mondays with magda

Since Mondays are kinda slow around Shuttersmack HQ (well, slow in terms of lots of invoicing, mileage, accounting, editing, etc and not much actual shooting), I thought I would start a new feature around these parts called Mondays with Magda. I need to train this girl to pose on paper and in other spots, and I need to get her used to the camera (which she's struggling with). So it's a win for me in that it gives us a project, and it's a win for you in that you can see updates and photos of the dog, OR if you are sick of the dog you know which day to skip (whomever in the world might be sick of this pup is beyond me, but hey, I'm tryin' to be thoughtful).So this is the first installment, and today marks exactly one month that we've been living with this beast pup.So what are we learning? She has learned how to tell us when she wants to go outside and to (mostly) hold it until we do so. This is the NUMBER ONE lesson for all puppy owners, and I'm glad she's got it down. She has also learned to sit and lay down, but WE have learned that she is amazingly stubborn and sometimes doesn't want to do these things and will bark at you (and sometimes nip at you!) because she wants to be the boss. Yeah. She's bossy. She has kinda learned "stay," but we're working on it.This age, 7 months, is about when the personality starts to come out. She can be very sweet and loving, but she also lets you know when, hey, she's had enough of this B.S. and she's done sitting and just give me the treat already. So we're working on that.She's also hella smart. This week she sat, looked me right in the eye and barked. That's code for "I have to go outside." I jumped up from my meal and rushed to the backdoor to let her out. But she wasn't behind me. Nope, she was back in the kitchen, climbing onto my chair trying to eat my lunch. Trickster.Overall though, she's pretty adorable. If you don't believe me, you can peek at the outtakes from today's shoot. In some images she appears so sweet... and in others she's barking... and in others she's looking at me like "ALLRIGHTALREADY, GIMME THAT FOOD." You'll see what I mean.