Seth Casteel - Big Dog, Little Dog

Underwater Dogs

Underwater Puppies

Underwater Babies

Pounce

Its a Puppys Life

A S A DOG ENTHUSIAST, I am fascinated with everything about dogs, and I explore these fascinations through photography. Not all of these fascinations are worthy of a published book of course, and Im sure you would agree that a book filled with pictures of my dog Nala playing hide-and-seek with me may not end up on your coffee table, but it would end up on mine!

One of my greatest fascinations about dogs is their appearance. Dogs are a species with tremendous physical diversitycoat color and pattern, type of fur, length of muzzle, to name a few. Walking into a dog park with a hundred dogs present, one could assume there were dozens of species of animals frolicking around. And while one is admiring this group of a hundred dogs at the dog park, the physical trait that stands out above the rest is their size.

Fully grown, a dog can reach a weight of more than 350 pounds. And on the opposite end, 1 pound. Same species. Different breeds. As of today, there are more than four hundred recognized breeds and countless mixed breeds. Thats a lot of diversity!

Another fascination I have about dogs is their relationships with one another. Just as humans have complex relationships with other humans, so do dogs. At the dog park, one dog may gravitate toward another specific dog, while ignoring all others. This doggie chemistry is always curious to watch, and it can always be explained.

One of my dogs, Luna, has a dog friend named Percy. She loves Percy so much that she has memorized his name. Wheres Percy? I ask her. Luna goes into FULL ALERT MODE. Is Percy here?! Where is he? Thats when Luna will barrel down the hallway, shrieking and shouting cries of joy and excitement in anticipation of Percys arrival. Whether or not Percy came over for a visit that particular day is not the important thingthe point is that Lunas relationship with Percy is worthy of a full-blown shrieking-howling sprint. I cant think of the last time I either howled or sprinted when a friend came over.

Other dog relationships are not by their choice. For example, my dog Nalas relationship with my other dog, Luna. Nala didnt choose Luna. Actually, neither did I. She came as a plus-one with my girlfriend, Jeanine. But I love Luna (and Jeanine, too!). Nala and Luna cohabitate. They are not enemies nor do they snuggle or play together. But Nala will walk over to Luna sometimes to check in and offer a lick to the leg to make sure everything is groovy. I do believe they appreciate the companionship, especially when there are no humans around to tell them they are beautiful or to feed them popcorn.