One of those dogs, due to her size and strength (probably), was still at the shelter when I visited again a few weeks later. But, then something wonderful happened. Her owner came and claimed her!

As it turns out, her owner went away on vacation and the person watching her somehow let her get loose. When the guy got home from vacation, he found his dog gone and had been searching for her for over eight weeks. He even posted a $500 reward! I still have to investigate to get more details, but I’m guessing that she must have wandered pretty far away from home and thus the owner never thought to check our shelter.

Eventually, he found her photo on the shelter web site, called and then came to get her! A wonderful reunion.

Nike on the left. Energetic and sweet as pie. Apparently he’s an escape artist and the shelter is recommending that he be adopted by someone who has a yard with a very high fence. On the right is Sue. She’s got the most striking coat. It’s thick and striped almost like a Bengal Tiger.

On the left here is Matilda. This is one of those super special dogs. I’m amazed that she hasn’t been adopted yet because she’s perfect in just about every way. Napoleon, the toy poodle on the right, just arrived at the shelter this weekend. I doubt that he’ll be there long. Small, cuties like this one are adopted within days, if not hours.

This beautiful Alaskan Malamute belongs to my friend and agility instructor, Linda. Not only is Linda good with animals, she also has the greenest thumb of anyone I have ever met. Starting in late May, her yard comes to life with flowers.

These photos are from early June of 2008. Anna (the dog) was just recovering from a broken leg, but was happy to be outside and volunteering her beautiful face for some photos. Anna is an ILP’d Alaskan Malamute that Linda rescued about five years ago. She regularly qualifies as one of the top malamutes in AKC agility each year (her registered name is Annasitnstasia). She’s super smart and fun to work with. In the next few days, I’ll post some photos of the rest of Linda’s canine gang.

I’m in love. I wish he was mine!

My friend fostered a litter of pug puppies for Michigan Pug Rescue. This litter was one of several that were rescued from a puppy mill in Oklahoma.

This is a seriously sweet little guy. (His eyes are funny. We were joking that if you wanted to sneak up on him, all you would have to do is walk straight towards him!)

Oh, yeah! And my new white backdrop? It got pee’d on at least six times! It was christened by Harry and his big brother Gus!

These kitties are all available at the Parma Animal Shelter. When I first started helping out at PAS, I used to try and get photos of all of the cats. Then they expanded and upgraded their cat room. The expansion was great for the cats and the volunteers, but with a population of about seventy cats it was close to impossible to get everyone photographed. Now, the petfinder photos are taken by one of the cat volunteers. It’s still fun to go into the cat room and take some playtime shots.

From left to right, top to bottom:
Maximus – a gorgeous doberman mix
Duchess – Ohmigosh. Those eyes. Very sweet girl.
Bailey – Calm, quiet dog. (Adopted!!)
Scruffy – Well. Scruffy!
Lucy – So cute. I’d guess she has some BC or Aussie in her. She’d make an awesome 16″ or 20″ agility dog! (Adopted!!)

This pair belongs to one of my dog training peers. I take photos part-time for the photo studio that is a part of the dog training center where I sometimes teach. While my friend was teaching class, I was goofing off with her dogs in the studio.

The rottweiler is Fred. He’s not quite two years old and has a personality to match his size. He’s so goofy and willing to please that he was a perfect model. His beautiful “sister” is Stella. She’s a bit more shy and wasn’t completely comfortable with the whole process. I was able to get a few good shots of her. I love the flowy fur on her ears.

Every day in the studio is a learning process for me. We have a pair of strobes with umbrellas that provide nice even light from the front. Though getting the dogs to cooperate without having someone in front of the lights assisting can sometimes be a struggle. Most of the dogs that I’m taking photos of are not as well trained as Fred and Stella or my dogs. I’m continually playing with the lighting set-up, hoping to get lighting that I like a little bit better than the flat effect of the two strobe set-up. I’m still learning and experimenting!