shine pet photos | modern pet photography

Last week, The Dawg Squad rescued a dog that had been horribly neglected by his owner and held as an evidence dog at the South LA Shelter. He’s been so neglected that over 60% of his skinny body was covered in mange! But he’s since been renamed Clooney (because he’ll be strikingly handsome very soon!) and is well on his way to healing and being loved for the first time in his life.

I met Clooney this week and wasn’t sure what to expect. I mean this dog has obviously been kept outdoors and neglected for his entire life. What I found was an exuberant and vivacious dog who was ready to play, play play! Working in rescue, I’ve met so many dogs who have been so abused they’re left vacant shells. Not Clooney. Despite everything he’s been through, he is an AMAZINGLY happy dog. Clooney loves treats, loves playing catch, and loves being loved on.

(Click on small photos to enlarge)

On Sunday April 22nd at 2PM, M Bird Studio (my favorite hair salon!) will be hosting a fun dog event. I’ll be there taking photos for $25 and you’ll receive a free 5×7 digital file of your dog. 100% of proceeds will be donated to The Dawg Squad to heal Clooney and give him the chance at life he deserves. We all hope to see you there for a great cause! And if you can’t make it but would still like to help The Dawg Squad out, you can donate here.

Clooney I love you! Thank you Amy and Emily for your help in capturing these images, and as always, thank you to The Dawg Squad for being such a friend and advocate to dogs in Los Angeles.

If you haven’t had the chance to see The Artist, I highly recommend you go see it, especially while it’s still in theaters. I mean how often is it that you can watch a black and white, silent movie on the big screen? I watched it in one of Los Angeles’ last single screen theaters that was built in 1929 and it was ah-maaaazing!

The breakthrough actor of the movie that had fans vying for him to win an Oscar was none other than canine superstar Uggie, the Jack Russell Terrier. He stole the show at the Golden Globes and we all wondered if he would be allowed to attend the Oscars. Thankfully he was, and was present when the film won Best Oscar.

2 days after the whirlwind of winning the Oscars, I photographed Uggie for Nintendo of America with their PR firm Golin Harris. While Uggie has retired from the big screen, his next gig is working as Nintendo’s first-ever spokesdog. When he’s not busy working for Mario, Uggie loves playing nintendogs+cats on the Nintendo 3DS.

You might be wondering if winning an Oscar has gone to Uggie’s head. Let me tell you, he’s still the nicest dog in showbiz. And if it wasn’t obvious, his trainer/owner Omar Von Mueller is absolutely amazing at what he does. And he’s truly a very, very nice guy too - which goes a long way in my book!

Huge thanks to Brian, Omar, Katie, Grace and Dior at Golin Harris and Tiffany at Nintendo. And of course, thank you to Uggie for being so much fun to photograph.