Happy Tails: Mia and Darla | Santa Cruz

Patrick and Kasie from SLO  Town Studios took these photos last year while visiting friends in Santa Cruz, California.  Judging by the pictures, the dogs had an awesome time.  If you are going stir crazy at home, I hope these photos help fill your need for adventure.

From Patrick and Kasie: “Watching these two girls run around called for a photo op! When traveling to visit friends, we went for a morning walk and got some in action and portraiture photos of Kim and David’s fur babies!”

From Kim: “Mia is an 11-year-old Black Lab/Golden Retriever mix with an extremely calm temperament and a pleaser personality. David caught wind that his friend’s Black Lab was giving birth to mixed breed puppies 11 years ago and decided to take one home. And so it was love as soon as he picked her out. David named Mia after his little brother’s 1st-grade crush, and she was the cutest little ball of fluff you have ever seen. As she grew, she became a staple in David’s hunting life, and always followed his every command. Mia has been a hunting dog, a ranch dog, a homebody, a family pet, and a companion to quite a few other doggies.

She is the most well-behaved dog you probably will ever meet, and she thinks everyone comes to our home to see her! Especially kids! She looks almost as though she is enjoying herself when our friends bring their toddlers to LITERALLY climb all over her and strangle her with their hugs. Mia loves to retrieve, so whether it’s a duck or a ball, she’s on it! Even as she gets older, she still has the energy of a pup, and we are convinced she will live forever!

Darla is our American Bulldog mixed breed pooch who is a year old. We stumbled on her about seven months after my last American Bully passed away at a young age from cancer. I was heartbroken. And even though there were plenty of beautiful doggies online to browse through, I couldn’t find any interest in any of them until we saw ‘Little Boo’s’ (now known as Darla) face. Despite it almost looking like a mug shot taken by the Monterey County Animal Shelter. I don’t know why it happened, but I wanted to meet her.

And so my husband, David and I did. We drove an hour away to meet her, and it was intense! She was extremely hyper and stressed out from her crazy environment, but even despite the craziness, she was so interested in loving on us and engaging with us.

Our old lady, Mia, played with her and that’s when we knew we had to take her home. It was one of the best decisions we have ever made together. She loves to cuddle and just enjoys life as long as she’s with us! Darla is such a little piglet, and we have even made a game called “Bully will eat anything” and share laughs about how she chews up and swallows everything that crosses her path. Her favorite snack is…and I kid you not…raw broccoli stems. We feel blessed to have found such a soulful puppy with the most loving personality!

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About SLO Town Studios:  Based in San Luis Obispo, Patrick and Kasie specialize in wedding photography and videography.