Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Three Dogs, One On Three Legs . . .

I'd like to dedicate this post to Jilly at Riviera Dogs, where all year round she is taking care of our four legged friends, and immortalizing them in photos. Don't miss her other blogs while you're there. . . I like to photograph dogs too, caught this shepherd on a vacation in Brittany a few years back.
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Back in June I did a post about a three-legged cat I'd encountered in Ornans, France (birthplace and burial-place of Gustave Courbet). On an earlier trip there in 1991, a little way up the River Loue from Ornans, I stopped to look around an old ceramic tile fabrication site (long since closed down) and encountered this lovely collie, who was getting around in life on only three legs. His owners told me he lost one while trying to chase down a car. The car won . . . One of the sweetest dogs I've ever met.
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This third dog is from the Canary Island beach where a few other black dog photos were taken that got posted recently as some of you may recall. . .
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30 comments:

Alexandra MacVean said...

Adore all of the pictures, although the first one is my favorite. Hope life is treating you good.

The Sagittarian said...

Great pix, and again even better for being in black and white! I know, I am dogged about that.

CiCi said...

The collie even looks sweet. Seeing so many animal photos on blogs makes me lonesome for a pet of my own.

Anonymous said...

Oh I just love seeing those dogs! The collie is so sweet looking. Lovely photos Owen!

Lynne with an e said...

Ah. I see it's a Three Dog Night. Did you meet them on the road to Shambala?

James said...

Very nice. The German shepard reminds me of a tv show from when I was a kid, it was called "Run Joe run"

Margaret Pangert said...

These photos are just wonderful. I love the German shepherd amongst the flowers. His ears are so long! Fur a little lighter in color than most shepherds. I'd take him home in a heartbeat! (They always show them with their tongues out like that, too.) The collie reminds me of Lassie! You'd never know she had ony three legs--has a good sense of balance. The little black guy on the beach looks like he just finished a round of frisbee and is ready for the next! Very sweet pix, Owen; thank you.

English Rider said...

Collies are hard-wired to herd, even cars. The German Shepherd just looks strong, even when relaxed.

Josephine Tale Peddler said...

All pics are great but my favourite dog is the Collie. I was a big fan of the TV show Lassie when I was a little girl. Without fail I would always sob at the credits. When my Dad asked me why the tears, I'd say, "Because Lassie looks so noble." Well all your dog pics look noble. xx

Steve said...

Gorgeous german shepherd. Three legged dogs seems to be - while not common - not as unusual as three legged cats. They really do snare the eye when you see them running about. Fast moving furry stools! And that isn't a reference to dog turdery...

joo said...

Great! As a pet lover owned by two dogs I can't say anything else;D
All three picture are superb, I couldn't choose favourite. Collie is probably the most touching, but all are splendid!
Greetings

Jenny said...

Hi Owen,

Lovely pics and you capture the moods of these three dogs beautifully! Wish I had your photographic skills.

The adorable collie looks like a lion.

Lydia said...

These are stunning in b&w with the perfect light and the promise of a lick on the hand...

Country Girl said...

Love the dog pics and your processing here!

Jo Potter said...

Great photos Owen. The Collie is especially cute. Also the sunset sky is magic. The photo looks a very calm image almost like waves of the sea.

Batteson.Ind said...

My favourite is the last fella, I like dogs that show no interest in human behaviour, I like dogs that you have to work at to impress. People say cats are aloof and dogs are always willing, this is mostly true, but when you meet an aloof dog.... then you have to work RREEAAALLLY hard!
Love all the photos though, there are so many great looks!

Jilly said...

Three fabulous dog portraits, Owen. The eyes on that first dog are amazing. The second is so beautiful, poignant. And the third photo makes me want to know the dog's story.

Although I love B and W photography I'd never thought of using it for dog photos. Thanks for the inspiration.

Nathalie said...

Oh yes, I've seen that black dog before, just next to a non-existent naked body;-)

Pour ma photo d'avignon aujourd'hui, non je ne sors pas à l'aube, il était 8h du matin. Le fond noir c'est une question d'ouverture, un spécialiste en photo t'expliquera ça bien mieux que moi. Pour moi qui ne suis pas pro, ça a été une heureuse surprise ;-)

Nathalie again said...

PS - the pink lace socks and crashed Mondeo are fantastic, thanks for sharing such brilliant finds with us.

Anonymous said...

Lovely pictures of those dogs. I'm not surprised that you found them in France. You know how gaga the French are for dogs!

jeff said...

Trois chiens, trois pattes, trois paires d'yeux, trois queues, trois photos ! ça !... C'est vraiment trois !...;)

J said...

There seemed to be a bit of dog v. cat going on just now, as my feline started jumping all over the keyboard and my lap to prevent me from commenting.
It's amazing how well animals can cope with disabilities - I used to have a one eyed Peke who seemed more aware of everything going on than anyone else in the household.

Millennium Housewife said...

wow wee, great pics, black and white really bring out the character I think.

Ada said...

Bonsoir Owen :) Tout d'abord je voudrais te remercier pour ta visite et le commentaire - ca fait tellement plaisir de pouvoir partager les images et les paroles de ma ville preferee avec toi :)
Excuse moi de ne pas ecrire en anglais - c'est toujours un desastre, je comprends bien cette langue, pour lire - aucun probleme, mais ecrire et m'exprimer: blocage.

