Ginger introduces her wild sister Blayze – Raleigh dog photographer

Blayze. Blayze. Blayze.  There couldn’t be a more perfect name for this wild child! I first met Tracie and Brian two years ago when I photographed their sweet girls Guinness and Ginger.  Bother were seniors.  Guinness has since passed away and Ginger has a new sister, Blayze.  Tracie regularly fosters for the SPCA of Wake County and Blayze is her first “foster failure!”  What a mess!  She got loose twice during our shoot! One time she crashed a family’s picnic and made a little boy cry!  Thankfully the family was exceptionally nice and understanding! haha

THe light could not have been more perfect the evening of our session in Raleigh!  Ginger the chow is now 14 years old and Blayze turned a year old in April!  Her “gotcha day” was June 17th!

Here is Tracie’s story:

Once we said goodbye to Guinness I began fostering again immediately (we had to take a break during her 4-month illness because of her immune system).  We have always had a “2-dog rule” in the house so even though I’ve had hundreds of pups come through since I began fostering about 10 years ago we didn’t keep a single one!

Since Ginger is a senior, after saying goodbye to Guinness there were no plans to adopt.  Ginger would live out her golden years as our only dog and in the future we would adopt an adult dog when the time was right.

We were heartbroken after saying goodbye to Guinness in January of 2014. I felt a huge void and quietness in the house.  She was my buddy, my ever-present companion.  We adore our GiGi girl but frankly, she is a giant kitty cat.  She is very sweet but aloof, independent and has very few demands for affection and attention in life – I know many consider that a huge plus but I was missing something.  Blayze entered our life as a foster in late May 2014 (a singleton from Johnston County pulled by Deborah at the SPCA).  We were still adamant about no puppies!  But, she was very respectful of Ginger and she totally fooled us into thinking she was an angel.  She used her smarts, her striking eyes and big ears against our willpower!  Quite honestly, she was one of the healthiest foster pups I have ever had, but that quickly changed once she was “ours”.  As soon as we adopted her, she broke her tibia in two places! We then had run ins with an insect sting reaction, a brown recluse spider bite, demodex mange, and copperhead snake bite all before we even had her for a year!  Never mind the things she has ingested and the countless dog beds and couch cushions she thought to be so dangerous that de-fluffing was in order!  (And just after our session, she was bit by another snake!!!)

Ahhh, the Blayzer…..I think I will blame Brian for her shenanigans, he chose to name her Blayze and I think she feels the need to live up to that name. (Tara note: Brian is a firefighter) At times flickering and at times roaring all about the house and yard  – or crashing picnics in parks!    Thinking about it, she has also eaten a fire starter log – oh Blayze.

Believe it or not she has passed her CGC!  Hopefully we can keep going and maybe someday we’ll be able to channel her energy to agility or when she finally mellows and matures perhaps she will excel as a therapy dog.

I still miss Guinny Girl every day, but we do adore Blayze and her capacity for entertaining (most of the time) and certainly the house is not the same since she joined us.  Ginger accepts her too and simply looks at her as if to say, “are you kidding me?  you are doing whaaaat??”