I cannot believe how fast time flies! It was just last September that George and I were at Pets Without Parents photographing the adoptable dogs and cats and took one home that day. Spencer was just two months old and the most adorable little puppy dog in the world. Raising a puppy is quite the undertaking! There were many sleepless nights, accidents in the house and some destroyed personal items. Then there is his older brother, Baxter, who had a hard time adjusting to having a new brother. Baxter is 8 and had been king dog for his whole life – but we are pretty sure he does not mind the puppy anymore. When we first got the little guy, we knew his mom was part Australian Shepherd, but we were unsure what exactly he was mixed with. With those crazy ears, he definitely has some Corgi in him and we are pretty sure he has a lot of Beagle in him as well.

I had hopes of doing an elaborate photography session for Spencer’s first birthday. But, when it comes to photographing your own pets, things never go as planned. We had been out of town leading up to his big day and then I scrambled to get his photos done. We have tried training Spencer over the last year, but I swear my furball has A.D.D.  Thank goodness he is at least somewhat food motivated. The first attempt at photos did not work out very well. I forget my own rule about exercising the dog before photos. George had just gotten home from work and I wanted to get them done before dinner. That was a mistake! Spencer was all over the place. Needless to say, the photo session did not last very long. The next day, I took him for a very long walk and photos worked out a little better.

Below are photos from both attempts at our photo shoots for my puppy’s first birthday. I cannot believe how much he has changed over the past year.

Oh that face! He looks so different now compared to this photo I took at the rescue the day we took him home.

The Spencer ears – sometimes they are both up, or one’s up and on rare occasions they are both down.

He can hear me, he just won’t look at me!

My favorite photograph from his birthday photos – ears down, tongue out and crazy, happy look in his eyes.