The thing of it is, black dogs get the cold shoulder.

I have two dogs, or shall I say, THEY have ME.  Their names are Maxine and Frances.  Max is part West Highland Terrier and part Shih Tsu.  France is mostly black lab with a bit of border collie, and a little pointer mixed somewhere in there (in all likelihood).

Unfortunately, most of my photos of Frances look like THIS:

….and most of my photos of Maxine……

look like THIS:

And that is the way of the Black Dog.

They are the very last to get adopted at Animal Shelters.  As a photographer, having a black dog is a bit of a curse.  No matter where you shoot them, they just look like a black blob smack-dab in the middle of your frame.  When we take walks on the downtown streets here, people point at Max and say…”Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!  What a CUTE little dog that is!  What kind is she? She is absolutely adorable!…….. Oh, your black dog seems nice too.”

I’m not sure what kind of emotional impact this has on France.  It has to be hard.  She has been licking her butt unceasingly lately.  I think it is because of the stress she feels from her experiences with ‘The Ugly Duckling’ Syndrome.  Yes, an arduous life journey for Miss Frances, indeed.

Did I mention that I love my Black Dog?  She gives me her everything.  She is one of the best pals a human could ever ask for…..