I brought Brewer’s Orange Thing along on a recent trip to the dog park (ie. conservation land, walking around a pond – we have about a bagillion within 2 square miles of my house, so I just generally call this “the dog park”. We’re really original in the Hedman household, right?). It was old and had been fetched for, snuggled with and dragged around for months. Unfortunately, it therefore had a tear in it.

So I’m tossing The Orange Thing in the pond and Brewer’s paddling his heart out. This continues successfully for a while, because Brewer’s faster than the hole is large, but eventually I throw The Orange Thing too far. Water rushes in, and he’s paddling and paddling, but it’s too late. The Orange Thing sinks.

Panic. Brewer is circling, and our house guest Ben (who likes to swim for fun, not even chasing things) decides to help him circle. I look down at my clothes… I’m wearing running clothes, which means quick-dry and minimal. That’s it – I’m in the water. I can see orange, after all, and this is what every good mother does for their child, right? I dive down and grab The Orange Thing, and make it safely up to the surface despite the eight splash-happy paws above me. SAVED.

You know what I did as soon as we got home, right? Pulled up the Cabela’s website and bought six more Orange Things of course!

Got any good stories to share about your dog’s favorite toy? Use the comment section below!

We proceeded to get some other tasks accomplished around here today, namely me on the hunt for the perfect wedding/event-photography shoes. I’m assisting in my first wedding tomorrow, the first of five this year (three assisting, two on my own). I don’t yet know how I feel about the difference between dogs and brides, but I know I want to focus on the down-to-earth weddings that involve some outdoor adventure… mountaintops, camps, farms, boats… anything active and “real”, which is how I feel about dogs.

I caught myself smiling a lot today, and bouncing along to the tunes of Citizen Cope and Tripping Lily. It was a sweet day, and I find it very fitting that I just came across this photo of my niece tossing a ball to Brewer. Sweetness indeed.

Here’s Sweetie to help me celebrate! She’ll be back soon with her sister Minnie, two adorable pups rescued through Friends of Plymouth Pound.

Thank you to you ALL for your incredible interaction, support and sharing over the last two years!!

So you can imagine how excited I was to head into New York’s Greenwich Village this past weekend for a shoot with Chloe! This session was a gift from Sadie & Carmine in Boston – I think it was a gift to Chloe and to me actually!

We started with a little lounging on the fire escape to set the mood.

Then Chloe showed me a few of her favorite spots inside. She’s a rescue, some mix of lab and basset hound is the guess, I believe. Such a lovable and willing model.

This is when the crazy dog photographer lady laid down in the middle of 5th Ave. I remember the NYC cabbies being pretty angry fellas when I was a kid, but I actually got yelled at by a road-biker for this, ha!

We walked over to Washington Square Park as well. When Chloe sees a tree, all she can think about is SQUIRREL. After a few attempts at calling her name and making squeaky noises, I realized I was just going to have to move myself between that solid gaze and whatever she perceived to be happening in the trees. (I’ll be removing the leashes in these final photos, but was feeling a little eager to share this peek with you!)

We walked down this adorable hidden road called Washington Mews, with stucco walls and unique and colorful doors. Though less of the “city” atmosphere, this made for some really fun photos.

I have a feeling I’ll be back with more photos to share from this session! I had such a great time meeting Chloe and wandering the city streets from a dog’s eye perspective. Hopefully this will be the first of many trips (but I’ll definitely need to pack lighter on the photo gear, yikes)! Thanks for a wonderful day, Sue and to Karen & Erik for introducing us!

Maybe you’re interested in having one of these cuties call you “mom” when the next Mothers’ Day rolls around? Stop in for a visit to the Animal Rescue League of Boston’s Brewster location!

Unfortunately, I don’t have all the dogs’ names since I snuck in on a Sunday again. They were all pretty sweet, though, some even surprising us with their manners and commands. The lil’ girl in the bottom right was quite abuzz, but she calmed right down as soon as she could be close to me. Or the camera. I couldn’t really tell which she liked better.

My own bud, Brewer, came bouncing up to me with a card around his collar on Mother’s Day, and a new plant he found (I think with human help) at the local garden shop. He and I both are starting to feel our spirits lift back up after saying good bye to Bromley.

