October is a busy month for dog lovers! October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month and October 1st was National Black Dog Day. It seems like the perfect time to share this session from Alice G Patterson. She photographed these two handsome dogs (one black dog and one dog adopted from a shelter) in her Central New York studio. Studio portraits offer a unique perspective, and I love how all the focus (pun intended) is on the dog.
From Joleene: “Having ‘Big Dog’ and ‘Little Dog’ in our lives has brought so much spunk and joy to our family. Sydney (a.k.a.) ‘Big Dog’ was a rescue that my husband Mark took in after Sydney’s owner spoke with him about Sydney and how he needed a home. Mark’s heart is bigger than the state of Texas, so he took in the very high energy, 2-year old black lab.
When I met Mark, Sydney was six and used to being the only dog.
So when we rescued Bosley (a.k.a.) ‘Little Dog,’ it was quite an adjustment for Sydney.
But after a few short weeks, they were playing together and rolling around the living room floor wrestling. They became best friends. We were nervous when we first brought Bosley home because Sydney is 90 pounds, and Bosley was about four pounds then. (He’s a healthy 10 lbs now.) But Sydney was a ‘gentle’ wrestler and still is. We have videos from when Bosley was a puppy (we were fortunate to get him at ten weeks old) where he and Sydney would play with a rope toy and when Sydney would grab his end, he would literally lift Bosley up of the ground and get him airborne for a few seconds! Lots of fun to watch.
My favorite thing to see is little Bosley curled up in the crook of Sydney’s arms when we’re watching TV late at night.
Bosley came from Going To The Dogs Rescue in Buffalo. An animal hoarder in Buffalo was attempting to breed them. She was charged, and the dogs were removed from the home. Bosley was one of them. His original name was Buckwheat. But I knew the second I saw him that his name was Bosley.
No one knows the joy of rescuing dogs until they’ve done it. They may bark their heads off at stray leaves and every child that passes our house on a bike, but I would miss that noise if they weren’t here. They are truly our fur babies.“
Joleene Moody is a former Central New York television reporter and anchor turned professional keynote speaker, speaker trainer, and author/playwright. After struggling for years in a place that didn’t satisfy her true dreams and desires to write and inspire and speak on stage, Joleene bravely left the security of her job to embark on a journey that allowed her to unearth her greatest dreams and desires – while profiting generously at the same time.
Joleene is co-hosting an upcoming event called “SpeakEasy CNY.” This one of a kind event was created to offer business owners, entrepreneurs and other aspiring speakers, the tools to use speaking and presenting to give them the potential to grow their business, their profits and their passion.
About Alice G Patterson Photography: Based in Syracuse, New York, Alice specializes in dog photography, senior portraits and photography for small businesses.
Jen says
I love it when dogs become such cute odd couples like that 🙂
Beth says
Me too, it was really cute to see them play together in the backyard.