My Covid-19 distraction puppies got me through the first lockdown so four weeks into lockdown 2.0 I decided I needed another foster puppy. It hadn’t been that long since our last foster puppy left but I was starting to fall apart at the seams so when I saw a puppy looking for a home on a Facebook group I messaged straight away. She said he was free to good home and I could have him if I could collect as soon as possible. I certainly didn’t have any other plans so I checked with Fetching Dogs if it was ok for me to take him into care and foster him. They said yes and off to Newcastle I went, with a letter from the rescue in case I was stopped by the police for breaching the stay at home order. Rescue volunteers are allowed to travel but the 50km radius rule had come into effect the day before and the police were out in force, stopping any car from Greater Sydney. It turned out I wasn’t allowed to travel, even with the letter, but I was allowed to turn around and wait at a servo within the 50km radius for the puppy to be delivered to me.
After all that stress and anxiety I was very happy when the puppy was in my carrier and even happier that he slept quietly the whole way home.
He was only 9wks old but he’d already been in his first home for a week and then back with his breeder for another week. I asked why it didn’t work out in the first home and was told he was guarding her and fighting with the other dog (who was his aunty). With that in mind I took introductions to Butters and Bruno very slowly. But the puppy was still overwhelmed and had a snarl at Butters. The next day he was ready to play though and they’ve been thick as thieves ever since. I was very adamant that he was just a foster but the longer he stayed the more I grew to really like him and when it came time to write his adoption profile I knew I had to have “the conversation” with Dave.
Before I’d decided he was staying I started photographing him. Puppies grow up fast and imagine I did end up adopting him and hadn’t taken a bunch of puppy photos?! His first shoot (above) wasn’t his best work. He was brand new and I hadn’t done any training with him yet. A couple of weeks later the whole pack came to my studio for an outing (always a good time!) and I took this next set of photos. At this point I knew if he stayed I would photograph him on the orange chair once a month to document his growth.
It’s safe to say I won’t be recreating this shot once a month!
The next time “the puppy” (still unchristened) came to the studio it was to model his new Ruffined Designs collar and lead set. He nailed it and the next day I announced that we’d adopted him and his name is Ninja.
As planned, a month after the first lot of photos on the chair we went back for round two. He was so good. It’s early days but I still have no regrets that we kept him!
These are just some of the photos I’ve taken of Ninja in his first two months with us. Stay tuned for many many more! You can also follow his antics on my @ruthlessratpack Instagram account.
Oh, and if like me you were wondering what breed he is? Here are his DNA test results: http://embk.me/gingerninja
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