Adoption is a beautiful thing

AWDRI is not just all about calendars and photos of beautiful but temporarily homeless dogs (I’ve done a few pictures myself in the last few years to help with adoption and raise funds) - occasionally some good people actually adopt a pooch (or two). This was the happy fate of Denny who I photographed previously and who is now living the good life in Victoria with his new house-buddies. Well done guys!

I think these new owners should be complimented for making a choice to help save a life. For one thing I am (as is my usual practice) sending them a print of Denny from my original shoot, when he/we were looking for an owner to love him. Hope you like it!

Although I’m not against the idea of getting a pet from a socially responsible and reputable breeder, I also think we have plenty of abandoned dogs, cats, guinea pigs and what not on our streets who also have their paws ‘n’ claws up hoping for a second chance, for a new home.

So good luck Denny and co! Pats and Hugs from this photographer. I hope you have many long and happy walks in the Victorian years to come.

The joy of photographing adoptables

It was in late May last year that I first volunteered my photography services to a batch of AWDRI adoptables.

7 months later, I have met and gotten to know 31 incredible AWDRI adoptables — all charming, intelligent, hopeful, trusting, very brave but most of all, very fine dogs. Their spirit inspired me to create a 2011 Calendar hoping to help raise more awareness.

My experiences in meeting each of them are still vivid; these dogs had never met me before - they appeared anxious yet all greeted me with open hearts.

I learned also that despite their plight (very much beyond their control), they trusted us and they did not judge either each other and certainly not us. I don’t know their language exactly, yet I feel there’s a connection and some sort of understanding — one that is deeply ingrained in me. Like my own pets, these dogs have taught me about love, about patience, about kindness, about compassion but mostly about hope and perseverence.

Today, I am aware that 13 of them I have met and photographed have now found new homes, and a couple are on trial adoption — thanks to the dedication and hard work of AWDRI. And mostly, a big thanks to the kind hearted souls who opened their hearts and homes to these dogs - the volunteers, their foster carers and new human Mums and Dads.

I can’t say how much I have enjoyed meeting and photographing these little guys. My thoughts are with them and I hope the rest find a new home soon in 2011. This post is dedicated to all AWDRI adoptables, past and present, and to those who have showed them much love and kindness.

Dedication, originally uploaded by twoguineapigs pet photography.

2011 Australian Working Dog Calendar for fundraising | Giving back

Time flies - before you know it Christmas is around the corner and 2011 is just next door! Where did 2010 go?

For those of you who have been following my blog, facebook etc, you will remember the little guys from the Australian Working Dog Rescue Inc (AWDRI)  that I have photographed this year for their adoption profiles.

The working dogs starring in this calender were rescued from the most desperate circumstances and undesirable situations – some could not work on a farm, risked being put to sleep or have lived in a pound for a long time. For dogs rescued in NSW and around Sydney, the AWDRI boards them at the Solar Lodge Kennels and Catery until they find a new home or a foster to go to.

Working dogs (for instance dogs that work on farms, at the army, police force etc) occupy a position in society that is outside the social space known as “pet ownership”. If these dogs fall out of this position, or never get to occupy it at all, there are very few options open for them. The chance of “re-employment” is not high, leaving only the hope of pet ownership as an alternative to a very uncertain future.

There is in this the very real threat of death (known as being "put down"), unless such dogs are ‘rescued’ by shelter groups and put in temporary accommodation in a series of kennels or foster homes.

Working dogs have no say in any of this - in pounds they are similar to objects in a “lost and found” department, with disposal a very real possibility if they are not claimed. Their destinies are entirely at the mercy of the narrow options given to them by humans.

Related to this, but at the other extreme, are pet shops where dogs are sold because of attractive coat markings and colours, features etc. I often wonder how many of these former glamour pets also end up in pounds and rescue groups each year.

I have compiled a calendar for the AWDRI with some portrait images from these shoots, focusing on the hopeful expressions of these working dogs ‘in transit’ - dogs awaiting adoption or fostering - a subtle way to examine the situation of working dogs in our modern society, how their identities are constructed, their dignities, and how this process is a life and death situation for them, reliant on the structures of pet ownership, its fashions and its rules. Most importantly, the hope and trust these working dogs still show towards us.

Proceeds from sales of the calendar go to AWDRI to help these working dogs find a new home.

You too can do your part in helping these dogs find a new home - grab a couple of these calendars as Christmas presents now!