Happy Tails: Nelly, Sophie & Theo

Happy National Dog Day!  To celebrate National Dog Day, I decided it was high time to feature my own dogs!  Special thanks to my awesome sister Alice G Patterson for squeezing in a pet session during her busy senior portrait and dog photography season.

After our family dog died unexpectedly six years ago, I was very lonely for a canine companion.  Two weeks after her death, I told my husband that we were getting another dog.  While I wanted a big dog (Newfoundland ideally), my husband preferred to have a house without dogs.  He researched for a small, non-shedding dog, and low and behold we compromised on Nelly, the Maltese. Despite what some big dog owners might think, she still qualifies as a dog.  Nelly is six years old and is my constant companion and shadow.   If you can’t find me, just check to see where Nelly is. She’ll be looking in the direction of where she last saw me, patiently waiting for my return.

Sophie is a 4-year-old American Eskimo and Pomeranian mix.  My son describes her as overly optimistic.    She loves everyone equally and without discrimination, except the camera.

Handsome and hilarious, Theo is the newest dog in my family.  He is a Puggle mix that is about 4 1/2 years old.  I love his Captain Jack Sparrow eyeliner.  When we decided to adopt him I immediately started thinking about making him a bow tie using this easy tutorial from Chic Sprinkles.

We adopted him almost a month ago from the Humane Association of Central New York.  He is a riot, full of personality and love.  I honestly can’t imagine how his previous owner was able to part with him, but I’m sure her circumstances must have been extreme.  Theo (his name when we adopted him) was well-loved and has adapted into our household faster than I could reasonably expect.  I had to sign a waiver saying that I knew he chased cats, but he and our cat are civil to each other. Sometimes they will both curl up together in my son’s lap.

He was a big boy when we adopted him, but we are subtly changing his eating habits and getting him more exercise.  The biggest change is he no longer gets food scraps after dinner, which was quite a disappointment to him on his first night home. He is ruthless when it comes to his dog toys, but leaves everything else alone.  My goal is to train Theo to be gentle with toys like Mr. B.

You might recognize Nelly and Sophie’s portraits from the blog design.  While I love them on the blog, the portraits in my house are so much better!  A huge thanks to Carolynn from Two Brunettes for them, and yes, I have to get one with Theo!

Theo loves my kids best of all and I love that about him.

Be sure to like Alice’s Facebook page to see her most recent work!

About Alice G Patterson Photography: Based in Syracuse, NY, Alice is a bi-coastal family, portrait, and wedding photographer with a love of dogs.  Alice loves to travel and has three dogs of her own.