This past Sunday, I did another photo shoot for Louie's Legacy adoptees at Petsmart in Mason, Ohio. While I was waiting for Emily from Louie's to arrive, I noticed a little boy was walking Laila on a leash in the store. Laila was a little, scruffy mop that I photographed a few weeks ago. She was older and in poor health, and it turns out she needed to be on expensive medication for the remainder of her years. Emily was not hopeful that Laila woud be adopted for all the reasons listed. However, I saw the mom of the little boy and asked if they were adopting Laila which she confirmed. She stated they recently had an elderly dog pass away that they had only had for 7 months. She went on to say they were partial to the older adoptee's since there wasn't much chance of them being adopted. They realized Laila's years (or months) were few but they wanted to make sure she lived the rest of her life well loved and cared for. They made a choice to bring this little dog into their home, not based on beauty and breed, but on her heart and soul and their immense compassion. I've been incredibly humbled and inspired by this family.

I had a wonderful time photographing 9 amazing dogs and one gorgeous cat. One little dog, Cupcake, was particularly special to me. Cupcake is a little Chihuaha with only 3 legs. She had been hit by a car as a stray and hard as they might to save the leg, they ended up having to amputate. Turns out this was more of a blessing for Cupcake than they thought. She was cranky and snippy when she had the bad leg. After the leg was removed, they said her demeanor changed. She was happy and more mobile than with the leg. It certainly did not stop her from hamming it up for the camera!

I feel so lucky to be able to photograph these amazing animals and hopefully, find them a permanent family to take them into their hearts. It makes me appreciate my two girls (and three cats) even more. I wish I was able to take more in and/or foster, but that is not possible with the hours I'm gone during the day, especially when my husband travels out of town. But, I can do this and that makes me very happy.

I look forward to more photo sessions and maybe expanding to other organizations! I'll keep you updated as my journey continues.