I took this photo of blind Emmy Lou late this afternoon when I was at Widget's House, our main dog building. I didn't have a particular subject in mind when I headed over with the camera, but Emmy Lou clearly had herself in mind. She would not leave me alone. She followed me all over the yard, and when I would stop walking, she'd stop. I'd take a few steps back to get a better shot of her, she'd move right toward me. My biggest problem was just keeping her far enough away ... say, two feet! ... that I could frame a shot.
Her hearing is not good -- she can't tell which direction sound is coming from -- but if she gets close to you, she'll use her sense of smell and what hearing she does have to stay near you. So I just kept shooting away as she kept posing for me, and ended up with that unique shot above.
Here's another view of her:
At one point blind Dusty walked by, which got Emmy Lou's interest. So she bounded off after him, and when I say "bound," that's what I mean. She moves more like a deer than a dog, leaping with rear-end up in the air. Here's what that looked like:
Once she realized Dusty was not going to play with her, she turned around to come find me again. Apparently she thought I needed to take some more photos of her.
(Click on photos for larger image.)
Perhaps Emmy Lou was chasing Dusty to give him a kiss with those great big LIPS of hers! :-()
Posted by: Kathy Goog | November 28, 2007 at 12:44 PM
BIG SKY all the way!! Love the last picture of Emmy Lou--SMILE! :)
Posted by: Shirley & James, Portland, OR | November 26, 2007 at 11:51 PM
Emmy Lou...Queen of the Ranch! I love these photos. It is just a reminder that the animals at the ranch get the joy of a good ol' romp in the snow. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Posted by: Shelli Smith | November 26, 2007 at 09:35 PM
Your words: "When she arrived she was understandably TERRIFIED. She wouldn't come out of her crate and was shaking like a leaf. She was so pathetic, she crawled around on her belly when she left the crate (not often.)" This is soooooooo NOT this Emmy Lou.
How absolutely AWESOME and BEAUTIFUL.
Posted by: Margaret | November 26, 2007 at 05:01 PM
Look at you, Emmy Lou! Three pics of you & your beauty in motion for us to admire! I'm so glad you insisted Steve take those great photos of you & you do leap like a deer! How beautifully you leap! You should get extra hugs for that!
Big hugs to all,
ginger, Tobias & Tlingit
Posted by: ginger & Tobias (the greythound) | November 26, 2007 at 04:18 PM
I adore Emmy Lou; even her persistance!
Such cute shots of her; I'm glad you captured the last one of her bounding, deer like, after Dusty.
You almost can't visualize it until you see her.
She's quite a special girl!
Posted by: Boundforglory | November 26, 2007 at 09:37 AM
Wow, Emmy Lou looks happy - and what a beautiful shot of the grounds - story made me smile. :<)
Posted by: angela langdon | November 26, 2007 at 08:54 AM
Montana does deserve its nickname of "Big Sky Country", doesn't it?:-)
Thank you for your lovely pictures, Steve, and a big hug to your super-model, Emmy Lou!
Posted by: Carla Polastro-Nigro | November 26, 2007 at 04:54 AM
It's so beautiful up there! I was thinking as I looked at the 3rd picture how most of the blind dogs seem fearless and then it hit me that maybe one reason is because your land is so open--no trees or shrubbery--so there is nothing to avoid except another dog, a occasional horse and a building or two. But it was the 2nd picture that startled me: it looks like there is a snake coming over Emmy Lou's back and down her front leg! Go ahead and look...do you see it? Or maybe it's just me...
Thanks for all you do!
Posted by: Amy | November 26, 2007 at 02:43 AM