# Our family Outing



## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_We took advantage of a day without rain and had some fun with out spoos. We did some portraits in a parking lot with nice flowers then took them to the pond for some fun.

Billy loves to ride








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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_The Pink Tongue Club!



















Grace & Taffy play get the can










Taffy watches fishermen go by at sunset....notice the ear flipped over the top of her head...LOL And I thought this was going to be a great shot..Kids never co-operate when there is a camera around!











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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_A peaceful ending to our evening out....











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## T o d d (Sep 25, 2007)

NICE PHOTOS!

Looks like everyone had fun! Are they generally manageable off leash ?


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## amerique2 (Jun 21, 2009)

Great photos. Loved the group shot with the daylilies. They are giving you their full attention.


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_Well....I don't know if I could use the work 'ususally'..they are good off-leash sometimes and sometimes not so we have to be very attentive in a public place if we are going to do something like the portrait thing in a parking lot. Billy has a tendency not to listen to me if he decides something else is more interesting. He's sooooo poodle!! LOL

Dianne and I were together and she handled the dogs and got their attention while I took the shots.

Thanks for the compliments all.
_


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## *heather* (Jul 30, 2009)

gorgeous shots! love the pink tongues! Looks like a fun-filled day! What a beautiful place! That last shot is breathtaking!


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## Pamela (Sep 9, 2008)

great shots! great dogs!


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## jester's mom (Nov 25, 2008)

Here's a shot of just Billy & Grace. We decided to take a pic of just the two of them together since they are brother and sister.

We and the dogs had a great time. Yeah, Billy tends to get more distracted off leash but he doesn't go far, just goes to see what he is interested in..lol... normally other people, which he loves, and other dogs, which he loves. In fact, there isn't anything Billy doesn't love to shower his wagging tail on...lol. Grace fits her name, she normally comes the first time I call and she loves to follow her "mom" everywhere. The pups, well, they are still pups, but they listen extremely well for being youngsters.








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## *heather* (Jul 30, 2009)

gorgeous! I think I need a black spoo next!


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## jester's mom (Nov 25, 2008)

A few more pics...

Grace playing "kick the can"... lol... I HATE to see trash in the water/on the ground, but Grace saw this can floating and couldn't figure out what it was so she kept slapping at it while stretching our so as not to get to close to it in case it bit her. It was rather funny. 







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Grace looking at the stick floating in the water... I love this shot!!







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Grace retrieving a stick from the water. She is the only one so far that loves to be in the water!







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## jester's mom (Nov 25, 2008)

Well, time to go home after a fun filled afternoon. All dogs settled and accounted for in the car.  And, yeah, my seat has a blanket on it for such occasions. 








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## Bella's Momma (Jul 26, 2009)

Wow, what a great group of poodles you have! Lovely portraits. I am very impressed with the off-leash, too. I hope to get there someday. I was just thinking how my kids act crazier when they are together instead of one at a time, I cannot imagine getting 4 dogs to behave at once! 

So I read that once they get wet you have to either bathe them right away, or dry them (dry in lake water?!), what did you do in this situation? I'm a new poodle owner.


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## Cdnjennga (Jul 30, 2009)

You have such a beautiful poodle family! Are they 4 standards, or is the small one a mini?


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## Sara (Aug 2, 2009)

I love the photo of Billy and Grace. Mirror image. 

Doesn't it feel great when you know your dogs have had a good day. Bet they slept really well that night!

How old is Taffy? She looks like she might be just a little younger than mine. Lorelei is almost 8 months now.


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

Bella's Momma said:


> Wow, what a great group of poodles you have! Lovely portraits. I am very impressed with the off-leash, too. I hope to get there someday. I was just thinking how my kids act crazier when they are together instead of one at a time, I cannot imagine getting 4 dogs to behave at once!
> 
> So I read that once they get wet you have to either bathe them right away, or dry them (dry in lake water?!), what did you do in this situation? I'm a new poodle owner.


_Hi there.....thank you. We're impressed with off-leash with them too. They go horseback rising with us and have learned to stay near or within site of us.

The spoos are show dogs so they are bathed and groomed once a week....we have had non-stop rain here in Vermont for two months. It was impossible to dry them every time they went outside. And you should have seen the mud they go into nearly everytime!! CRY! Since they are done every week and I use leave in conditioner, I wasn't worried about it. They have to be combed out a couple of times in between. I always use Mane and Tail detangler so that I am not brushing a dry coat. They smell so nice most of the time. Lately it smells like a swamp around here the minute you open the door to go outside....disgusting!_


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## PonkiPoodles (Feb 25, 2009)

Very cute Pics! Thanks for sharing


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

Cdnjennga said:


> You have such a beautiful poodle family! Are they 4 standards, or is the small one a mini?


