"Welcome to Manksville!" Tina greeted me with a huge grin and the kind of excitement that is infectious and my first thought was "Yes! This is going to be FUN!!!"

"I've now seen the amazing shots Caitlin took of my boys, Webster and Rosco. Caitlin, you are such a talented girl.

I am so looking forward to getting my book with the amazing images.

Thanks so much for the magic photo session and for your patience with me last night as I 'pawed' over each photo for so long." ~ Tina

Manksville is the nickname for the home of this hilarious, down-to-earth, mud-loving family. Tina's friends and family had organised her Ragamuffin Session as a birthday present and she was as excited as Rosco with a tennis ball by the time our session date finally arrived. It was long overdue - we had to reschedule TWICE because Melbourne likes to toy with my emotions by raining out the sessions that I'm really looking forward to! We were planning on focusing the session on beach dog photography, so we needed the weather to behave! Luckily, Tina kept me amused by sending updates from Webster and Rosco.

Rosco (aka Manky dog, aka Manky aka MANKSTER) is a puppy stuck in the body of a 10 year old Boxer x Labrador x Staffy. He has the most adorable underbite - Tina claims that he has a face only a mother could love, but I'll leave you guys to be the judge of that.

Perhaps it's a face only a mother & his photographer/treat-giving/ball-throwing/friend-for-life could love? Admittedly he does have an eye that turns in slightly when he gets overexcited and a habit of throwing his tongue out of his mouth in pursuit of OMG-BALLS-CHASE-TIME, but my goodness there is just something about Mr. Mank that melts my heart!

I laughed out loud watching Rosco whirl like a tornado when Tina told him we were going for a walk (watch out for it in their pet photography slideshow at the bottom of this post). When we got to the beach he whizzed off, while Webbie trotted patiently him. He is a total Mummy's boy and if I'm honest I see a lot of similarities between them. I think that if Rosco could talk, he and Tina would spend their days laughing together with the same wicked sense of humour. He has a total joy for life and is such a loving, clever, loyal boy (constantly by Tina's side).

Webster is the ying to Rosco's yang. He is a smoochy 12 year old Golden Retriever with a heart of gold. He has the most outrageously fluffy coat and is possibly carrying a little extra holiday weight under there, but you didn't hear it from me ;). The boy has a bit of a Cabana fetish and like any Golden Retriever, he would eat non-stop if Tina let him!

When I first arrived at Manksville, Webster and I headed outside to his favourite spot on the back porch. We sat down and had a good long chat. He leant in close to me and planted a huge slobbery kiss across my nose. He then proceeded to explain that even though Rosco sometimes seems like the rebellious one who demands all the attention, Webster was also pretty cool, man.

He regaled me with stories from his youth - apparently he once STOLE a police badge! He hid it in his mouth with expert stealth and he would've got away with it too, had it not been for the sharp eyes of the badge owner. "Wow, Webster!" I exclaimed. "You are way more edgy than your soft fluffiness suggests". He cracked his million-dollar smile with pride and I never had the heart to confess that I already knew the police badge belonged to his own mother . . .

"Webster is the academic and Rosco is the sports jock . . ." ~ Tina

Tina, thank you so much for such a ridiculously fun afternoon! I thoroughly enjoyed getting soaked with you and the boys at Altona Beach and I am so glad that your lovely family organised your pet photography gift voucher. Give your boys a big cuddle from me - I look forward to plenty of Manksville updates!

xx Caitlin

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Welcome to Manksville ~ Beach Dog Photography

"I've now seen the amazing shots Caitlin took of my boys, Webster and Rosco. Caitlin, you are such a talented girl.

I am so looking forward to getting my book with the amazing images.

Thanks so much for the magic photo session and for your patience with me last night as I 'pawed' over each photo for so long." ~ Tina

"Webster is the academic and Rosco is the sports jock . . ." ~ Tina