What Happens When a Baby Photographer Gets a Puppy

Just over five years ago, on my husband’s birthday no less, our dog got very sick and we had to put him down the next day. It was a crappy time to say the least and we probably would have gotten another dog but I was 6 months pregnant and the LAST thing I wanted was to train a puppy and have a newborn all at the same time. And the excuses just piled on: we have two cats, we like to travel, my son seemed very wary of dogs since he was a baby, I work from home so not only would I be the one most responsible but with a home studio I also worried about clients with allergies or who didn’t like pets. Etc…

Well, last August, the day before my husband’s birthday (I don’t know why he has such rotten luck!) we put down one of our two cats who had gone blind from diabetes. Now the excuses for getting a dog started to pile up: I wasn’t walking as much as I did when my son was a baby and we’d go for long walks with the stroller, and at five he is a whole lot less work so the thought of training a pup wasn’t as daunting. My son also loves our neighbour’s dog and since he won’t be getting a sibling, a furry companion will be a nice compromise. And frankly, working from home can be a bit lonesome so I was also thinking a furry companion would be great for me too. So we started to talk about it and looking.

We knew we wanted a medium size dog and one that was hypoallergenic. While we know ‘doodles’ are all the rage, my husband was being picky so we kept looking around and found a breeder of Portuguese Water Dogs. Since we didn’t know anything about this breed, I convinced him to take a trip out to visit the pups and see what they were like. It’s great when you can also see the temperaments of both parents. They both passed all of my husbands ‘tests’ so needless to say we fell in love with the last little male pup and four weeks later, we brought Rio home. The timing was perfect. Just before March break so my son and I have been hanging out and getting to know our pup and Rio has been learning the ropes. He still has a ways to go but I’m confident he is a great fit for our family.

For those of you with fur babies, you know that in many ways, it is like bringing a new baby home (minus the pain! lol) so I couldn’t resist having a little fun and doing some of the same shots and poses I do for newborns and babies. A big thanks to my Algonquin College intern Joy Chuang for being both dog wrangler and getting behind the camera so I could get a few shots of myself with Rio. My son also tried to take some but his were a little too, um… artistic. 😉 He also refused to change into a nice shirt so he was left out of the studio session but I do love the more lifestyle captures I got of the first day we brought Rio home. Also missing is my husband who had to work this week so we used his boots as stand ins. We’ll have to try again for the whole family… I hope you enjoy my first foray into pet photography, and if you think you’d like a session for your pet, give me shout!

Rio’s First Day Home