No, that’s not a typo – 3ee (pronounced “three”, just like the number) is the name of this gorgeous San Diego Belgian Malinois dog! This gorgeous girl is five years old, and her dad rescued her several years ago… since then, she’s grown to be his greatest friend and defender!

3ee is definitely protective of her dad, but at her heart, she’s an explorer. She absolutely loves getting out into the great wide open – and I was so impressed at how responsive she was to her dad’s calls & commands! It was clear how much she was enjoying herself at Mission Trails Park, sniffing everywhere and always looking for the opportunity to chase a small animal – but every time her dad said “hey!” her head would immediately spin around and she’d change direction, ready to go wherever he wanted her to be. It was amazing to witness their connection; I just love working with dogs who are so in-tune with their owners! :)

We started our photo session at Mission Trails Park – a part of the park I’d never been to before! – and hiked in & out of the brush, discovering the scenery as we went along. And the views certainly didn’t disappoint!

Then we headed to a greener park with plenty of soft grass to relax in… but don’t worry, 3ee still kept an eye out for any pesky squirrels… just in case. :)

And then it was time for 3ee’s first trip to the beach! Turns out, she ended up loving the water! And although she had to be coerced in for the first time, I was really impressed at how courageous she is; she spent the rest of our session confidently wading in & out of the shore. This dog is nearly fearless!

Craig, I had a great time with both of you! Thanks again for introducing me to such fantastic locations. I’m really looking forward to showing you the rest of our photos soon! :)

Well, let’s be honest: you can’t take a couple of big dogs to their favorite beach and not run around the whole time! Haha, this “sneak peek” blog post is full of action photos, even though I typically try to mix things up and feature a variety of images – but that’s because “action” is all these dogs wanted to do for their photo session! I always tell my clients that their dogs will be “in charge” of how things go at their session, and it’s true; I wouldn’t try to force a high-energy dog to sit still any more than I would encourage a low-energy dog to run a marathon. So Molly the golden retriever and Indy the great Pyrenees/lab mix must have discussed the matter before jumping out of their mom’s Jeep… the primary objectives of our session were A) play fetch, B) run around, C) chase birds and D) have a fantastic time!

Indy & Molly’s mom is a professional dog trainer (she works at The Golden Paw, one of my Bailey’s favorite places to stay!) and so of course her dogs knew all the commands that made our session go super-smoothly. She insists that they have a bit of “preacher’s daughter syndrome” (haha!) but I thought both dogs behaved like angels. They each have their quirks, of course – at one point Molly tried chasing after some ducks, thinking she could out-swim them (she couldn’t), and Indy particularly enjoyed the idea of coating himself from head to toe in sand – but they were such a joy to work with!

This is Molly! She’s not a puppy anymore, as you can tell from the white fur on her face, but this girl can get up and GO!

And this handsome boy is Indy (short for Indiana)! He was always ready to chase the frisbee – unless you threw it too far. Then it was Molly’s responsibility to fetch it. Clearly.

Ahhhhh – I love a good sunset over Fiesta Island.

Christie, thanks so much for waiting out the cloudy weather with me! Those blue skies were definitely worth the wait! :)  Can’t wait to see you again soon!