Alayne and I were taking photos of Snuggles last weekend, just before she left for Colorado, for use in our spring 2011 print newsletter (hey, you have to plan ahead in this business!). After taking a lot of shots for a potential cover photo, Miss Snuggles was growing tired of the modeling thing and beginning to droop. So Alayne went to get some dog treats to perk up Snuggles' interest in the job at hand.
I had asked Alayne to hold a dog cookie out in her hand, over Snuggles' head, to get Snuggles to look up. Alayne was holding the cookie higher than I initially planned, and that photo above is Snuggles looking at the cookie. Then, suddenly, Snuggles leaped into the air, all four feet off the ground, spun around, and came down in a perfect landing. Just in a flash like that, she had pulled off this amazing acrobatic stunt.
Alayne and I looked at each other, somewhat astonished. Snuggles walked back across the floor to Alayne, and when Alayne didn't immediately hand her the cookie, Snuggles leaped into the air and spun again. She got the cookie.
As you can imagine, I started taking photos, and every time Alayne would hold out a new cookie for her, Snuggles would perform her little trick before getting it. She moved so fast I couldn't get a complete set of photos from one entire trick, but this series gives you the idea. She went from sitting, like you see above, to straight up:
Notice in that shot how she's already beginning to spin as she goes vertical.
Then she begins to twist … and she's a full foot off the ground at this point and still climbing:
Now she's turning around to position herself for a landing:
And here she comes on approach:
Just like a jetliner, she touches down on the runway with main landing gear first, nose wheel to follow:
I could never get a decent photo of the instant she had all four feet on the ground because she'd spin around on the floor and start walking in a millisecond. It was one fluid motion.
But here she was, heading back to Alayne … she was beginning to wear herself out with her repeated acrobatic manuevers by now:
She's thinking, "Jeez, these people are really making me work for those dang treats!"
I had emailed Snuggles' new Mom, Ellen, last weekend, told her about this little trick and attached one of these photos. I had also told Ellen we had discovered a couple of weeks ago that Snuggles loved slices of apples as a treat, too. On Wednesday, Ellen emailed us to report Snuggles had arrived safe and sound, and she added: "She did her jump and spin for apples yesterday, too." Have trick, will travel.
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Still 2nd place!
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It was thanks to all of your amazing votes that we won the $20,000 Grand Prize in the final Shelter Challenge of 2009, and we came in fourth nationwide in the first Shelter Challenge earlier this year, winning $3,000. So this is serious money and can really make a difference for our disabled animals! Please help us win this round of the contest by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too. Thank you!
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