What connects gratitude and a pet portrait photographer?

I’m not afraid to live where I live. It’s not the best neighborhood in town. Some of the street lights are out in the median. There are a few sketchy-looking houses. The sidewalks, where they exist, are frequently cracked, broken, or uneven, with weeds growing in the cracks.  My porch lights stay on at night. I park my car in the garage and habitually lock the doors to my home (so habitually that I locked myself out more than once).

But I’ve never been afraid to live where I live. Even when I lived in less desirable neighborhoods, I walked outside, to see and to be seen. I like to keep the windows open when the weather is nice. I’ve never had a security system beyond a locked door, a dog, a few “attack cats”, a baseball bat and a can of wasp spray (which turns out NOT to be a great form of self-defense).

They didn’t succeed and my belongings remained untouched.

Then one day, when I was leaving to walk Bonnie, my Shar-pei-mix shelter mutt, I noticed light coming in through the wooden front door. Where light shouldn’t be.  On closer inspection, there was a crack in the wood, and a large dusty footprint, barely visible in the strong afternoon sunlight. Someone tried to break into my home. They didn’t succeed and my belongings remained untouched.

Bonnie and I left for our walk. There wasn’t anything I could do about the attempted break-in at that moment besides create stress for myself. The walk allowed me the time to think about what I could do. On returning home, I made a call to one of my pet portrait clients. I sent him an invoice for a session just a day or two before, and he hadn’t paid yet, so I asked him not to pay the invoice in exchange for replacing my door and installing some security features (I didn’t pick just any client, this one is fairly skilled in the handy-man department and has done other projects for me). I went home and locked the storm door, so if the perpetrator returned, they’d have a harder time getting in the door.

The following weekend, he spent hours dismantling my front entrance and putting it back together again. My front entrance is now secure with a shiny new steel door, and additional security measures have been added.

As a result of all this, I got mad. I cried. However, I didn’t feel helpless about living as a single woman in a big city, and I didn’t begin to live my life in fear. Instead, I choose to feel gratitude. For my client who, despite having a busy life of his own, squeezed me into his schedule on short notice. For the fact that the would-be burglar did not make it into my home to take my few valuables. Even for the jerk who wanted to have free pick of my belongings, as they gave me a reason to improve my home. And for a whole lot of things and people totally unrelated to this incident. But mostly for Bonnie.

You see, I believe she was the reason my home wasn’t entered and my things weren’t rifled, destroyed, or taken. I believe my dog saved my home, and my sense of safety there. Why did they only crack the door and leave? Another kick would surely have broken the door enough they could reach in and flip the locks. But that didn’t happen.

She was enough of a deterrent to protect my home that day.

Something else happened and they left. Yes, it could have been a wide variety of things. A cop or pedestrian could have passed by. Maybe they just got the heebie jeebies. Maybe there was more than one person, and one of them talked the other out of it. I don’t know the reason. But I know Bonnie has a big-dog bark. And I believe she barked when she heard the noise generated when they kicked the door. I think she was enough of a deterrent to protect my home that day.

As a result, Bonnie is the most valuable thing in my home. She very literally earned her keep and I hope never to complain about the cost of her food, toys, boarding, or vet bills again. In addition to all she already taught me about patience and unconditional love, she saved me from untold expenses to repair or replace whatever might have been broken or stolen.

As a photographer, and specifically a pet portrait photographer, I’m lucky. I can walk into my studio with Bonnie any time and get great pictures of her. I have access to professional labs that make beautifully framed heirloom portraits. She won’t be with me forever, but I’ll always have amazing portraits of her that help me remember her contributions to my life, and now my safety too. 

What about you? Have your pets saved you in some way? What are you willing to invest to preserve your beautiful memories of your best friend? Is hiring a pet portrait photographer an appropriate gift for you and your family? Contact me to schedule your design consultation today.