buddy project | poppy + cooper

Welcome to the Buddy Project, a personal project I have been slowly but surely working on behind the scenes as time allows. This is the first of what I hope to be many stories and images of dogs and their kids. My goal is to highlight the unique and wonderful bond that kids and dogs have with each other. It’s a force to be reckoned with!

This pair was so special and so much fun to photograph. Cooper – a rescue dog (yay!) was over 17 years old (!) at the time of this shoot. On top of that, I cannot tell you how much he looks like my childhood dog. His little girl Poppy (I just love her name) – she was 2 years old, which happens to be my absolute favorite age. I love how all over the place emotionally toddlers can be. You just never know what you’re going to get. This is a nightmare for some photographers, but I am amused by it and I love that they are just real. Going from one emotion to the next with no filter whatsoever. I just follow them around and roll with it.

I ask the parents of the kids and dogs that I photograph to describe both the child and dog in only 3 words. I love reading what they say.

Poppy: happy, inquisitive, busy

Cooper : loyal, watchful, herder

She went on to describe that Cooper checks on his kids when they move out of his sight. And Poppy gently wakes him up when he’s sleeping. “I wouldn’t consider their relationship as playful but I would consider it nurturing and that they have a loving understanding of each other.” And I can tell you that’s exactly what I saw the morning I went to their home to observe and photograph these two. Pretty amazing to have a toddler who was so aware of her older doggie companion’s limitations.

These pictures are even more special to me now that I have found out that sweet Cooper passed away last week. He had a long and happy life with this family. I hope there’s lots of American cheese up there for you, sweet boy.