Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Cocker Spaniels are such Charmers!

The story went out on the Cocker Forum at Zim's. My friend Terri at American Cocker Spaniel Rescue in Washington State received a phone call from a SoCal shelter - a sweet Cocker that she had adopted out a couple of years ago was in their care, dropped off in the night box! We may never know how little Candy went from a loving home to the shelter, but one thing was certain - Candy was definitely going back to her Rescue group. Terri moved heaven and earth to find a way to get her home. In the meantime, a wonderful Cocker owner in Alaska had fallen for a 12 year old senior from Florida that was looking for a new home. I had volunteered to get Aussie to her in Alaska. Since I was going from San Diego to Seattle as a stop over, this adopter offered to pay for Candy's health certificate and flight with me! Problem solved! A dear friend from English Springer Rescue America lived in the same town as Candy's shelter, so she handled all the paperwork and the shelter went over and above to help us out. My flight landed in Seattle and Candy was home - after charming EVERYONE she met at Alaska Airlines! Last I heard she is convincing her Foster Daddy to make it official and become her FurEver Dad. Way to go, Candy! Back to Aussie - she was doing some charming of her own - between computers being down in Orlando at checkin and someone in Florida falling in love with her, I receieved a phone call letting me know that Aussie would not be joining me in Seattle. Cocker Spaniels are such Charmers! Yes, my laptop traveled with me, so I could continue editing photos from the recent shoots. Here is Lucy, a darling Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle Mix) who sat for me at Yorba Regional Animal Hospital. Also working on the Rescue Parade photos and the Camp Bow Wow pix. Gotta get back to the editing - have a great week!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Busy Busy Busy!

What a fun month April was! If this is any head's up on what the Tour schedule is going to be like, I'll be hopping all summer long! So what HAVE I been up to? Take a look ... April started off with a private shoot, won at an English Springer Rescue America fundraising auction last December. Springer Grace and English Cocker Annie (my God-furDaughter!) were wonderful subjects for the day. Here is Grace in a pensive moment: Next I went down to Chula Vista where Doggie Days in Paradise hosted a shoot to benefit Greyhounds2Go. This day care has such nice clients and the staff is tops! One of my favorites from the day, here is Scuffy the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel loving on her momma: Then it was time to pack up the car and head thru the Eastern Sierras, destination: Reno, Nevada. This was my first multi-group adoption event - the Karen DeSouza Memorial Super Pet Adoption Event and Festival. It was a great day with wonderful ESRA friends and animals galore! At this venue I hosted free photo shoots. Between my time in the booth I roamed the event and took candids. Photos are still uploading (it was quite a day!), but here is one of my favorites - a 5 month Boxer pup looking for his new forever home that weekend: Back in Southern California, next up was a visit to Yorba Regional Animal Hospital in Anaheim Hills. What a facility - wow! My assistant for the day set up this shoot, and the beneficiaries were Boston Buddies and Angels Under Our Wings - two groups that I have a fondness for. We were busy from start to finish with just enough time to take in a quick lunch. This is Sadie, a Cocker Spaniel girl who was adopted from Angels Under Our Wings. She loves to pose for my camera (I've lost count of how many sittings we've had since she picked her new family!): You'd think I'd be ready to hang up the camera bag by this point - but nope ... I was due in El Cajon with one of my regular haunts with my friends at Camp Bow Wow. We (Indie, Bennett and I) enjoy going there! Meet this character - Eddie the Bichon/Shih Tzu mix: May kicked off with a booth in Walnut, CA at the Gateway Cities ESS Club annual Specialty. This was an ESRA fundraiser and a free shoot for the rescue dogs participating in the ESRA Parade of Rescue. Meet Coco, a gal who is thrilled to be in a home with a family who loves her as much as she loves them: Tomorrow has me off to Seattle and Anchorage to deliver Cocker Spaniels to their new homes. Back to San Diego to love on my own fur-kids and then east to MN for a great Cocker Spaniel event: the 2010 Upper MidWest Puppalooza!