About

Almost three years ago, my children and I noticed a nursing mama dog with her pups down the road from us. Mama was emaciated, it was the heat of the Texas summer and they had no food or water. They were hanging around the front yard of a vacant house. We brought them some food and water. The following day, animal control came out to pick them up. I knew of someone who had been looking to adopt a male pup, so I contacted them with pictures of some of the pups and they asked me to hang on to the males so they could pick one. The pups were approximately 7 weeks old and eating food well on their own so given the mama dog's condition, I figured she'd be better off if they weren't still nursing. I let the mama and the one female pup go to the shelter, but asked the animal control officer to please let us know if they didn't get adopted and were in danger. Over the next few days, I contacted the shelter and visited a couple of times to check on mama and her pup. Those two dogs just pulled at my heart and I couldn't get them out of my mind. I had never been to this shelter before and was surprised to realize how full it was. 

Within a couple of days, the shelter went into a code red situation, meaning they were full and would have to euthanize some dogs to make room for the new ones coming in. There was no way I could allow mama and her baby to be put down so I went and adopted them, fully intending to rehome them on my own. I'm sure you've guessed the end by now - not only is mama still with me, so is her female pup and one remaining male from the ones that I held on to in the beginning.  Pictured here, is my Roxie mama - my inspiration for this journey.

During my visits to the shelter, I realized how desperately they were in need of volunteers to visit with the dogs. It is a small, rural shelter and they don't have enough staff to spend as much time with the dogs as they would like. Even after I adopted Roxie and her pup, Princess, I continued my visits to the shelter. During one of the visits, the pup we were with looked especially cute while playing, so I took out my phone and snapped a few pictures. I decided to put them up on the shelter volunteers' Facebook page so others could see how cute the pup was. So many people commented on how different the pup looked from her intake picture of her terrified little face. I realized how helpful it would be if people could see the dogs in a better light - outside, having fun, spending time with people. So, we began taking along a camera on our visits and taking even more photos.

Over the past few years that simple act of snapping a couple of pictures to show others has become my passion. We go to the shelter every week that we are able to - spending time playing with the dogs, getting to know their personalities, checking to see if they are kid-friendly and most of all, photographing them. I have learned a whole lot about photography in these past few years, yet I feel as though I have just scratched the surface. My driving goal is to show these dogs' true personality, to make people look at these pictures and imagine that dog with them, in their life, in their home. I am constantly reading up on techniques and tricks, watching tutorials, studying about editing, etc. I think there will always be something new to learn. I just hope that I can always do these beautiful animals justice in my pictures.

I have chosen the name of Pawsitively Sheltered for my photography site. The name reflects what I hope to accomplish with my photos - to show dogs that are in a shelter situation in a positive light. 

I am a proud artist member of Hearts Speak and as such, I am committed to being an advocate for shelter and rescue animals. I am very loyal to my home shelter, here in Wise County, TX but if there is ever a rescue or shelter in need of pictures of their animals and I am able to get there to help - I would be happy to donate my services to them pro bono. Please email me at econicity@gmail.com with any questions or to request my services for your shelter or rescue.