The Curmudgeon

Recently, I photographed a wonderfully crabby geriatric pup. He moaned as his dog mom carried him from her car down a path to our location. She joked with me that he has a tendency to bite if someone moves too fast or before he is ready to be approached. My son often works as my assistant and when he quietly went to greet the old man, a quick realization occured that the dog mom knew her pup very well. She shared a few stories about the lineup of friends who her dog has had encounters with throughout the years. We laughed as none of the stories were concerning but were still fun to hear.

Our location was a lovely field of flowers and the old boy being nearly blind and almost completely deaf was easy to pose. He didn’t venture an inch from where he was placed. I wanted to keep the shoot fairly short as to not tire him or place him under unnecessary stress. Interestedly, and to the warming of my heart. The curmudgeon closed his eyes and began to smell the air in every direction. He lifted his chin inhaling deeply. I was delighted to watch him relax and enjoy standing in the flowers. The sun popped out from behind a cloud and he looked directly into the lens giving me and ultimately his family a huge smile.