For the love of a special family pet

Anyone who has ever had a pet in their family does not require any explanation to understand the love that one has for an animal. And as a member of the family, we quite often have the family pet join in on the family portrait session…most of the time, we see dogs because they travel well, but we have had some cats brought into our studio!

Now, imagine the love that a service dog elicits when you factor in that not only does this animal live with a family, they also provide an invaluable service to keep a family member safe.

Crusier lived with his family for almost a decade. He worked to keep an autistic child safe and sound, warning whenever he attempted to wander away from the family home. He provided comfort to everyone in the family - comfort to the parents knowing their child was looked after at all times, and comfort to all the kids in the family in the way that only a loved dog can do.

He grew up with a young child and helped him develop to be a senior in high school, becoming a recognizable figure in the hallways. He helped him grow to be a confident young man ready for his post secondary school life. And he was a member of the family…as all our pets become.

We were honoured to be asked to photograph this special family pet in his final days. He wasn’t very mobile - and probably wasn’t very happy being forced to model for the camera! - but we hopefully managed to provide some precious photographic memories of Crusier for his humans.

Our First Georgetown Session

I need to be a little specific about something…and it may seem a little bit A-type, which I am certainly not described as usually.

Peggy was not our first Georgetown client, technically, but she was the first session we photographed in town. Someone did book a session date with us first - for the life of me, I can’t remember who - but the date she chose came before whoever gave us our first booking.

She asked us to come to her place on 17th Side road and photograph her family…which turned out to be her with her dogs!

With most children, sometimes they don’t do exactly what you’d wish they would do on picture day…and Peggy’s dogs were no exception. If memory serves, she had three at the time, but there was no way we were getting all of them together in one photograph! We did get a few of her with two of them together who cooperated - I’ve always loved the photo with the doggie kisses above.

We came to find out that Peggy raised these animals to be service dogs. She would (usually) take them as pups and live with them through the process of being trained. I don’t recall specifically the name of the organization (update - one of the photos has a “Dog Guides” coffee mug in it!), but we would often see her around town with one of her “kids” wearing a green vest, identifying them as being trained for future service.

I haven’t seen her in a while; I do know from a neighbour that she recently sold her property on 17th Side Road…but I still find myself glancing towards that house when I pass by!

Enjoy some of the shots in the slideshow below from the session…it’s a trip looking back at them for me! I forgot she had a little pond on the property; the last pic below is framed in our dining room! Let us know what you think by commenting below, or reaching out on our social media channels!

Jeff

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