An Introduction to Charlie Dog: Puppy Extraordinaire | Hampton Roads Puppy Photographer

Hi!

If you follow any other photographer's online (and I'd be willing to bet you do- I know I do!) you'll probably see a number of them talking about their kids- and rightfully so! Kids are an incredible gift and a HUGE life lesson and experience and joy and journey and so many other things that I know I can't even describe. That's because (as you've probably guessed by following me for a little while now): I don't have children...yet. 

But I do have Charlie Dog. And Charlie Dog is pretty wonderful, too, if I do say so myself :) Charlie Dog is incredibly important to me and to be honest I'm not sure what life would be like without him. You see, Charlie was a gift from my mother in-law when I graduated college. No one besides me (not even my boyfriend-now husband) thought it was a fantastic and stupendous idea to get a dog right before I moved to a new city to start grad school. Good thing no one but me got to make the decision, right? ;)

I mean really, who could turn down that FACE?!

So Charlie Dog and I started our journey together in a small apartment in Ohio where I quickly learned what the teenage years of a puppy were like: frustrating, spiteful (on his part)- he once peed ON MY LAP just because I took a toy from him- oh yea... he often found himself in trouble.

But he also met me every single day with TONS of kisses and jumping and tail wagging. Without fail he would be excited to see me. And we're talking the "ohmygoodnessithoughtyouleftmeforever" kind of happy. It didn't matter what kind of mood I was in, what time I came home from practicals or my 5-9pm class (yea...that's not a typo- it was a 4 hour class), or what season it was: he would ALWAYS be happy to see me. You can't buy that sort of love.

He made being in a new city where I knew only a very small number of people, starting a whole new chapter of life, a lot easier than I could have hoped for. He made coming home to a quiet apartment actually enjoyable. Simply put: he made life better. He was my cheering section throughout my two years of being alone in Ohio rooting me on with puppy kisses.

So whenever I post about him, whenever I plaster photos of him all over the page: I hope that now you understand a little bit about the "why." He's my Charlie Dog. I worry about him when I'm out of town- I have irrational fears about the air conditioning system breaking while I'm away during hot summer days and him having to sit in a 90 degree home for hours- and yes, sometimes, my husband and I even let him share the bed with us.

What can I say? Other photog's have their kids- I have Charlie Dog.

 Thank GOODNESS he's really patient with me because i LOVE to dress him in ridiculous outfits.

Can you BELIEVE he was so tiny?!

Trust me, when you meet him one day you'll fall in love with him just like I did :)

Best,
Sarah

p.s. Little known Charlie Dog trivia: His real *official* name on his papers is Charlie Pavlov Chaplin. And he owns both a tuxedo and a life jacket. Fact.