sweet Ripken ~ {Toronto, Ontario pet photographer}

those of you who follow scruffy dog on facebook, you will already be familiar with this guy.this is Ripken … a.k.a. Rippy, Rip, Rippy Roose and Spruce.

i was warned well in advance of our session that Rippy can be a bit of a snarkmonster … “…he’s a biter and he is aggressive,” mom Alex wrote me.  “If he meets you on his terms then he might be okay getting close to you.”  i was told we’d have to play it by ear to see how close he’d let me get to him.  but when dealing with dogs and the occasional cat is all you do, well, let’s just say that i wasn’t worried.  not one bit…i had Alex meet me out in the parking lot of her building with her little man in tow … and while we talked i let Ripken have the time he needed while i got a good read on the little guy. when he jumped up on a low retaining wall to a patch of grass to explore, i sat on the retaining wall, directly in his path to his mom, so that when he came back, he had to deal with me.  lots of sniffing, no eye contact, and a few treats … and he was mine.   unlike others who might not know how to deal with this kind of energy and character, i’d like to think i got to see Rippy’s best side…

Rippy is a mini-dachshund/chihuahua mix, rescued from the US.  although he’s been struggling with health issues for the past few years, it was upon his recent diagnosis of advanced mitral valve disease that Alex contacted me for an Honor Session™ so that we could fit his session in as soon as possible.i had a great afternoon with Alex and her little “mama’s boy”.the goal, of course, in any scruffy session is big variety.  and especially with Honor Sessions™, it’s imperative to capture as many different expressions and facets of the pet’s character as possible, in as great a variety as possible in settings and light.

thanks for sharing your wonderful little man with me, Alex, and entrusting me with the honor of capturing photographic memories of him.  you are very much in my thoughts as you cope with your own health as well as Rippy’s.  please give your boy a scritch from me.