New pups

[lovelife65]

Yes, plural.
We have normally gotten sibling labradors, and in this case we did the same. Originally was going to just get a yellow male to "replace" (can never replace a very loved pet) our yellow boy that passed from osteosarcoma.
But, we decided to go ahead and reserve two from the litter, to torture our remaining 11.5 year old Female Black lab

We chose a male with his black nose and dark eyes and lighter color and his beautiful sister who's pink nosed with green eyes (they were blue, and will probably change color again). She's dark yellow and a nice color.

These are "field" labs bred by Wind River Labs in Washington State... a very wonderful breeder who cares deeply about the breed (no "silver labs" coming from her). She normally doesn't allow siblings to go together, but in our case because we've had experience she allowed us to have two. Yes, I know rescue would be a more noble thing to do, but for now this is what we choose.

I tried to show their spirit here, but of course puppies are really hard to get to sit still so the captures are not great (need better focus on the eyes, etc.) LOL. They are going to be wonderful dogs, and we hope our previous boy would approve.

#1 Together (Male is "Kulshan"; Female is "River")



#2 Kulshan



#3 River

[Shadowman]

Nice shots and pups.

[LePetomane]

Sharon, very nice. You will find one of them will exhibit characteristics of the dog that passed. We're temporarily down to one dog. We co-own Sally with the breeder and she is off reproducing. And not very happy about it. She didn't take too kindly to the stud and now he is afraid of her. Normally she is a mellow, shy dog.

[lovelife65]

Sharon, very nice. You will find one of them will exhibit characteristics of the dog that passed. We're temporarily down to one dog. We co-own Sally with the breeder and she is off reproducing. And not very happy about it. She didn't take too kindly to the stud and now he is afraid of her. Normally she is a mellow, shy dog.

I'm so sorry to hear this about your dogs. It's always hard to know what's going to work.
These two come from two amazing parents (both black labs... the litter was black and yellow, although the breeder thought she would get a couple of chocolates).

I do think you are right... there is something about yellow male labs.... they are often super energetic but big giant love bombs. There is a saying that says Female labs will love you, but Male labs will be IN love with you. . I can attest to the truth of this.

They will get separate time from each other. That's pretty critical. And separate time cuddling with us. For now, they have a small enclosed area, a smaller cage and an indoor space. They can get pretty rough on each other.

[lovelife65]

Nice shots and pups.

Thank you John

[Manfred M]

These are all nice shots that need a fairly aggressive crop to remove material that is not contributing to the image.

[lovelife65]

These are all nice shots that need a fairly aggressive crop to remove material that is not contributing to the image.

Totally agree Manfred. It's so hard to capture these two, so use a longer than practical focal length and then already crop ... I'm afraid to crop too much as it degrades the quality of the image. If I was able to actually compose a great image, that would be less of an issue. Of course, as I get better at getting them in their fun adventures, that will mean less cropping and overall better quality to what I post.

[rpcrowe]

Wonderful looking pups! Congratulations! I have found that sometimes a puppy or two will breath new life into an older dog, as long as the older one can have some alone time and space...

Pups, especially those of larger breeds like the Labrador are hard to photograph. In my experience they only have two speeds, fast forward and fast asleep

[LePetomane]

Sharon, the dogs are fine. Nikki (the little one) is enjoying the extra attention. We took her fly fishing in the Bighorn Mountains and she had a blast. I had her nose to nose with a 20" cutthroat trout but my wife could not get a picture as it was a brief moment.

You will be busy with those two little ones. What I have found is that the older dog trains and disciplines the younger one(s).

[lovelife65]

Wonderful looking pups! Congratulations! I have found that sometimes a puppy or two will breath new life into an older dog, as long as the older one can have some alone time and space...

Pups, especially those of larger breeds like the Labrador are hard to photograph. In my experience they only have two speeds, fast forward and fast asleep

Thank you, she is a really excellent breeder. We are hoping that our older girl will begin to enjoy them, but she's always been a bit shy and aloof. At least she lets them sniff her now, they are very curious about her.

Yes sir about Labradors. They are quite hilarious. Need to work a lot with them this week. Our son is in Day Camp so I will have the opportunity more so in between work

[lovelife65]

Sharon, the dogs are fine. Nikki (the little one) is enjoying the extra attention. We took her fly fishing in the Bighorn Mountains and she had a blast. I had her nose to nose with a 20" cutthroat trout but my wife could not get a picture as it was a brief moment.

You will be busy with those two little ones. What I have found is that the older dog trains and disciplines the younger one(s).

I'm glad she is okay. That photograph would have been pretty fantastic, too bad it was too fast to capture.
Yes busy for sure. We now have three "kids" (two pups and one young human) that need a lot of attention.... all the while making sure our older girl gets hers. I took her swimming and for a 2.5 mile hike yesterday and she was thrilled.

[pschlute]

I am a complete dog nutcase and these are beautiful pups, especially as we had a yellow lab as a dog when I was a kid (long time ago).

Have to say though that as photographic images you need to get a longer lens and think about your set-up, framing etc.

