Because the volunteer foster homes are all full, a ton of the Paws dogs are currently staying at Urban Paws in Deep Ellum.   Shooting the puppies there is never particularly easy — I always end up shooting them during mid-afternoon group playtime when the sun happens to be the harshest — but with a couple dozen clamoring for your attention…. well, that’s a lot of dog and a lot of (happy) chaos.  I end up exhausted and absolutely. filthy.  With the crowd there this past time, I was pretty much lucky to get any remotely decent shots – you’ll notice tails and paws of other pups in most of the shots – but I don’t want to take away any of their playtime (I consider my trips over there as much about the dogs getting extra, much-needed human love as the photos).  Plus I figure I have a better chance of capturing their true personalities.  We did go inside to the smaller play areas after a while to cool down, but that’s even more crazy since it’s a smaller area.

You’ll have to excuse me, but with that many dogs and the pure whirlwind they create around me, I’ve lost track of what names go with which dogs.  I can tell you that the following dogs appear in the slideshow (among others):  Sprung, Kaia, Joker, Reese, Blondie, Bruce, Rascal and Terri.

For more information on adopting or fostering any of these guys — as well as many, many others — check out  Paws in the City.

Max has since been diagnosed with cancer and has started treatment – think positive thoughts for the sweet old boy!

Montana is a gorgeous yellow lab.  She’s an older lady, 10-12 years old, who was surrendered after her previous owners learned she has diabetes and needs twice-daily shots (just a simple injection in the morning and again at night).  The diabetes is under control with the injections, and she’s otherwise healthy.   She’s obedience trained and was obviously well-cared for (though I can’t even fathom giving one of my pups up just because s/he required a little more TLC).  She’s very sweet and gentle and friendly, but — and I may be anthropomorphizing — I think she’s a little depressed and bewildered, not understanding what’s going on.  I really hope she finds a wonderful home to live out her remaining years.  A really really really good one where she will be spoiled rotten.

If you’re interested or know someone who might be, please contact Paws in the City.

Well, the doggie wedding event of the year!  Pups showed up in their finest threads to be joined in Holy Muttrimony at the most romantic and elegant of all doggie wedding venues (and a favorite spot of mine!) — Lee Park on Turtle Creek.  There was a minister to do the marrying, a DJ, wedding cake, catered dinner (mmm…. Dickey’s BBQ!), and some gorgeous flower designs.  One lucky(?) bernese groom snagged himself three golden brides.

It was a really cute event!  (You may recognize that a couple of the Paws puppies appear below – turns out two of them are — well, were this time last week — still available for adoption.)

Proceeds benefitted Paws in the City and the Lee Park Conservancy.

A little over a month ago, Paws in the City rescued a litter of brown and black pups (and mom, Cinnamon) from the city shelter (no place for puppies!). Urban Paws was generous enough to take them in until they were old enough to start looking for forever homes.  I went by to visit the litter of nine – and stayed for entirely too long getting a good, long fill of puppy breath.  They were about a month old at that point and were just starting to progress from little fuzzy blogs to mobile fuzzy chewing machines.  They spent most of the time sleeping or harassing their mother, constantly battling for a primo nursing spot, with an occasional wrestling match.  Surprisingly (to me, at least), the four brown puppies all hung out together, and the five black ones did as well– there really wasn’t much cross-over between the two.  That turned out to be pretty fortunate, really, because the litter had been exposed to coccidia but the effects were pretty much limited to just the black ones (so it only hit about half the litter, though it did hit that half hard — so much so that the little black runt didn’t make it).  The five blacks were removed and put under vet care until the surviving four were healthy enough and then transitioned to a foster home until they were ready for adoption.  All the while, the little brown kids (three boys and a girl) thrived, never  even showing any symptoms.  I went back for two more visits with the little bear cubs, each about a week apart.  It’s amazing to see how fast they grow from sweet baby cubs into mischievous little creatures who sleep a lot less and poop a lot more (and have developed a strong love for their favorite toy, a broom).  After my last visit, they left Urban Paws for a foster homes to start learning the basics of crate-training and housebreaking so they’d be ready when it was time for them to find homes.

The shooting conditions weren’t ideal but that didn’t stop me from taking a zillion or so shots.

For a more comprehensive slideshow (about fifty images), click here.