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Approximately 3.9 million dogs enter animal shelters each year, according to the ASPCA. Of those, 35% are adopted. Wally is one of the millions of dogs looking for a home.
Wally is a foster dog, placed in my home by Social Tees Animal Rescue in New York City. He and his liter of brothers and sisters were brought here from Tennessee when they were around 3 months old. Wally has been in foster care for around four months now, waiting for the right forever family to find him.
It's not that he isn't a wonderful dog: he's a mixed breed puppy with the intelligence of his border collie breed, the playfulness of the lab line in him and the nose of a beagle. He loves playing fetch, meeting new people and dogs and eating anything and everything is a particular specialty of his. He's a great dog.
But like many puppies, Wally is having a hard time finding the right family. When dog photographer Hilarious Hound volunteered to take some photos of dogs for Social Tees, I was thrilled to sign Wally up. Getting him some new photos – that really show what a special sweet guy he is – to share on social media and Social Tees' Petfinder page might be just the thing to help Wally find his perfect home.
"We are so grateful to have creative, talented photographers like Hilarious Hound donate their time and services. These fun, bright photos really let the dogs' personalities shine through, and they make a huge difference in getting more eyes on our rescue animals when we share these pictures via social media and use them on the dogs' profiles on pet listing sites," Samantha Brody, Development Manager at Social Tees Animal Rescue told me via email.
We met up with Michelle from Hilarious Hound in Central Park by the Great Lawn to get some pictures of Wally. Naturally we got lost, walked around in circles and were late but it helped to tire Wally out a little. He's a 9 month old puppy with a lot of energy and I was worried about getting him to sit still for Michelle's photos. I shouldn't have been worried, although he didn't sit still for more than a second, because Michelle is a pro at getting the shot from a dog who is motion. After the shoot, she told me she prefers to take dogs out of their normal environment, to a new location outside like this one, to spark a little fire and curiosity into them.
How did Michelle manage to wrangle Wally? She used two different kinds of treats, a bag I brought and her own, a tennis ball and a squeak toy. Click through the photo gallery for a behind the scenes look at Wally's Central Park photo shoot, see a few of his final pictures, and read what Wally thought of the big day.
If you think Wally is the perfect dog for you (or want to rescue another dog), contact Social Tees Animal Rescue to adopt him.
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