[lovelife65]

I am a complete dog nutcase and these are beautiful pups, especially as we had a yellow lab as a dog when I was a kid (long time ago).

Have to say though that as photographic images you need to get a longer lens and think about your set-up, framing etc.

Thank you they are gorgeous babies. Longer lens possibly (I tried with my crop 90, but couldn't use it for these two yet). Set up and framing of two 8 week old labrador pups? Um...

Yep, these are just good old snaps of pups always in motion. Maybe as they mature, I'll be able to attempt some portraits.

[pschlute]

Get down on the ground so you are at their level. That often helps.

ps. don't wear your best clothes

[lovelife65]

Get down on the ground so you are at their level. That often helps.

ps. don't wear your best clothes

Lol absolutely. I did try that and they found my camera an interesting potential chew toy. 🙃
I’m down on the ground with them a lot. Maybe I’ll try again in a month.

[RBSinTo]

Sharon,
Cute doggies! I hope they help to re-fill the void in your heart left by the loss of your yellow boy.
And make sure to remind them that it doesn't say "Milkbone" on your camera.
Robert

[lovelife65]

Sharon,
Cute doggies! I hope they help to re-fill the void in your heart left by the loss of your yellow boy.
And make sure to remind them that it doesn't say "Milkbone" on your camera.
Robert

Thank you Robert. Fingers, toes, everything is fair game for teething puppies. Lots of redirection.
They are great pups. at 9 weeks old I actually love this stage of doggy-hood. It's a TON of work (luckily we both work from home). 10 times the work given they are litter-mates... the practice of bringing home two from the same litter is frowned upon by many, but we've done it before and we know what we did right and what we need to do differently this time around. Labradors generally have no problems bonding to their humans, even if they are raised with their sibling. I don't think we would do same sex from the same litter, but ...
Yep, there will always be a place in our heart for our yellow boy, but we love the breed so much it's hard not to have a couple three around.

[DanK]

If I was able to actually compose a great image, that would be less of an issue.

When I first started taking flower shots, I ran across some very useful advice from Scott Kelby. He wrote that one should try to find a perspective different from that of a person walking by the flower. Otherwise, you end up with a snapshot of a flower. This isn't always easy to do with a flower. Sometimes, a different angle works, or different lighting, or a macro view, or whatever.

Please don't take offense, but that's the problem with these photos. They are snapshots of what someone would see if they walked by your puppies. The puppies are interesting, but the images, as images, aren't really.

The challenge (even harder with puppies because they rarely stay put unless they are eating or asleep) is to find perspectives or framings that make the image itself interesting. Peter's suggestion is one such option: get down. I would add: get down and close. That gives you a perspective that is different from that of a person walking by. Second, pay attention to the background. You don't want competing, irrelevant details, like a neighbor's roofline, interfering with the image. You have somewhat limited control when taking candids (I wrestle with this in taking candids of kids all the time), but take what control you can. Third, think about framing. How much background do you want? Where do you want the dog positioned in the frame?

None of this is easy, and I still get at least one of these things wrong much of the time. But with practice, it gets easier. It reminds me of the very old joke about a tourist who gets into a cab in NY City and asks the cabbie, "how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" The cabbie turns around and says, "practice, practice, practice."

[lovelife65]

Thank you for taking the time to comment Dan. Never an offense taken, otherwise I wouldn't post photographs that are indeed just snapshots.... with the realization that I will get told about it LOL.
These pups are so spastic... bouncy, jumpy, bitey, chase things, bit my toes, etc. that I felt lucky to catch even a snapshot. I will continue to work with them and as they grow can hopefully get better captures.

When I first started taking flower shots, I ran across some very useful advice from Scott Kelby. He wrote that one should try to find a perspective different from that of a person walking by the flower. Otherwise, you end up with a snapshot of a flower. This isn't always easy to do with a flower. Sometimes, a different angle works, or different lighting, or a macro view, or whatever.

Please don't take offense, but that's the problem with these photos. They are snapshots of what someone would see if they walked by your puppies. The puppies are interesting, but the images, as images, aren't really.

The challenge (even harder with puppies because they rarely stay put unless they are eating or asleep) is to find perspectives or framings that make the image itself interesting. Peter's suggestion is one such option: get down. I would add: get down and close. That gives you a perspective that is different from that of a person walking by. Second, pay attention to the background. You don't want competing, irrelevant details, like a neighbor's roofline, interfering with the image. You have somewhat limited control when taking candids (I wrestle with this in taking candids of kids all the time), but take what control you can. Third, think about framing. How much background do you want? Where do you want the dog positioned in the frame?

None of this is easy, and I still get at least one of these things wrong much of the time. But with practice, it gets easier. It reminds me of the very old joke about a tourist who gets into a cab in NY City and asks the cabbie, "how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" The cabbie turns around and says, "practice, practice, practice."

[NorthernFocus]

Congrats on the pups, Sharon. They're beautiful. Prior to Grace we had a set of siblings. If you just want them as family members it's a great way to go IMO. Most of the negative issues/concerns are only potential problems when training working dogs. Enjoy them. You only get so many puppies in a lifetime.