Charlotte ~ DOGS WE’VE LOVED ~ Simcoe pet photographer special photo series

Meet Charlotte … another entry in the special Dogs We’ve Loved series — a series that pays tribute to those dogs we have loved in life and continue to love beyond, the dogs who live on in our memories, in our hearts, our souls, and through the very important photos we create of them. You can see other entries in the Dogs We’ve Loved series here.

This lovely Sharpei girl was just as sweet as they come during her session back in July 2015.  And what’s more she was already 10 yrs old when her guardians adopted her. In guardian Kaitlyn’s words:

“We rescued Charlotte at the ripe old age at 10+ on New year’s Eve 2013. She was a companion for our other Shar Pei Herbie who was 8 at the time and dealing with separation anxiety.

To be honest we did not think Charlotte would be around more than 6 months because of her health. She had arthirtis, was deaf and not in the best physical conditions. We wanted to give her a home to live out her days. In the fall of 2014 we bought a house and a female shar pei pup joined the family. Charlotte continued to keep up with everyone.”

“In July 2015 we got Charlotte’s photos done. We didn’t know how long she was going to be around because she had started slowing down and her arthritis worsened. It was important to us to have her personality captured on camera so we would always have memories of her.

Charlotte passed away March 9th 2016 at 13+ years old. Her health just kept getting worse and she was having a very hard time doing much of anything besides sleeping.

We are just so grateful to have had this photo session.  It meant that even when we had to say our goodbyes to Charlotte we would always have wonderful shots of her which would help us remember how incredibly beautiful she was, inside and out.”

“Having those photos of Charlotte from our session meant the world to us. We miss her terribly but Illona did an INCREDIBLE job at capturing her on camera. Charlotte had the best smile. She was a bit of a nervous dog so very rarely she would relax and we would see it. We saw it that day during her session. She was relaxed and comfortable. Looking back on them now we remember what an amazing dog she was and how blessed we were to have her a part of our family. Thank you Illona for giving us this gift.”

I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with Kaitlyn and Justin’s other two Sharpei, Herbie and Stella, and two more loving, attentive guardians you will never find.  I know that Charlotte is deeply missed, and will forever be a part of their hearts.