I hope all you dog and cat moms had a wonderful weekend!

I’m a little exhausted tonight, working hard under the guise of some crazy motivation I’m feeling. But as I make it through lots of edits, I wanted to share this little glimpse from my Mother’s Day visit to the shelter.

The job is dangerous, I tell ya… It’s not all adorable and games. Okay, maybe it is.

Photographer: Grandma

Holder of squeaky fishy: Grandpa

Adopted 12 years ago in Vermont, Bromley has been by my side through life in Vermont, Boston and Cape Cod. His stunning good looks turned heads everywhere he went, but his sweet personality also melted every single heart he came across. I’d like to say he was the best dog ever on earth, but I also enjoy that we all feel that way about our own dogs. They’re so easy to love.

Twelve days ago, Bromley was rushed into surgery for a ruptured tumor on his spleen. The spleen was removed, but more cancerous tumors were found on his liver. At his age and having lost so much blood, our only option was to close him back up and help him heal. At this point, Bromley had been the most healthiest of dogs, and we felt whacked with too sudden of a change in fate.

Bromley received so much love and care for the next week. We are incredibly grateful to be bestest friends with our vets, and to have their support, love and knowledge through every stage. The entire staff at Hyannis Animal Hospital was amazing with us and with Bromley. We were also so amazed to have one of the staff offer her Mastiff as our double blood donor during Bromley’s surgery – we’ll forever be grateful, and I hope you soon meet her and her dogs here on my site.

Bromley’s transfusion started to wear off a week later, and his body wasn’t catching up in regenerating its own blood. He grew tired and weak, but with encouraging test results, we decided to give his body more time by tracking down another matching blood donor – thanks so much to my parents and their golden retriever, Rigley!

We had the most amazing weekend. It was Bromley’s 12th birthday and he was full of spunk. We laid in the grass and sunshine for hours each day – Bromley’s favorite passtime. I sniffed his fur, and sniffed and sniffed and sniffed. He enjoyed steak and chicken, and even a little birthday ice cream. We lounged with neighbors who stopped for a belly rub, and we captured some family photos of ourselves with my parents’ help. We soaked up your wonderful comments via Facebook and Twitter. Our young pup, Brewer, remained delicate and loving with his big brother.

And then it was Monday. Bromley was quickly giving out again, and we knew that we wouldn’t push any further. Our goal was to keep him comfortable and let him go in peace. A few more friends surrounded us, our vets even bringing a bottle of Llama-brand wine – Bromley’s most common nickname (short for the elongated “Bramallama”)! We toasted, shared memories and let this incredible chapter in our lives come to a close.

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I wanted to share a couple of things. One, you shouldn’t be afraid to read books about dogs because of the eventual subject of death. I credit Merle’s Door and The Art of Racing in the Rain as HUGELY helpful in getting me through this time. If you want to borrow one of my copies, just let me know.

Two, the next time you go in for a vet appointment, please consider asking about your local blood donor list. I assumed this kind of thing was taken care of by big city hospitals, but when it comes down to a dog on the operating table, your vet often relies on a local list to find a matching blood donor. Bromley’s second transfusion – thankfully not an emergency – came a day late because we could not find a match and the emergency facilities were out of stock. This is a free test if you are willing to be a donor.

Thank you so much for your love, energy and thoughts. It has been wonderful to be part of such a supportive dog-loving community at a time like this.

XO

We went into this weekend knowing it was going to be 110% relaxation. I cancelled a shoot in Vermont to be by the side of our eldest pup, Bromley, who was rushed into emergency surgery last week. More on that to come, but right now we’re just enjoying long, lazy afternoons, laying in the grass and soaking up the sun. Bromley’s favorite things :-)

You can bet there will be more photos to come, as I employed my lovely mom to give a hand with our family portraits. But for today I thought I’d share a couple of Brewer, the little brother who is having a wee bit of a hard time relaxing as much as the rest of us. He has been pacing around the yard, picking up sticks, munching on grass, securing the perimeter… Thank goodness for the occasional squeaky fish.