Emily, James and Walter

When I met Emily and James, they placed Walter into my arms like a newborn baby.  He flipped over, snuggled in, and sighed contentedly.

"How old is he?!" I asked, because he looked young and acted spry while walking around but had the mellow disposition of an elderly dog when I snuggled him.  I patted his belly and kissed his nose while he blissed out in the crook of my arm. 

"He's one," they said, "and that's just how he is.  We're amazed, too."

Walter is in the final rounds of training and evaluation to becoming a therapy dog, and I'm sure he'll pass with flying colors.  I've never met a dog so chilled out and so sweet, although we got him to be a bit of a rule breaker, just for fun.

Here he is looking quizzically at my camera, one paw resting on my knee.

Emily and James have been married for five years, and they wanted some updated photos of themselves.  We took advantage of the gorgeous afternoon to get shots in Central Park.

Family friend Megan came along, too, to watch Walter while we took couple photos. 

James was fun to photograph, because he was a little shy at first ("I don't want to that much kissing in public!" he declared) but by the end of our shoot, we found his romantic side, with a little help from a nearby busking violin player.

And I managed to sneak in some kissy photos, too.

Christian, Michelle and Copper

This is Copper.  She's almost one.

Copper is playful...

faithful...

watchful...

... and very well-behaved.

She's also very loved, and very lucky.  Copper is a rescue dog.

Her parents adopted her around Christmas last year when she was just a tiny pup.

Her name suits her well, don't you think?

Ok, enough with the smootching.  Let's go.

Oliver the Dog

Over the weekend I did a photoshoot with this fabulous basset hound, Oliver.  We were doing an "Oliver around Park Slope" theme.

He was pretty happy-go-lucky through the whole thing.  That's because there were treats.