_they are all standards....the baby is about 3 months old. We love our little family!_


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

Sara said:


> I love the photo of Billy and Grace. Mirror image.
> 
> Doesn't it feel great when you know your dogs have had a good day. Bet they slept really well that night!
> 
> How old is Taffy? She looks like she might be just a little younger than mine. Lorelei is almost 8 months now.


_Thank you...we were very excited at how the photo of Billy & Grace came out.

Oh, yes...they slept very well.

Taffy is 5 1/2 months and will be showing by September._


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## spoofan (Dec 11, 2008)

They are simply gorgeous and it looks like they had so much fun.
You must have had fun cleaning them up afterwards.


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## jester's mom (Nov 25, 2008)

Actually, Ivy, the littlest one, just turned 11 weeks old today. She sure can keep up with the group though. LOL... I went for a horse ride this morning and took all four of mine with me... One Dobe (Jade), Grace, Jester (my toy poodle) and Ivy. This was Ivy's first time out with the horse and she did great but got tired so I stopped off at Deb's house and let Ivy hang out there till I got back. 

And, yeah, they were all muddy/wet when I got home. I just hose them off outside to get all the dirt out of the legs/belly and let them dry as they get, as Deb said, weekly baths with leave in conditioner in their coats after the bath.

Thanks for all the compliments. They are very well behaved dogs. They all know to sit when I get their food ready and will sit in a line right near the area I always put their particular dish down. It is so funny because when Ivy came she was just 8 weeks old and had no idea of such things. I calmly put her in a sitting position and repeated it till she staid (but boy did she stare at her dish..lol) and it only took her four days to learn that she had to sit before she was allowed to eat. Now, it is the funniest thing to see her come running to her spot and skid to a sitting position and watch me set the dishes down with her tail wagging and front feet tapping the floor. She is such a good, sweet little girl. I can't wait till she is Grace's size and can do all the stuff Grace does.


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## Harley_chik (Nov 7, 2008)

Beautiful pics!!!!!!


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## BFF (Jun 10, 2009)

Wow. You got some really great family photos. The tongue club is hilarious. It took me a little while to find Ivy. I saw her tongue though!

Billy looks gorgeous as ever. I really like his pic with Grace. Of course, Grace's picture with the can was fun. It would have been neat to see her play with it.

Of course Taffy on the rock (even with her flipped ear) looks amazing. It's like she is reflecting on her day's fun as the sun sets. Of course, she is probably wondering if they have any fish for her in the canoe!


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_LOL....BFF...that is soooo funny....you remembered that she is a fisher dog! I'm sure you're right too.

ty you everyone for the compliments!
_


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## AgilityIG (Feb 8, 2009)

They look awesome!! It must be great to have some place to let them run. I just have my yard - otherwise, everything here has to be on leash. I am so jealous!!


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## thestars (May 2, 2009)

Absolutely a beautiful picture of Billy and Grace. That would be nice in one of those Poodle Calendars!


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## mercymoon (Aug 29, 2008)

Your photography is lovely as always, your dogs must be used to
posing by now...you definitely have a way with them.

The pink tongue club is my fave, wouldn't mind having a print of that!


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_I love where I live...we can do just about anything...no big restrictions. Vermont is pretty easy! Go out your door and go wherever you want because there is so much mountain and so much government owned land.
_


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## *heather* (Jul 30, 2009)

Vermont is SO beautiful!! I'm equally blessed to be living in the part of Ontario that I live... I believe exercise is so important for your dog and spending time with them outdoors is SO much fun! We're minutes from the water and there are beaches specifically designated for dogs to play and swim and socialise! We also have an off leash dog park only 1/2 a block from my house! It will be a place we will spend a lot of time, great for socialization and for getting to know other dog owners in the area! The hardest part will be waiting til my little Rogan has had all his shots and it's safe to let him play with other dogs!


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## Sivaro (Sep 19, 2008)

Your dogs are looking good ss. Lovely pics. Are you using a Canon?


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## jester's mom (Nov 25, 2008)

Sivaro said:


> Your dogs are looking good ss. Lovely pics. Are you using a Canon?


Actually, it is my camera we were using, and, yes, it is a canon 40D. Deb has a canon also, but a MUCH MORE expensive one (I think a 4D) that doesn't normally go out for ride arounds yet, she need to get a flash for it as it doesn't have a built in one.

