First of all: if you recognize these dogs, DON’T tell their father about their photo session! It’s a surprise! :)

I had the pleasure of sharing a lovely photo session with two mutts named Chauncey & Grady, who live in the Kensington neighborhood of San Diego! Surprise pet photography sessions are so much fun to plan & coordinate, and this was no exception! Chauncey is a big dog – the size of a great dane, with shepherd-like fur, so who knows what breeds make up his heritage! Grady, on the other hand, is a little dog that looks just like a fox! I love mutts & mixed-breed dogs, and these two definitely didn’t disappoint; I’d love to hear your thoughts on what kinds of breeds Chauncey & Grady might be in the comments!

We visited the beach in Del Mar, and had a wonderful time running around the sand & surf. And I have to give big kudos to their mom, Megan – she definitely had her hands full, jogging through the water with two energetic dogs! But both pups simply love to please, so with a few treats & tennis balls, we definitely had their attention, haha! (Especially the always-food-motivated Chauncey!)

This is Chauncey! He’s rather majestic, don’t you think?

And this is Grady! Look at that girl run – what a smile!

Together they make such a sweet pair.

Megan, I can’t wait to show you the rest of our photos! Good luck keeping our little secret from your hubby in the meantime! :)

I simply cannot describe how thrilled I am to be writing a second blog post from a second photo session with Maddie! Longtime blog readers might remember her first photo session from last year, and as it turns out, in the past year Maddie has not only been a cancer survivor but has surpassed every potential time frame that her doctors gave her!! She’s been through a lot – seriously, a lot – but I’m so happy and proud of her & her mom for fighting through it all. So what better way to celebrate than a photo session on the beach, just in time for this year’s Christmas cards? :)

It’s good for Maddie to get plenty of rest these days, so she spends most of her time at home. She goes on walks, sure, but not too many places beyond her neighborhood too often (besides the vet, of course). So our photo session marked Maddie’s first time at the beach in over a year! Can you believe it? Maddie sure couldn’t – she was so excited to be there that her barks turned into high-pitched squeaks! Haha! It was so cute to see her so switched-on and invigorated with each sight of something new. She used up so much energy that she must have been passed out for the whole drive home – and probably the rest of the night, haha! But I know she enjoyed every second of our beach trip, and I did too. :)

 Here she is! Maddie the cancer survivor champ! Look how thrilled she is to be running around with her mom!

Maddie certainly hasn’t lost her sense of humor…

These two have been through so much together, and I absolutely adored the chance to photograph their relationship again. Trust me – these are two strong ladies, because they have each other to lean on.

Leslie, our session was a total pleasure, as always – give Maddie a hug for me & I’ll see you again soon!

I shared a fun photo session with two happy mixed breed dogs at Fiesta Island recently! I met their owner at Camp Bow Wow‘s Yappy Hour, and she tried month after month to win the gift certificate I regularly donated to benefit the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation… finally, one day, she won! Yay! So I had the privilege of meeting Star & Wellington, her two rescued dogs with completely different personalities. Star is ten years old, has a distinguished old kind of beauty, and moves slower than she used to… really, she’s content to relax & be next to her mom all the time. Wellington, on the other hand, has A) an adorable name, B) an adorable little face, and C) an adorably energetic personality! He runs circles around Star (literally) since he’s still a puppy… and although he was quite nervous about my camera when we first started our photo session, he warmed up to strike some super-cute poses for us!

(I’d like to mention, also, that this photo session was originally scheduled for a few weeks from today, but one day Nikki came home to find a massive lump on the side of Star’s face, which was confirmed by her vet to contain cancer cells. Obviously, I’m hoping & praying for the best possible outcome, but in the meantime, we decided to act quickly. We moved this photo session to just a few days after Nikki informed me of the situation, and I want other people to know that I always do everything I can do accommodate medical emergencies. With the proper medical care, there’s a great chance that Star still has years of love left to give – but I wasn’t about to take any unnecessary risks. So if your dog has been given a recent diagnosis, or any other type of time-sensitive emergency comes up, I want you to know that I’ll do everything I possibly can to fit you in ASAP. Despite usually being booked 3-4 weeks out, I always have room in my schedule for emergencies.)

So anyways… back to our Fiesta Island photo session!

This is Wellington! That FACE!

This is Star, and I think from some angles (including this one), she practically looks like a puppy again.

Star & Wellington’s dad is deployed right now, but to include him in the photo session, we brought out his uniform for the dogs to pose with. It got a bit sandy (oops) but hey, that’s what happens when you work with dogs!

Nikki, it was a total pleasure to finally get together with you & your pups! Can’t wait to see you again soon! :)