May 16, 2008 – Izzy amazes me, every day. He is living his life, enriching mine and others. Izzy does Hospice work, herds sheep, inspires the Granville kids, comforts shopkeepers,  loves to run into the woods alongside the four-wheeler, is my soulmate and constant companion, goes anywhere, loves everyone and, as Orson did, has changed my life and helped me advance as a human being.
  He was rescued from a farm where he lived mostly by himself and with the border collie Emma, who I took in and re-homed (we are going to see her tomorrow).
  Izzy is also difficult to photograph as he loves to lie down and stare at me. This morning as Rose and I went out to get the sheep, Izzy was alert and stood up to watch. One of the toughest challenges of animal photography is getting the eyes, and getting the black eyes on a black-and-white dog in the sun is rough. Got this shot
with a 70-200 mm and lightened shadows just a bit in Iphoto. So got the eyes, which made it.
  The shot captures his affection, intelligence and alertness, and is, in my view, the best photo I’ve taken of Izzy.