This might not look it, but this is actually a happy dog picture. On windy days, she’ll sit like this at the edge of the patio, just letting the wind blow interesting smells past her. You can’t see it from a still photo, but she’s constantly sniffing, and her ears are twitching, and she’s generally having a good time. It’s really cute.
It’s hard to get a picture of, though, because the minute we open the door, she’ll explode into motion to chase… something. Birds, squirrels, invisible aliens that only dogs can detect, I’m really not sure. This picture was actually shot through the kitchen window, which accounts for the focus being a little soft.
I have golden retrievers so I know exactly what you mean. It is really hard to capture how interesting (and interested) they are since they tend to run either toward or away from the camera.