It's Week 17 of professional pet photography blog circle Project 52 and this week it was photographer's choice. Originally, I had a completely different title for my post and a different subject in mind for this week, but as the title indicates, life changes so quickly.

For the past several years I've worked with Save Our Shelter Dogs Rescue to help their rescue pets get seen. My kitten, Milo, was adopted from them this past September. So, of course, I follow them on social media. Wednesday morning I saw a post about Jill, an alumnus of the rescue, who was headed into surgery at the vet after chewing up her bed and ingesting stuffing. Unfortunately, the stuffing didn't all pass and Jill was in need of surgery. Jill was quite young when she came to the rescue and she eventually ended up as the personal dog of Lori, the lady who runs the rescue. Over the last several years I've gotten to know Lori from my work photographing the rescue pets. Last September, I got to photograph Jill and Lori's other dogs. So, of course, I was invested in how Jill was doing. I sent Lori a message late Wednesday night checking in. I got a reply Thursday morning that Jill had a rough night and they were headed back to the vet. We messaged a couple of times throughout the day until I heard from Lori that Jill wasn't doing well and she was taking her to MedVet. Sadly, the next time I checked in with Lori, she told me she had to let Jill go.

So, life definitely changes very quickly. Jill was around 11, but she was well-loved and well taken care of by Lori, she should have had many years left of being a grumpy old lady hound. 

Here are a couple of the images I took of Jill. I'm so glad I was able to photograph her for Lori.

RIP, Jill.

"Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really." ~ Agnes Sligh Turnball

Up next in the blog circle is Angela Schneider of Big White Dog Photography, adventure dog photographer in Spokane and North Idaho. After you what Angela has chosen, visit the rest of the blog circle until you end up back here.

If you'd like to schedule a photoshoot for your pet at your favorite outdoor location send an email to suzi [at] petlovephotography.com.