Doing Their Puggy Best, 8x8 Oil

Still working off my 500+ dog show photos. I would rather paint from life, but that would be a little difficult at a Dog Show ("Excuse me... #29, could you and your pug just hold that pose for about 45 minutes?"). I put all the DS (dog show) paintings up on the wall, from first to this one and it was astonishing to me how I have let the dogs get smaller and smaller, and the paintings are more about the 'scene'. I think here and possibly the last couple I was trying to show the relationship between owner or handler and dog. In this one there are even some bystanders. I think I'll go back to a closer-up look at the dogs.

I love the pug ring. These dogs are SO into pleasing people, (well, and those doggie candies that the handlers keep wetting - in their mouths - ugh- mmMmmm). This is diametrically opposed to something called (eurphamistically) "Pug Obedience". This is when the person tosses a ball or doll and encourages the pug to go 'fetch' it. Pugs, I think, view this as a competition WITH THE PERSON.. an opportunity to convince that person that THEY should go get it and bring it back, if it's so much fun..... When my husband and I watched this 'competition' a few years ago we had to leave because we were SNORTING laughing. Most of the time the people ended up 'fetching', by the way. ;)