My best buddy

[Downrigger]

Dogs have been showing strong lately and I thought I'd better honor Poko - who doesn't help me get closer to wildlife, but whom I'd never leave behind. C&C on the photo welcome, but not on Poko.

[Digital]

Nice photo.



Bruce

[NorthernFocus]

Nice shot. And Poko looks like he's in his element.

[Downrigger]

Thank you Dan, and Bruce. He was having a good time.

[rpcrowe]

Nice capture of a great looking dog! I'll bet that winter is more comfortable for Poko than the summer!

[hopeg]

Love it. Beautiful dog with a gorgeous smile : ) what a great setting for him. Not experienced enough to give c&c but I like the shot : )

[Kris V]

He is Beautiful!

[Downrigger]

Thank you Richard, Hope, and Kris - on behalf of Poko.

Hope - I think we can all give C&C... and especially those of us "not experienced" can learn considerably from doing so. I tend to pose my suggestions as questions or in other ways convey tentativeness, because in that way I hope the tone of any my C&Cs acknowledges my lack of formal training, limited experience. In fact most of the C&Cs here have that tone and I think this reflects respect for the photographer, whatever her/his stage of development.

[gregj1763]

I Mark, great looking dog, weather conditions differ a bit from where I am
My only suggestion with the photo would to be to remove the collar or clone it out in pp.
cheers, Greg

[Shadowman]

Nice shot. I like the fluff of snow behind Poko's paws.

[Downrigger]

Thank you Greg - Agree: the collar definitely takes it out of the studio category, moreover exceeds my clone/heal skills. What it is. And John, thanks for noticing the fluff, I aimed to get a little of that.

[Mike Buckley]

It's clear that Poko is as happy with you as you are with Poko.

I actually like the display of the collar, especially the tag on it. I was bitten by a pair of dogs being walked by their owner and neither dog had a tag indicating rabies inoculation. I had to go to the emergency room and contact the police. The police determined that the dogs had not been inoculated recently enough and required the owner to quarantine the dogs so they could be inspected over time for symptoms of rabies. If the owner had not totally complied, he would have been jailed. Fortunately, the dogs showed no symptoms of rabies and I didn't have to get the painful series of shots.

I mention this partly to praise Mark for having Poko inoculated and to remind others that rabies is no laughing matter. There has not been one case in U.S. history in which a human that has contracted rabies has lived. The shots that humans take are inoculations, not curatives. Fortunately, rabies "grows" so slowly that the shots can be administered a couple of weeks after a rabid bite has taken place.