Stills

Yes indeed, a huge smile! A very well take photograph John.

This has humour and surprise in spades. The backwards slant of the child, everything about the dog. If this had a sign on the fence saying “beware of the dog” I don’t think I would be able to bare it.
 

Joy.
 

Funny. That snow suit is a hoot.
 

Interesting but I don't see this as a fun picture. I have no love of dogs and get cross when dog owners allow their animals to poo and roam. When I shy away from dogs I especially hate the comment, 'don't worry he is more scared of you than you are of him'. How do they know?

So I see it as a child trying to escape from a dangerous dog.
 

'don't worry he is more scared of you than you are of him'

It really is a ridiculous saying, since a scared animal is often the most dangerous kind.
 

I don't do dogs very much either, but surely this is a happy dog unable to contain its excitement at having a red friend to play with.
 

Still makes me smile. The snow adds to the whole feeing of it -- something I don't see very often!
 

I took this in a 'neutral' frame of mind - ie it was another shot in the snow with the added bonus of a leaping dog. Rather like in 'Blow up' (for those old enough to remember the film), the ambiguity came out afterwards. There is definitely an element of 'big, fierce dog menaces small child' presented by the angle of the shot and the juxtaposition of the players. So Rex has a point even if this dog is well trained - on a farm one has to ensure that it doesn't chase lambs, let alone small children. How you would get on in Latin America Rex, I can't imagine - packs of semi-feral dogs roam the streets in large packs, which are surprisingly friendly. Just beware the guy guarding his corrugated iron shed with an alsation! As to poo, some cities and towns have come a long way in 10 years by persuading owners to clean up after them. Madrid is particularly good, Paris bad. London somewhere in-between.

Amazing what you can get for children these days - the "hoot" snow suit wasn't always available although this is for rain!

Christian, we don't see too much snow these days either.
 

I enjoyed Paris greatly but was horrified by the amount of dog poo. I came to the conclusion that Paris was too good for the French and that they didn't deserve it.

Interestingly I read that remark in the Times in the last month or so written by a French lady who had come to live in London, to get away from the French in Paris.
 

I keep thinking I've seen this somewhere before - or at least something very similar. Probably a cartoon or the like. In it the dog just keeps on jumping and jumping.

Very simple (limited) colours create an entertaining result. Interesting choice of composition with that pole pretty much slap-bang in the middle. Definitely creates a myside/yourside framing.

The air above in the top quarter was on first view seemingly superfluous. However it is growing on me but probably for the wrong reasons...it gives the dog something to jump into to get to the other side.

One little quibble that I can't make out the eye on the doberman.