This morning I was thrilled to have the opportunity to do something special: a surprise session, for a family & their standard poodle named Jackie! That’s right – Jackie’s mom had no idea that I was showing up today, much less that we’d be working together to create dozens of photos of her gorgeous dog! This was all planned by a member of the family; I was contacted by Jackie’s owner’s daughter (which makes she & Jackie “sisters”, I suppose!), who wanted to surprise her mother with a session. And I love being sneaky – surprise photo sessions are soooo much fun! haha! So after the surprise was revealed, Jackie’s family & I went to play fetch in the neighborhood for a while, and after getting out the fetch-wiggles, we settled in for a few family portraits. The experience was a total shock to Jackie’s mom, and I can’t wait to show her all of our photos!

Here’s Jackie! Patiently (or sometimes not so patiently) waiting for the next throw of the tennis ball, and then sprinting back with it! This dog is serious about her fetch; for example, she’s all about her one specific ball. She has no interest in other dogs’ balls, and she won’t leave the park if the ball somehow gets lost in the bushes – she’s just got to get it back! Oh, and my favorite part of how she played was that she’d bring the ball back to a different person every time it was thrown. It was like she wanted to involve all of us in the game! Gosh – how nice of you, Jackie! (I didn’t know standard poodles were so community-oriented!)

It took a while, but we tuckered her out and eventually meandered back to the house. Then we relaxed in the yard – but that ball always had to be close by!

Emily, thank you for coordinating a fantastic surprise – and Lee, I’m glad you finally made it into town! Claudia, I’m so excited to see you again & show you all your photos – thank you for a fabulous morning! :)

Tags: Del Mar, pet photography, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography