Why I Loved This Dog Before I Even Met Him
This is Hunter. He lives in Canada and I “met” him on Instagram several years ago. On July 25, 2024 I got to meet him in person!
He is a solid liver colored german shorthaired pointer and he reminds me so much of my first dog Sloan. And I love him. Before I ever met him, I loved him.
Sloan at 8 years old in 2004 (taken before I was a photographer probably taken with a disposable camera)
German shorthair pointer Hunter. He reminds me so much of my first dog Sloan.
My first dog Sloan is the reason why I am where I am today.
I’ve always loved dogs. I have always been drawn to them. We always had dogs growing up and when I graduated from college my goal was to buy a house with a fenced yard so I could have a dog.
Sloan was that dog.
I got her in 1996 and she lived to be 12.5 years old. In 2008 a month before she died, I lost my corporate job in a career I’d been in for 20 years. The economy was tanking, I was burned out, and I knew my dog was sick.
I spent the last month of her life with her. Really with her and we did a lot of cuddling.
It turns out losing my job was one of the biggest blessings of my life.
After Sloan died I did a lot of reflecting and four months later, I started my own dog walking and pet sitting business See Spot Run. 8 years later I bought my first Nikon and BARKography was started.
Fast forward to now and I am traveling around the world with my camera and my good friend Audrey Ricks and we’re photographing dogs.
Last month that included a trip to Seattle and I got to finally meet Hunter.
I knew that Kerry Park in Seattle was a great location to get a photo of the skyline and the Space Needle in the background. Audrey and I have been talking about photographing dogs at this location for 2 years.
Hunter’s mom Jacqui is also a professional dog photographer. They live outside of Vancouver in British Columbia. I reached out to her and let her know we were going to be in Seattle to see if she’d be able to drive down and meet us and she did!
I will forever be grateful to her for this. To allow me to spend time with Hunter and to photograph him.
My love for my first dog Sloan is the reason why I loved Hunter before I even met him.
Meeting him was a dream come true and I have photography to thank for that.
Happy World Photography Day!