Funny that he was the first puppy to make little growling noises.

He's also the only puppy that wanted to climb into my lap instead of have his photos taken.

He cried like a baby when I told him he had to do the photos first.

He tried to walk away but I told him he looked like a guinea pig,

which upset him causing him to loose his balance.

then he just lay there looking angry again.

I told him we should show people what a big boy he is.

Yea, I laughed too.

That's why he put his angry face back on.

Awww, come on Louie, don't be like that...

The End.