A True Home Defense System....."Break in I Dare You!"

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     Well my weekend went by very quickly...now I start my work week. Since I work Saturday through Tuesday I get to miss all the real weekend fun.

     Over the past couple of days I was able to take photos a few times. Once at an old building and another with a Police dog.  Yep the dog above is the one I am refering to....(For those who understand....I took the dog photos with my fixed 50mm. For those who don't know...that means I was probably too close!)

     The dog above is named "Kourt" he's two and a half years old and is either looking like the spawn of Satan or Man's best friend. I thought I would show you a few versions of the more intimidating side.

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     Contrary to popular belief, it is very hard to get a dog to bite...and bite hard. Most dogs nip at best.  This is why simply having a dog in your home does not keep out all burglars. In addition it's even harder to get a dog to bite on command, release on command or do what is refered to as "Bark & Hold" which is simply a show of force.

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     Police K9's are constantly in training. They spend hours every single week going over and over what they are trained to do. To the dog this is a big game...to a criminal it's a pain with a capital "P". I have seen many times when there are several police trying to tell a suspect what to do and they won't listen. The a K9 Officer shows up and the dog starts barking....often times the sound of the dog is more scary then the yelling police officers.

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     Now that I have shown you a few mean photos...I will show you that the dogs can be nice as well. You see they are still dogs, but Police dogs are picked based of an ability to be aggressive. Most dogs are not aggressive and intellegent enough to be polcie K9's.

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     Kourt here can be friendly, but may be a bit too aggresive for being around kids. Some Police K9's are able to be around kids...but many are not much for family pets.

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     While taking this photo I started to think I was about to be lunch. Behind me was a guy in a "Bite Suit" He was there to get the dog to come straight at me....the he was supposed to move. I guess he waited a bit longer than he should have because Kourt looked like he was keying in on me...in fact he brushed right next to me as he passed. I saw in his eyes righ before he got to me that he changed his mind and went for bite suit. I am very glad he changed his mind.

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     During this shoot I had a brain laps and left my extra memory cards on the desk. So I only had one card to use. I would have liked to get more shots, but I was short on memory. I did get a few that I liked including about 8-10 more not shown here. I just quickly processed these to give some samples to Corey the handler.

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     I know you didn't think I would leave you without some weird random photo. Of course you didn't; that's why this photo should not be a surprise.

     This is an old building I stumbled across the other day. I am not sure what it used to be, but something tells me it was a school. The building and land are for sale, and there was a sign in front with an agent's number. I decided to call and ask to speak with the owner in order to get permission to take some photos. Luckily for me the owner is also the agent. He was nice enough to let me go on his property and take some photos. I also made arrangements to come back another day and take photos of the inside. Although it is wide open, it was cloudy and very dark inside. So I just took some from the outside.

     This leads me to my quick soap box. I will rant briefly, then get of the box. Sorry to be a jerk, but just like everyone else I have opinions too. So, without further yapping here is my complaint.

     I see photographers posting pictures all of the time that they took on private property.  I also happen to know that many of theses places they trespass on do not allow photography. I know because I actually ask permisson instead of asking forgiveness. I never ever take photos on property that I have not been given permission to be on. I think that when you take pictures and disregard private property and posted no trespassing signs you give all photographers a bad name. So, I urge other photographers to stop trespassig and get permission. if you don't have permission, then go somewhere else. I know that is a pain, but it's the right thing to do.

     For expample; I know of a house that has a tree covered with old licene plates. It is very cool and I want to take photos of it. I could simply get out of my car, walk up onto the egde of their lawn, snap a few shots and be gone before they could say anything. However, I have been trying to get permission. I have stopped by twice and knocked on their door. Both times no one was home....so I did not take the photos...and I won't if I don't get permission.

     Anway, all I am saying is "Stop Trespassing"  Just because it looks cool, and you could hop the fence and take a few shots doesn't mean you should.

Best Wishes,

Josh Ashdown

The Wananbe Photographer