Paddy & Belle

I photographed Paddy with his brother Farley nearly four years ago – I can hardly believe it was so long ago since I last saw him – I wasn’t even blogging then so you haven’t met him yet. Farley is no longer with us, but Paddy now has Belle, who dotes on him like I’ve never seen a younger sister dote on a big brother! Paddy and his mom walked me into their home where Belle was waiting, and she was so excited to see him after the 10 minutes he’d been gone she literally didn’t even notice me. She does an adorable little dance and wiggle for him whenever he walks in the door.

Paddy is 12 years old now, believe or not, and Belle is 7 and only 25 pounds, rescued from one of those horrifying puppy mill situations where it took her months to learn what grass was. She is still wary of new things and when we started the session in their complex’s tennis court, where they play and chase, she didn’t know what to make of the camera. But things were totally different once we were in her home – she was a complete and TOTAL ham. At one point, when we realized we had a bazillion images of her and none of Paddy, we turned to focus on Paddy and she literally jumped over the back of the couch and shoved him out of the way, then proceeded to pose expectantly!

Belle is on the left, Paddy on the right:

One of Paddy’s favorite pastimes is rubbing his face on the tennis court nets: