Greater Boston Puppy Photography :: DASHA

Everyone, meet Dasha, a 3 month-old French Bulldog who only arrived last week all the way from Russia!

Dasha is: extremely clever | Dasha has: beautiful markings |  Dasha sleeps: with one leg out | Dasha does not want: to sit still

I will not lie, Dasha made me work hard for the money. Made all of us work hard for the money. For her to stand long enough with her head peeking over the couch (a shot I really really really wanted, wasn’t going to leave without it), or just sitting on the couch, or standing on the arm of the couch, required all hands on deck – the owner, the owner’s daughter, Dan, me, an open can of wet dog food, squeaky toys, squeaky humans…at one point Dasha’s mom even clamored onto and over the back of the couch in order to pique Dasha’s curiosity enough to want to attempt the same thing. And hopefully while she did that I’d catch her with her little head peeking over the back of the couch.

The only problem was she fell for this trick only once! Subsequent times she just waited for her mom to finish climbing, and then circumvented the couch to meet her. So basically this little puppy had us grown human beings looking like complete idiots. Clever girl!

I really wished at one point I could have had a photographer photographing our attempts to photograph Dasha. You would have seen what a circus it was!

The weeble wobble toy was quite a strange thing to her. So was my high-pitched meowing. I said, “Hey Dasha, RAOW RAOW RAOW! RAOW RAOW RAOW!” Her head tilted a whole 45 degrees at one point, threatening to screw right off!

I love how the markings perfectly bisects her face. And then there’s that sploosh of black right above her tail.

We spent a few seconds, literally, in front of the shed in the backyard. The mosquitoes were enjoying happy hour courtesy of our ankles. Otherwise I would have spent several more frames in front of that yummy dark green backdrop, with the fading sunlight filtering in through the trees.

Surprise! Dasha is the 4th member of a whole family of French Bulldogs, all of them show dogs, too. I must say it was quite a shock to be expecting a puppy when the owner opened the door, but instead be greeted by 3 barrel-chested bulldogs coming straight for your knees, all of them grunting and snorting and vying for your attention…and then the teeny tiny little Dasha in the midst of all that joyous mayhem.

We have her with her new family to show how small she is now. Like Bella and Logan, Dasha will be participating in the Puppy Progress Package, so there will be 2 more sessions after this to document her growth. We’ll see how she fares against her elders in a few more months.

And yes, it was pretty much impossible to get her to sit still long enough for the family portrait. A bag of treats off-frame was enough to get the adults to sit still. But not our little Dasha. Patience my friends, lots and lots of patience, and a fast trigger finger, is the key.

Finally! She’s pooped. And finally, I can get some cute shots that are ALSO in focus!

Sure is hard to be a supermodel, isn’t it? See you soon, Dasha!

(I love puppies. If you’ve got one, let me know!)