Happy First Gotcha Day, Fly!

On this day a year ago, Fly suddenly came into our lives - literally within hours! After Pip's forced early retirement from work, we were talking about perhaps getting a puppy. And then Fly just happened to need a new home. Taking on a new, adult dog, one that you knew nothing about, and one that you needed to do some work, was a gamble. I'd said I'd take her before I even met her and within four hours she was there in our kitchen, sitting on my mum's feet with her nose in the air. I knew then I'd made the right choice.

I took her out into the field today for some Gotcha Day photos. Fly doesn't really know how to sit and I haven't taken the time to teach her. She's also nervous of the camera, refusing to look directly at it. But today, for whatever reason, she was sort-of posing.



She wasn't staying, though, so I switched from my 50mm lens to my 24mm one. That way I wouldn't have to get so much distance between us. Her camera caution seemed to have vanished - she was posing and everything!





The cure for not knowing how to sit, or stay, or pose, is freshly cooked sausages.



She really wanted those sausages.



All of a sudden I had a dog who would sit, stay and pose for a good 90 seconds, all with no training! The following photos are all taken in the same spot.

















...And she's moved. I was very surprised by this development! She poses!

We were on an old lane that used to run from the farmyard to a nearby road but has since become redundant, grown over and become a bit of a bog. I don't use it for pictures because it's usually so wet but I had my waterproof gear on and Fly was already so filthy she could pass for a tricolour so we just went for it. It's encouraging that even after ten years of photographing the farm, there's still a fresh angle to explore.

Fly decided to pose here - I said nothing and just took the pictures like she wanted, and provided sausages.





Fly's sudden stay was so good, I switched back to my 50mm lens. I chose the posing spot this time.



I'm definitely taking more pictures here in the future! It's just off the yard so it's not even far away.

The location may be good, but Fly was the real star here. She trained herself to pose in five minutes and not only that, she was enjoying herself enough to pose unprompted. Absolutely extraordinary!



Happy Gotcha Day, sweetheart. We love you lots! ♡