If I had to describe Stoney in one sentence, I’d say that he is an old soul and an explorer at heart. Where’s his happy place? Literally anywhere outdoors – the beach, the park, the backyard – it doesn’t matter! He just wants to be outside, and I think it’s because that’s the best place to let his wild spirit roam free. :) But as much as he loves the outdoors, he doesn’t love strangers – which isn’t a bad thing at all! He absolutely adores his parents and is very sweet with them, but it took time for them to earn his trust. Since he’s a little more timid with people he doesn’t know too well, we decided to have his entire photo session outside where he had plenty of room to roam – and where he’d be happiest, of course! It turned out to be a great decision and we had an amazing afternoon out at Mission Bay Park and then later at Fiesta Island!

Before the photo session, his parents warned me that Stoney would most likely want to spend the entire photo session sniffing the ground, and it might be a struggle to get him to do anything else. Happily that was not the case! They also didn’t think he would care about playing with toys, but all of a sudden he brought out his inner puppy and was playing fetch, chasing a tennis ball and running around! We were a little surprised, since he’s a senior dog and doesn’t kick it into high gear too often… but Stoney was full of cute surprises! (And I’m glad he didn’t spend the whole time with his nose to the ground, haha!)

After our quintessential-San-Diego start to our photo session in Mission Bay Park, we headed across the bay to Fiesta Island to catch the sunset. Stoney had a blast, and in fact maybe he had a little too much fun: at one point we decided to let him off-leash as we had trusted him (mostly!) for a game of fetch. Well… he ended up careening past where the ball stopped and kept running off into the sunset! He was probably going to sniff around and see if he could find any rabbits, but once his parents caught up to him the poor guy lost his freedom and was promptly back on-leash. :) Another fun fact about this sweet, old guy is that he used to have one floppy ear. I guess as he got older it kind of grew straighter, and his mom mentioned that she was hoping his one floppy ear would reappear for photos. Thankfully it came out for a few photos and he looked absolutely adorable! One thing’s for sure – straight ear or floppy ear, he’s a cutie. :)

Stoney was more than happy to just be with his parents during the photo session and it was so nice to see the way he interacted with them. They’ve clearly done a great job with him and have an amazing bond! It was such a wonderful, fun afternoon.

He really does look good with that trademark floppy ear. :)

Mission Bay Park was a great place to start our session – plenty of grass to run around & lounge in. Stoney took full advantage!

Oh San Diego… you’re so beautiful. But you look even better with this handsome boy.

Cathy and Adam, I can’t wait to share the images we captured with you! See you soon!