Il me faudra du temps pour pouvoir decouvrir ton blog - mais de prime abord je peux dire que je suis vraiment touchee. Je crois que l'on partage un certain genre de sensibilite. Tes photos sont magnifiques (j'ai une legere preference pour les chats mais j'admets volontiers que les chiens ont un meilleur caractere ;)

Owen said...

Bonjour Ada, quel plaisir, merci beaucoup de ta visite ! Ce serait avec plaisir de découvrir plus ta ville et ton pays. Si tu as une préference pour les chats, il faudrait descendre le coté droit de ma page, jusqu'à la liste des étiquettes, l'index, et cliquer sur "Cat Photographs", il y a a 23 déjà... j'adore les chats aussi, nous en avons deux, et pas de chien à la maison, bien que j'aime les chiens aussi... j'aime tous les animaux... à bientôt...

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Millenium... merci ! thanks ! I love black and white, always have, always will... but a little color from time to time livens things up too... especially Sunsets laced with Pink Socks...

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"J"... I can understand that your cat might not have liked this post, especially the way that German Shepherd was looking out of the picture ! Hope you were able to get the cat calmed down again... it is amazing how fluidly a three legged dog can get about...

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Cher Jeff, je pense deux aspirines et appelle moi demain serait le mieux... même trois aspirines, car là, tu n'as même pas fait trois lignes, et ça, ça me dit que tu doit être encore un peu malade, un peu fatigué, pas en forme... donc, soignes toi bien, ok, pixpote, et reviens vite en grande forme ! Non, tu sais, tu sais je suis content même d'un mot de ta part... même d'une pensée invisible, ou trois arrières pensées... Life Is Beautiful !

Owen said...

Dedene... they do love their dogs, that's for sure. Now, if only more of them would clean up after them !!! Even with the green motorbike pooper scoopers, I still find too many horrors on Paris sidewalks, which are even worse after a few people have slid through them with their shoes, then wiped the shoes on nearby curbs, etc, etc, ad nauseum ! :-D

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Nathalie ! ah, thought you might like the pink socks, that was the find of the day ! In fact, this was "the other" black dog, the little guy in the photo with both of them. It was the big guy that was near that ghostly shape on the volcano beach landscape there...

Bon, en tout cas, tes feuilles sur un fond foncé sont belles, très belles... à bientôt...

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Hi Jilly, yes indeed, black and white can be surprising for many subjects, dogs included. Your dalmation, for example, would be gorgeous in black and white also... glad you enjoyed !

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Hey WetCats ! I should have guessed with a name like yours that you'd expect dogs to act like cats ! LOL ! It is true, it's rare to meet an aloof dog, usually they want to come right up and snuffle in one's private parts or some such shenanigans... so inhibition free ! Many people would like to act like that too, but were conditioned not to at an early age... :-D

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Joanne May... many thanks...

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Country Gal, I was hoping George might like these too...

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Lydia, no shortage of hand licks where these came from !

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Jenny, many many thanks... am happy if you liked them !

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Owen said...

Joo, ah, so there are dogs in your house ? Hope they enjoyed meeting these French cousins...

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Steve ! Dog turdery ! Honestly ! You certainly do have a way with words... furry stools indeed... I guess you meant the three-legged stool type and not the doctor's office language. LOL ! Hope you got the sink put back together and the trap goo cleaned up !!!

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Josephine T.P... we loved Lassie too when we were little, there were always heroic noble endings to those stories... many big thanks !

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Hi English, yeah, even on three legs he wanted to herd me, with affection; it was all I could do to get him to stand at a short distance so I could take a picture, he kept coming up for attention every time I crouched down to shoot...

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Margaret, well the beach dog may have been ready to chase some more stones, didn't have a frisbee that day. Many thanks for your lovely comment...

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Hi James, not sure I came across that TV show ? from 1974 or thereabouts ? Was of TV watching age by then, but this doesn't ring a bell... but then, we were not allowed to watch alot of TV...

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Ahhh Lynne, you've got the perfect reference at hand... you are so good at that ! yep, it was a three dog morning last night, for sure... and we all went galumphing down the road to Shambala... snicker snacking !

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Rain , Techno, Amanda, Amelia, I'm so running out of steam here it's not even funny... thank you for these wonderful, dogged, charming comments, Rain, I hope your dogs got to take a look at these, Amanda, save me a drink, ok ??? Amelia, life is good, blogging is good... Techno, maybe someday you can have a pet if you really want one???

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AAAaaaaahhhhhhhwwwwhhooooooooooooo

(that's me howling with pleasure at the full moon to thank the blogging divinity who steered all you good people to this humble little blog here in the northlands of France... )

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Love photos of animals.

Arnaud said...

Ornans...La Loue... Son miroir... Ses truites... Les maisons suspendues...
J'y étais dimanche dernier !!! Un peu trop frais à mon goût, mais ca fait du bien de revenir "au pays" !

Anonymous said...

Hey I just want to say that the picture of the "Collie" is not actually a collie.The eye shape,nose break,overall size and coat more resembles a Shetland Sheepdog (my mothers close friend is a breeder of Shelties and i have grown up with them my whole life).They are often bred large which may lead you to think it would be a Collie.But anyways this is a beautiful picture and you really captured the essence of the dogs personality.Amazing photograph.