As for the last two parts of this post title – I’m sure you are wondering what those two thing could possibly have in common. My tripod, which is pretty much an antique as it was handed down to me from my mom and is made of extremely heavy metal, decided to take a nose dive and land smack dab on my poor little pinkie toe. I humbly admit that I cried like a little baby. I decided to go get an x-ray just to be safe (ask me about the time I broke my thumb and didn’t get an x-ray.) And my poor little toe is definitely broken. There really isn’t much one can do about a little broken toe – it’s mostly just annoying   So I am pretty mad at my tripod right now, it has been sent to its room (the hall closet)!

So, instead of posting a photo of my little blue toe I have decided to spare you and post some photos of Willie trying to avoid the heat…. He is just so handsome!

Good Morning Texas will be featuring me along with Mr. Blue Mutt (Willie) next Tuesday.  Channel 8 contacted us earlier this week to see if we could share some tips on how to get great photos of your own pet. I was so excited I replied yes so fast it probably scared them. Tips – have I got tips for you! Tons of tips!

So tune in (or set your DVR) to Channel 8 on Tuesday, the 17th, at 9:00am. Wish us luck!!

I will also post all about the show and the tips I will be sharing in case you miss the show

We have also decided on a middle name for our little girl. Drum roll please…….. Layla Ruth Cameron. Why Ruth? Well the best response for her middle name I received on the post Little Layla was actually: Chocolate Caramel Brownie! Which made me laugh pretty hard Of course we couldn’t really name her that – but I do agree that she looks like chocolate and caramel. So to stay with the theme of Goonies*, we chose Baby Ruth (the star candy bar in the movie). Thank you for all of your creative suggestions!

* Willie is actually named after The Goonies “One Eyed Willie.” The pirate who’s treasure they are searching for. I know we are dorks but we do love our 80′s movies!

The Cameron family grew by one this past weekend. Meet our new pup Layla! I first met Layla at the SPCA of Texas and instantly fell in love with her. She was petrified – extremely scared of people and suffering in the shelter environment. We are guessing that she was running with a pack of strays because she is perfectly comfortable around other dogs, it’s just people that make her nervous – very nervous. I spent a couple of hours with her at the SPCA trying to get her to warm up to me, and hopefully others. But I ended up falling in love with her and just two days later she was here in our home. Layla is such a sweet girl but still painfully shy – we are working on it and she is getting more comfortable with us every minute. She is already best friends with her big brother Willie!

We have no idea what type of breeds are in Layla, but we plan on asking our vet. Any guesses?

Now here is where I need your help. We kept Layla’s name from the SPCA, we felt like it really did fit her shy demeanor. But we are stuck on her middle name. Yes, all dogs need a middle name. Willie’s full name is Wilson Lincoln Kolle Cameron (seriously). We just can’t seem to find the right fit for Layla. So I am asking you guys… What should Layla Cameron’s middle name be??

I think this last photo might be my favorite, as far as Layla’s first day at our home, this pretty much says it all. Such a sweet girl! By the way – I realize that all of these photos are in the same spot, that’s because for some reason she decided the back door floor matt was her safe spot for the day… Many many more photos to come, that is once she’s ready

I am proud to announce that Buster, our house guest, has overcome his fear of our wood floors… Well sort of, you can still see he’s a little nervous. I however, take no credit in the matter – Willie is the one who helped. You see Buster couldn’t stand not being exactly where Willie was, so he began to venture out onto the big bad wood floor. It’s too bad that Buster is leaving tomorrow – I know Willie will miss having his little friend around.

Monday, Willie came in from some time outside and immediatley laid down and started licking his paw – not normal behavior for Willie. So I went to take a look and saw it was bleeding a little and Willie was whimpering. I looked and looked for a sticker burr or a splinter from the deck – but there was nothing. He wouldn’t put any weight on it at all. Within 5 minutes his foot had doubled in size and I was on my way to the vet! Willie was given some medicine directly into his blood stream along with some other shots and a big rinse of his paw. They kept him there for 2 hours to watch him and soak his paw in salt water. We aren’t really sure what happened – worst case senerio would be a snake bite, best case would be a wasp or bee sting. Whatever it was, Willie was having a bad reaction to it. After 2 hours Willie was ready to go home, he looked much better – he was putting weight on his foot but it was still swollen even up to his elbow. The vet said that since it had stopped swelling and he was putting weight on it so soon, it most likely wasn’t a snake bite – THANK GOODNESS!!

As of now Willie’s foot is completely back to normal, except for the patch of hair I shaved off while trying to look for bite marks… don’t tell Brad I used his electric razor

I’ll leave you with an adorable photo of good things to come! Meet Sadie – the aussie puppy that will melt any heart!

Coming Up: More photos of Sadie, 2 Cocker Spaniels – Bailey & Jake, 2 black labs – Duchess & Painted Lady, and a BABY boy – Little Will

And in this one I chose to focus on Willie’s eye. Even 3 or 4 inches makes a difference.

It was great to just play around with my lens and my pup – he was such a good boy we went straight to the park for some fun! I love my life as a pet photographer.

And did I mention that Willie, Mr. Blue Mutt, loved every minute of it! Here he is standing in our backyard – the snow came up to his tummy

The snow on the trees was beautiful!

Here is Willie diving into the snow after his soccer ball

Willie loves to catch the ball high in the air. Usually the only time he misses is when I give him a bad toss, just like the on the right …oops! To learn more about Mr. Blue Mutt check out his own page – blue mutt

Once Willie was done playing we sat and relaxed by the lake for a while, I just love his silhouette – I even used it as the Blue Mutt Photography logo! All I can say is that my “job” as a Dallas pet photographer ROCKS!

By the way – don’t tell Willie he’s actually getting a bath… Just makes me smile Hope it brightens your day!

And no bath would be complete without a good shake…