52 Week Photo Project: Light

The assignment this week for the 52 Week Photo Project was light.  I had all intentions of getting up early one day this week and taking some pictures in the beautiful early morning light.  Unfortunately, that never happened.  But "light" really can have all sorts of interpretations.

Today on our walk, Murphy discovered the snow outside of the hockey rink near our house.  He jumped on it, he played in it, and he ate quite a bit of it.  I think Murphy likes snow.  We haven't had much of it this year, so it'll be interesting to see what he does with it if we get a big snowstorm.

It's not always easy to get a good picture of a black dog.  Now we have 2 of them!  Black dogs do photograph well against the light background of snow though.  So that's how I have chosen to interpret this week's theme: the contrast of dark against light.  

On another note off the subject of the assignment, Murphy is becoming quite an imp.  He is now stealing silverware from the dishwasher, and tries to bring random things out through our electronic dog door to play with in the pool area.  Today I caught him taking one of those barbeque brushes with him (stolen from the dishwasher), and earlier this week he actually tried to drag a mop with him (stolen from the pantry).  We are learning to close doors and to pick up anything we don't want him to spirit away.  

It's a lot of fun having a puppy in the house!

52 Week Photo Challenge: Cats & Dogs

This weeks' photo challenge was to take a photo that reminded you of a movie or song.  I am finding with the photo challenges each week that I am not particularly good at staging a photo with a topic on the fly like this.  However, last night an opportunity presented itself.

We recently added a new puppy to our family.  Murphy is part Golden Retriever, part German Shepard, and absolutely adorable.  But he has not quite gotten the hierarchy in our family.  You see, we have 2 other dogs, and 4 cats.  We've had the other dogs for years; 3 of the cats joined us 2 summers ago and the last cat came to live with us last summer.  The cats get along well with the dogs...the dogs don't chase them, and they have a pretty amicable relationship.  I once even found a cat sleeping on top of one of our dogs.

However, Murphy is going about making friends the wrong way.  He chases the cats every chance he gets.  A couple of them stand their ground and simply hiss and swat at him.  He's gotten whacked more than once.  Yet he still comes running, tail wagging, every time he sees a cat.

One of our cats is actually trying to make friends.  She'll go nose to nose with him if he's still...if he moves suddenly, she'll give him a whack.  She walks by him every chance she gets.  She's not in the least bit afraid.

The cat that is the most frightened of Murphy is our big tom, which is funny to me.  When Murphy first came home, the cat outweighed him...now its probably a coin toss as to who weighs more.  Of course Murphy is going to grow and be much bigger, but my only point is, this particular cat is a big boy.  He definitely rules the roost around here.  He's not a big fan of Murphy right now.  So last night when I found the two of them sleeping on dog beds that were side by side...not together, mind you, but awfully close, I was surprised.  I took the picture, thinking Milo and Otis.  However when I woke up this morning, I realized the relationship between Murphy and the cats is probably more like Cats & Dogs.

I put Murphy in his crate after our little run this morning, because he didn't do his business while we were out.  A cat immediately jumped on top of the crate and hung out there....almost taunting the poor guy.  He knew she was on top of the crate.

Yesterday when Murphy was hanging out on my bed, a cat walked by and stood at the base of the bed, looked up at Murphy and then slowly turned and walked out of the room.  Murphy could not resist and followed after the cat.  She perched herself in a corner of the hallway and waited for him. When he came up to her, they went nose to nose, and everything was very calm for a few moments.  Then poor Murphy got all excited, wiggled a little too much, and got whacked for his efforts.

The cats definitely are trying to show him who is boss.  He'll learn.  I'm looking forward to that day.  What stories do your photos tell about your pets?  For now, it's all about Cats & Dogs at our house!