Timeless Tails

By C.U. Fotography

Preserving the Stories and Character of the love shared between you and your aging dog.

You may find yourself asking, “Why do I need a senior dog photo session?”. The answer is simple: there is a sad reality we dog-lovers all must face. Our beloved dogs, part of the family, will leave us. Sometimes it follows a full and fulfilling life that ends gracefully. Now and then it follows a lengthy battle with illness, and occasionally it is sudden and unexpected. Regardless of how and when, it hurts, especially if it falls on us to help them cross over.. It is one of the hardest decisions we can make as people, even when there is no choice.

Our Missed Opportunity

Let me quickly share my story with you. My wife, Britt, and I are dog lovers. We have spent many years volunteering with dog rescues. When we met, Britt had already rescued a pup named Jagger. It became apparent as our love grew that Jagger needed a friend. One day at doggie daycare we met a big lug that was up for adoption. Named Stoner at the daycare, he fell asleep on us as we sat with him. We knew instantly that fate brought him to us. We did not like the name Stoner, so we renamed him Marley, honoring Bob Marley. At the time, we didn’t even realize we’d have two dogs names for popular musicians. We later adopted a sweet pittie mix and named her Abby.

This Story is about Marley, The First dog we Adopted Together

He was just the best dog. He was loved by everyone who ever met him. Jump ahead eight or nine years or so and we took Marley, now gray in the face, in for a simple procedure. The drive to the vet was the last time Marley freely walked, or gazed at us, or had a chance to snuggle. Unexpectedly that night we had to make the heart-breaking trip to the emergency vet. We had no choice. Marley had to move on from this world.

Their Time with Us is too Short.

The moral of the long, but abridged, story above is our precious furry family members are only with us for a very short time. We were in no way prepared for losing Marley. We knew he was aging, he was graying, and he was slowing down. Still his passing shattered our hearts and spirits.

A few weeks later, a recue volunteer reached out to me to ask if I would take a senior photo set with her aging rescue dog, Gus and his person, her husband Mitch. Honestly, at the time I was still grieving Marley and was not sure about it or my ability to capture what she was after. I decided to do it, thinking at best, I could provide what they wanted. At worst, it could be therapeutic for me.

I had so much fun, and got lost in the love shared between Gus and Mitch. I had an absolute blast! Nervously, I sent the link to them with the photos. They were over-the-moon happy with the set as was I. It made my wife and I realize that we missed this opportunity with Marley. We have photos of him of course, but we don’t have photos showing what a lifetime of love and companionship between him and us looks like.

But Why the Photos?

So back to the original point, why? Life is short, time with your furry best friend is even shorter. Here are just a few other reasons:

• Digital photos offering a lifetime memory of your dog.
• Capturing the pure connection between you and your dog.
• Sometimes we need our old friends, even after they are gone. With photos, they will be with you forever just the way you last remember them.
• There is a special bond between senior dogs and their people. Whether you adopted them as a senior dog, a puppy, or somewhere in between. A senior dog in a great home, knows they have it good, whether it’s been a year or a lifetime. You can see it in their eyes.
• Let’s be honest, we take a ton of photos of our puppies, but as time goes on we back off on the amount of pics we take.

Please note: I don’t have a studio space, so my sessions are better suited in a local park or a well lit home. I live in Middle River, Maryland and am willing to travel up to a 30 mile radius from my house. Anything outside the radius may include a small travel fee to help cover fuel as well as wear and tear on my vehicle.

Let C.U. Fotography cement these memories in the form of digital photos that you will have for the rest of your life to remember the best friend that you gave so much to, but that gave so much more to you. Remember their legacy forever with Timeless tails.