July was a good month, with most of the photos outdoors at home or at the cabin.  Agnes is continuing to get more comfortable in her own skin.  She remains neurotic, but in a very cute and quirky way.  Much of her time is now spent squirrel or ball obsessed, as three of these five pictures show.

The Squirrel Hole

This hole under the fence is a popular squirrel observation post. They often shove their heads under here to investigate, but surprisingly getting this shot proved more difficult to get. Thanks to my wife and son for helping with background dog wrangling for this photo.

Bruno: Hey Newpuppy, what are we looking for?
Agnes: What we’re always looking for here.
Bruno: Cookies?
Agnes: Delicious, but nope. And those are in the cabin, not under the fence.
Bruno: A way to get down to the lake so we can go swimming?
Agnes: Nope. Swimming freaks me out a bit.
Bruno: Oh, well that’s disappointing for you. Are we looking for people to cuddle?
Agnes: Nope. The people are behind us. Do you want a hint?
Bruno: Is it an edible hint?
Agnes: Dude, you can’t eat hints! The hint is that it’s small, fast, furry and moderately annoying.
Bruno: Eva?
Agnes: Nope. But that is pretty funny.
Bruno: Werewolves?
Agnes: Dude, you’re hopeless at this. We’re looking for the squirrel! I saw the little dude run past here, and I am pretty sure he was mocking me.
Bruno: Oh. Did he have cookies? Because I could sure use a cookie after swimming and cuddling with the werewolf.

Not Slowing Down

Agnes booking it at full speed in the back yard with Bruno in full pursuit. Her eyes do have a bit of terror in them here.

Bruno: Hey Newpuppy. Wait up!
Agnes: No way.
Bruno: No seriously, wait up!
Agnes: Not going to do it.
Bruno: Why not?
Agnes: I don’t trust you right now.
Bruno: Now that I don’t get. What’s not to trust about your big brother chasing after you at full speed while yelling at you to slow down when you happen to have something that he wants more than anything else in the world right now?
Agnes: Um, lots. It’s not a trust inspiring sort of situation.
Bruno: Really? Give me two things not to trust about this situation.
Agnes: Okay. Physics and your lack of good judgement.
Bruno: I’m awesome at judgement.
Agnes: Okay then, what happens when I slow down?
Bruno: I keep going, run you over, and take the ball.
Agnes: And how is you running me over with a truck-load of momentum good judgement?
Bruno: Easy… I get the ball.

Deep Thoughts

A simple portrait of Agnes against the siding on the cabin.

Dave: Agnes, let’s do a simple portrait of you against the side wall of the cabin.
Agnes: Why? I’d much rather do a picture of me destroying a fake village made of dog biscuits like Dogzilla.
Dave: Um, because we don’t have a dog biscuit village.
Agnes: You should work on that.
Dave: Okay, I’ll put it on the list. Now can we do the portrait?
Agnes: Can I stare off into the middle distance and think deep thoughts?
Dave: Sure. What type of deep thoughts?
Agnes: Oh, routine stuff. Like why people call fireworks fireworks. The don’t accomplish any work, unless you count scaring the pee out of me work. I think a better name would be firejerks.
Dave: True that.
Agnes: And why when we stop at McDonalds do they call it a drive through when it’s on the side of the building. We don’t drive through anything. It’s more of a driveside.
Dave: Also a valid point.
Agnes: And why don’t non-dog people like it when I stick my head up their skirts and bump my nose onto their bottoms as a way of greeting?
Dave: Um Agnes, most dog people don’t like that either.
Agnes: Really? Then why do they bend down and pat me on the head with both hands when I do that?
Dave: They’re not petting you. They’re just trying to get your head out of their skirt.
Agnes: Oh…. people are weird.

(Almost) Hidden

Agnes is one exhausted puppy as we have had various people visiting at the cabin for over a week now. It’s been fun, and Agnes is doing quite well with all of the visitors (she used to be afraid of most people). But in some ways I think she wants us all to go out for a day so she can have some rest.

Dave: Hey Agnes, what are you doing back in bed?
Agnes: Taking a nap. This continual visitor social life thing is tough on a puppy.
Dave: Yeah, I know. We’ve had constant visitors for the past week. But you’ve had fun haven’t you?
Agnes: Don’t get me wrong. It’s been a blast.
Dave: Good to know. Now I understand the need for a nap, but why so far under the covers?
Agnes: It’s called hiding.
Dave: And you are indeed almost hidden. But why do you need to hide?
Agnes: When you’re as adorable as I am kids love to find you, pet you, throw balls for you, and generally expect to have you be part of the party. It’s exhausting and I need a break.
Dave: Fair enough. I’ll leave and let you catch some zzz’s.
Agnes: Thanks. But before you go, can you cover my feet? I don’t think they’re as hidden as the rest of me.

The Ball

For Agnes it’s all about the ball.  It was a busy week at work including a full day there on Saturday. So, I went with the GoPro and a tennis ball play session in the back yard for a fun and easy photo on Sunday morning. I love how the GoPro works when shooting blind, adding a lot of dynamics to shots when the action is up close.  Here Aggie had just spit the ball out and was crouched waiting for me to throw it again.

As you can see, Bruno was a little late to the party. Eva on the other-hand was somewhere else in the yard munching on grass, as she leaves the ball play to the blondes.