Finley & Lally

I’m still working on my photos from the south of France, the sheer number of them intimidates me and makes me put it off.  My own fault, of course, but I will get there eventually.

It’s no secret that I love taking photos of animals, and also that one of my favorite parts of visiting my in-laws is their dogs.  I have such a soft spot for these animals… not just because they are beautiful but because they are so incredibly well trained.  It makes me want to ship Bailey and Pixel off to the south of France for boot camp with my father-in-law!

You may remember last year when I posted about their dog Timo.  Well, sadly a few months after our visit he became very ill again and had to be put to sleep. I wept like a baby when I heard it so I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for my in-laws.  We weren’t sure that they would get another dog, but after they gave themselves some time to grieve they decided they did want to get another dog after all.  Their other dog was quite lonely without Timo and they felt that they were up to bringing a puppy into the house again.

Enter Finley!

Not as much of a puppy by the time we got there, at least not physically, but definitely still a puppy by nature!  He was so playful, he loves to play fetch and play with is toys and my goodness does he love to cuddle!  He loves attention, and you just can’t help but give it to him because he’s mastered the puppy dog eyes, big time.

There is no resisting that face. It’s just not in our genetic makeup to have that kind of strength.  I challenge even the most hardcore dog-haters to spend a day with Finley and not give into that stare.

I also love him because he’s willing to model for me.  I took so many photos of him, which I will post later when I get to them, but I had to share the ones I have done so far.  If you think these are cute, wait until you see the rest.  I’m going to do it in small doses because it would be cruel of me to overload you on the cuteness all at once.  I’m not sure you could take it.

I have only one complaint about these dogs… and it’s about Lally.  I love her, she’s so docile and gentle. Ok she may not look it in the above photo but that’s Finley’s fault, he’s always tormenting her.  Honestly, she has this way about her that makes you just love her.  Every time she looked at me I imagined her as one of those dogs in a Disney film, the ones with the soft and warm voice of a mother or grandmother, ya know?  The one that takes care of all the other Disney dogs.

Notice I have no photos of that look?  That is where my problem is with her, she’s so camera shy!  Every time I try to get near her with the camera she gets up and walks away.  I’ve tried getting my in-laws to command her to stay, and even that doesn’t work. She’s all like “No paparazzi please!”.  It’s very frustrating!!

I still love her, but it’s my life’s mission to get a beautiful portrait of that dog.

I think this is enough cuteness for you all for today, but stay tuned because there’s more where this came from!