Dogs and their People

I had the pleasure of photographing the annual fund raiser (Mutt Strut) for the local shelter in my area this past weekend.  It was a very cold, windy and drizzly day but bless their hearts the dogs with their people were out there to strut their stuff and help raise money for the animals still waiting for a permanent home.  I am so happy to be able to photograph this event and I love love love to take photos of people with their pets, the faces of both pet and human always seem so happy and relaxed when they are together.  As I was editing my photos I did notice one funny thing, how many people have a characteristic of their pet, so I was wondering if subconsciously this is how the decision to choose a particular animal is made by some.  Here are just a couple of photos where I thought human and canine looked like they were cut from the same cloth.

I would love to know why did you choose your pet, what was the one special thing that you saw in those eyes that said this is the one.  Also do you think you look like your pet, I have 5 dogs and I think I look a bit like all of them :)

 Notice the shape of the mouth

 Dressed in colors similar to dogs coat

 Notice beard and smile

 Hair on human falls like ears on dog

 Dressed in simliar color as dogs coat and dog and human have same stance

 Look at their hair

Look at the mustache on man and dog

Day 50/365 - 2010

It's Furry Friday over on Flickr so I thought I would take a snap of my little Sparkles. I often wonder how he started out his life and why he wound up on the streets scrounging for his meals. He certainly has good reason not to trust people after all we were the ones that put him out there. Was he not pretty enough, was he to small, was he personality not to your liking, why..... Well I am glad he found us and we became a happy little family. I did not want another dog but the universe said different and the universe is usually right.

Day 11/365 - 2010

Volunteer day at the shelter and my friends Sonny and Cher improved by leaps and bounds! When we first met them all they wanted to do was huddle together and now they are actually coming up to John and I for some affection. I know we are not the only ones at the shelter working with them there are a lot of great volunteers and staff there that have helped them to move up this far. I tell you when Cher came over to give me that kiss I wanted to yell YAHOO but couldn't because I would scare the heck out of her so I yelled it inside. They are even remembering who we are, when we came into the kennels to get them they came right up front to say hello. Sonny is ready to go when you go into fetch him Cher is still a bit shy of that leash, but upside to that my cattle roping skills are improving.

BTW thank God dogs don't care what you look like, if you read my post from yesterday you know I need a little tinkering to look presentable, well when I go to the shelter I don't tinker. But that is what I love about dogs they love YOU!

So that is the news from the shelter this weekend, hope you all had something to make your weekend as happy as mine :)

Day 4/365 - 2010

Day 4 is Volunteer day at my local animal shelter :)

Meet Sonny and Cher, these two lovelies were found as strays back in October of 2009. They are quite a challenge to work with as they are so afraid of anything new, i.e. people, environment, etc. They so love and depend on each other, if Sonny think we are mishandling Cher he immediately comes to her side. They are both making progress slowly, yesterday was monumental Sonny actually came up to John and I and wanted to engage us and Cher meekly followed which took great courage on both their parts.

It makes me sad to see situations like this, not for the dogs as I am glad that they got themselves out of their situation but for the people who made them this way. Not just Sonny and Cher but all the animals in the shelter my heart just hurts to see them in their kennels scared and alone and not knowing why.

I would love for all people to go to a shelter and adopt an animal, especially now with the economy being like it is and so many being surrendered. But what I stress most is do your research first, make sure you are ready to invite one of these beautiful creatures into your home. The benefits of having an animal in your life are too infinite to list, but I can guarantee if you want true and pure love you will receive it hundred fold.

Hope to update you on Sonny and Cher in the weeks ahead with good news on their progress!