Thank you for the compliment on our dogs, we absolutely LOVE the poodle. 

BTW, haven't seen you around for quite a while, hope all is going well with you and yours. Do you have any new pics of the pups you had? I know they are probably all gone by now, but maybe older pup pics? They sure were beauts!!!


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

Sivaro said:


> Your dogs are looking good ss. Lovely pics. Are you using a Canon?


_Yes, I am....how did you know?! LOL I have the Canon 5D Mark II. But, because of all the rain we have had for the last two months, I did not bring my camera. Dianne had hers, a Canon 40D, I believe, and we used that one to take the photos. I used to be a Nikon person but after going to school, I found that I liked the Canon much better.

TOO FUNNY!! I didn't scroll all the way down when I picked up your post and I pretty much parroted what Dianne said. Talk about being redundant! LOL
_


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

*heather* said:


> gorgeous! I think I need a black spoo next!


_Billy is actually a blue but he sure is taking his sweet time changing. He has started getting in his adult coat (curses) and his blue is beginning to show a bit now. It is a dark blue though...he looks more like he has slightly faded at this point than that he is turning blue. His adult coat is definitely a dusty color now.....and totally matted every day at the skin. I am soooooo not going to like this stage in the spoos._


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

*heather* said:


> Vermont is SO beautiful!! I'm equally blessed to be living in the part of Ontario that I live... I believe exercise is so important for your dog and spending time with them outdoors is SO much fun! We're minutes from the water and there are beaches specifically designated for dogs to play and swim and socialise! We also have an off leash dog park only 1/2 a block from my house! It will be a place we will spend a lot of time, great for socialization and for getting to know other dog owners in the area! The hardest part will be waiting til my little Rogan has had all his shots and it's safe to let him play with other dogs!


_
Ahhh...but the joy when he gets there! You are going to be so happy! Fun, fun, fun in your future!_


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## poodlelover (Oct 19, 2008)

Beautiful poodles, looks like you had fun. The worst part of owning a poodle is when you let them in the lake after a grooming. It seems like whenever I groom my poodles we decide to take them to the lake.


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## coastmom (Jun 23, 2009)

I am so jealous! All of your dogs are just beautiful and seem to have such great personalities. Beautiful pictures!

I've already started talking about when we get another spoo...my H just looks at me like I'm crazy!

What type of shampoo do you use for your dogs?


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

coastmom said:


> I am so jealous! All of your dogs are just beautiful and seem to have such great personalities. Beautiful pictures!
> 
> I've already started talking about when we get another spoo...my H just looks at me like I'm crazy!
> 
> What type of shampoo do you use for your dogs?


_We use Polmolive dish soap and Horse & Mane Leave In Conditioner between shows. If they are showing we just use the dish soap to strip out any dirt, conditioner, and spray conditioner that we use when brushing between grooming. This allows the hair to be more full and stand up better._


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## *heather* (Jul 30, 2009)

Seriously!?! Palmolive dish soap!?! That would save a ton $$ on puppy/dog shampoo's!!! wow! great tip!


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

poodlelover said:


> Beautiful poodles, looks like you had fun. The worst part of owning a poodle is when you let them in the lake after a grooming. It seems like whenever I groom my poodles we decide to take them to the lake.


_You know....you're right. It never seems to fail that after we spend hours getting them all prettied up, we go somewhere and let them be the dogs they were born to be and have all kinds of fun in water and mud!!! LOL_


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## jester's mom (Nov 25, 2008)

Spoospirit forgot that we use dog oatmeal shampoo also. Palmolive to strip the conditioner and clean the coat, oatmeal shampoo as the second wash to finish the clean out and add the benefits of the oatmeal shampoo, then main & tail conditioner that we leave in and do not wash out. IF we are going to show or want to have the coat really stand up for a "special take out" then just the Palmolive and oatmeal shampoo washing, 

The main & tail conditioner left in helps keep the coat from breakage and allows it to grow nicely, but it also keeps the coat from standing out straight for showing or if you just are going out with them in public and you want a great look. In the pics, all the poodles have main & tail conditioner left in. We weren't planning on a photo session...lol.. it just came to mind as we were eating our Berger King meal and looking at those beautiful flowers in the parking lot.

We also spritz the dogs with main & tail conditioner mixed in water for the brushing sessions between baths.

These dogs are just so great, we love them immensely and it will be fun to begin Taffy's and Grace's show careers later this year, and, of course, Ivy's in a little over 3 months.


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