scruffy dog photography | best professional pet photographer blog serving Toronto and Ontario

well, yesterday was yet another incredible day at Woofstock.  i mean, could we have paid for better weather!?  although i woke at 3 a.m. with a migraine and had to medicate, i was feeling fine and ready to hit the road by shortly after 7 … flying into TO bright and early, with a surprising and new-found bounce in my weary feet.  of course, being true Canadians and none of us trusting a weather-forecast no matter in what form it’s delivered, my staff and i had stripped the booth walls of their artwork the night before in order to protect it all under tarps … just in case.  sigh … if only we’d been able to unzip that canopy to walls fully-loaded with all those big pieces and not had to rehang a thing.

still, everything went up quickly amid morning greetings and catching up with our awesome booth neighbors … and very soon the slobbery faces began trickling in.  ah, so many lovelies!

if i actually managed to tear myself out from behind the table on the weekend to snap a few quick shots of your dog, you will find at least something here on the blog of them … either in the Saturday entry, this entry, or the next one to come … so stay tuned.  please respect the copyrights of these photos and do not copy them from the blog.  instead, please email us and request them.  i’m happy to provide you with a copy for your facebook page!

so, without further ado … check out this handsome boy!  this young catahoula leopard dog was a handful.

yeah, that sit makes it look like he’s a poser, but don’t let it fool ya.  this boy is a mover and a shaker, and if you don’t give him the treat you’re bribing him with within 2.7 seconds, you’re going to hear about it.

… and then he’s going to launch himself onto the booth table and clean out the treat bowl himself.

others were a little less direct … calmer and quieter in their approach …

maybe even a little bashful.

and then these two scruffmuffins …

gauging by the drool on both of them, i think they’d been sampling a number of booths before hitting ours.

“did someone say: squirrel?” yup, that was me. i’m such a tease sometimes to get the shot.

next up were these two lovely labs owned by one of our facebook followers … i just loved this girl’s face …

… and her sweet, quiet brother was such a doll.

i would have loved to snap a few more shots of this gorgeous girl, but from the first release of the shutter i could instantly see that she was wary.  if a dog ever shows even the trace of nervousness with the cameras or their energy is just a little off, i always work with them first.  but in a situation like Woofstock, where there are crowds and noises, and the overstimulation can be overwhelming for a young dog, and i’m unable to work with them, the last thing i’m going to do is set a standard for her in regards to cameras.  so sadly, in spite of her stunning looks, this is all i allowed myself to snap …

perhaps one day i will meet her again, and have the time needed within a shoot to develop her confidence.  just look at that face!

but here’s a little nibblet who had no issues with the camera, even though it was bigger than she was.  this little gremlin was just the cutest!  i think i died a little inside when she took the bits of dehydrated liver from my fingertips … SUCH a little dollface.

and her wilder, scruffy buddy …

and if this guy isn’t begging for a scruffy dog shoot, i don’t know who is. 

and this hunk of sweetness? just look at those white whiskers … and those eyes!

i have to admit, it’s rather frustrating shooting in this kind of environment … extremely tight quarters, overwhelmed and overstimulated subjects … and frankly, when i see these gorgeous faces, feel their amazing spirits, and meet their loving owners, i just want to be out on a shoot with them, not in a booth in the middle of festivities, with concrete and crowds as a backdrop.  sometimes i think i’d do best to leave the camera at home.

still, i wouldn’t see this at a scruffy dog shoot, would i?

and this armful of sweetness.  (apologies as i’m struggling with a migraine today, but i can’t remember this darling’s name) this little rescue pup is definitely wary of the camera, so it was just a quick shot, but i had to.  apparently mom drove all the way from Windsor to see us at Woofstock!

and what’s Woofstock without a wolfhound?  of course, since this big guy had just had a drink, i had to quickly clear the table as he sauntered into the booth and i encouraged him to come on up to the table.  yeah, his highly respectful owner tried to pull him back, dribbly beard and all, but i asked for it … i just had to say hi!

although yesterday didn’t seem any busier than Saturday, it was steady, and i have to admit, i simply love meeting everyone who stops by the booth: past clients, current clients, people who follow the scruffy dog blog and facebook page, and others who simply had to stop when they saw the display photos … especially goofball Oxford (a client from last year’s Woofstock) standing on the fencepost.  he was quite the hit.  and meeting all the dogs!  my gosh, what a mish-mash of gorgeous faces and amazing characters.  it was difficult to tear myself away from the booth just to go to the washroom!  so yesterday, sadly, i did not make it out for any wandering around.

i’ll be posting another round of faces from the booth tomorrow, so stay tuned.  and again, if your gorgeous pup is posted here and you would like a copy of the photo for your facebook page, just drop me a line.  please do not copy the photo from the blog as this is a copyright infringement. thanks, everyone!

oh, and of course, we can’t forget wee Sasha … she was our booth dog this weekend, belonging to staff member Kim.  my how she’s changed since her first shoot a couple of years ago.

again, stay tuned for more!  and stay tuned for when we announce the winner of the draw for the free scruffy dog photo shoot!  (i haven’t even dug out the ballot box yet … but soon! i promise!)