| I went to the dog park almost every day on this assignment. I'd go there about 4 p.m., when the park rangers weren't a threat and people felt comfortable letting their dogs off the leash. Dozens of dogs of all breeds and sizes raced around madly. I had a ball observing their individual personalities. There were the small dogs—the pugs and Jack Russells—who didn't know they were little and played with the golden retrievers as if they were the same size. There was one Dalmation who sat apart. He was either a snob or very shy, but he never engaged with the others. The whole park experience was highly entertaining. During those times, I felt as if the assignment was a big excuse to play with dogs. |
I met a woman who rescued abandoned dogs. She was always driving to shelters to collect dogs that were unwanted or were on the brink of being euthanized. One day, she took a newborn puppy to the veterinarian clinic for the standard routine of a medical exam, vaccinations, spaying, and neutering, just as she did with all the dogs she adopted. The pup looked like a beagle and couldn't have been more than two weeks old. Later, we were at her friend's house playing with some other dogs in the kitchen when she got a call from the vet. The puppy wasn't coming out of the anesthesia like it should. She turned dead white on the phone. We rushed to the vet, where she hovered over an operating table trying to coax the little guy back to consciousness. Eventually, he came around. But for a good half hour, we didn't know whether this puppy would come out of the coma. |
I went to "Yappy Hour" one Friday afternoon at Bella and Daisy's, a boutique for dogs, where I was photographing owners and their dogs as they consumed wine, cheese, and doggie treats. In addition to selling organic dog food, fancy clothes, and toys, the store also makes custom-ordered birthday cakes for dogs.
That particular day, they had made a special birthday cake for a woman who wanted to have a party for her dog during doggie happy hour. The owner and manager began to worry because it was getting late, and the birthday dog hadn't arrived.
Then, all of a sudden, the door opened and there stood a woman with her terrier sitting on her shoulder…and the dog was wearing a party hat. An entourage of family and friends—who, for some reason, were deadpan serious—were behind her. All conversation stopped. But when she saw the elaborately decorated cake, she got so excited that she began putting huge slices on paper plates and placed them on the floor for all the dogs at the party.
The dogs went crazy. Then the owners went crazy when they saw that the slices were as big as some of the dogs. Tiny pugs were gobbling monstrous pieces of cake. The owners scooped up their dogs, reprimanding and shouting as they tapped and flicked their pups' noses to stop them from eating and to calm them down. Meanwhile, the birthday dog ate his slice of cake and relieved himself on the floor. |
