Alberta Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith found herself in a compromising photo involving her two dogs expressing their romantic desires for each other.

CALGARY - There's an old saying about never sharing the stage with children or animals.

Alberta Wildrose leader Danielle Smith learned that the hard way Saturday as she was taking her beloved pooches Caine and Turk on a walk in Calgary's scenic Nose Hill Park as part of a photo op in the midst of Alberta's election campaign.

The result was what would be best described as a compromising photo involving her dog Caine expressing his romantic desire for another canine with Smith in the background making the rounds.

It's not that it came as much of a surprise to Smith, who had her best friends with her on the bus throughout the first week of the campaign. She warned before the walk began that they were "humpers".

When asked about the compromising photo Smith simply laughed.

"They've started their own Twitter account so if you want to follow them on Twitter it's @caineandturk and they'll be tweeting for the rest of the campaign."

There was no mention of the extracurricular activities in the dogs' first Tweets.

Fantastic time at Nose Hill Dog Park this morning! We met Felix and so many other #wrp puppies! #abvote.

Going for a walk! So excited! Nose Hill Dog Park at 1145, come find us at 14 Street behind the Winter Club! #abvote #wrp.

It's not Smith's first photo faux pas. Before the campaign even began when the Wildrose party first unveiled its campaign bus, with a big picture of Smith on the side, Twitter writers and some journalists snickered over the fact the twin rear tires were suggestively placed where Smith's breasts would be.

The picture went viral on the Web, and political journalists wrote about the hoopla. The hoopla then forced the Wildrose to promise to redo the bus to prevent it from becoming a campaign distraction, thus turning the hoopla into a legitimate news story.

• DANIELLE AND HER DOGS
• DANIELLE AND HER DOGS
• DANIELLE AND HER DOGS
• DANIELLE AND HER DOGS
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