Li Ward photographer of pets and weddings. Fat Orange Cat Studio is a fresh and candid boutique photography service in Boston, Massachusetts.

Floy-Floy-Floyd!

That’s how we called to Floyd during his second photo romp last weekend in the snow. You may remember our first session last summer in the Boston Public Garden and Beacon Hill when he was 13 weeks old. He’s a little bigger now but just as impish and floppy-eared as ever. We met again at the Public Garden, now covered in snow. There were a ton of other dogs out – snow makes dogs PRANCE!! – so we all made new friends that day. Later we warmed up at the Taj Boston hotel (formerly the Ritz-Carlton and which I still call the Ritz, as if I had some personal tie to it when I do not; I’d never set foot in it until now) where Floyd replenished himself with water from the ladies’ room faucet. Later he revealed his naughty side by making a run for the tea room’s kitchen. I don’t know how he knew exactly where to go where he was least allowed – he pretty much dashed down a flight of stairs, turned left, bore right and went straight into the kitchen without a moment’s pause. However dog-friendly the hotel was, they weren’t too crazy about a Floyd in the food prep area! We left right soon after. And headed to The Four Seasons hotel :)

Thanks Floyd for another fun and wonderful shoot!

Here are some behind the scenes shots at the Four Seasons and Taj Boston.

Dasha wasn’t the only French Bulldog to greet me when I arrived for her shoot. My periphery vision caught in the next room some movement in a basket, which was strangely calling my name. Psst. Over here. So I went. And I peered over to see pink bellies, baby blue eyes and tiny limbs akimbo. A basket full of STEAMING PUPPIES fresh out of the oven! Dasha’s owner bred one of her other mature Frenchies, Nona. And here are her babies at 5 weeks old. It took much willpower to not stuff them all in my mouth and take off for the woods, but luckily Dasha was there to paw at my arms, reminding me that she was the focus today, and that the puppies could wait.

Eeeee!

So after we finished up our shoot with Dasha, the puppies were UNLEASHED! onto the living room floor…where they proceeded to roll around in all different directions…slowly…like heavy, oversized marbles. Or drunk snails. Too. Stinking. Cute.

Dan took the below shot. It took my eyes a few seconds to figure out what they were looking at. It’s a puppy nursery!

Aunt Dasha, so gentle and sweet with the puppies.

Sobbing now.

I did have a favorite puppy out of the foursome. His name is Luie – the black and white one wearing eyeliner.

Hi.

Here was Dasha the French Bulldog back in June:

Sleepy baby Dasha

Here is Dasha now, having just celebrated her 7-month birthday, looking happy, confident, and very roly poly!

Smiley teenaged Dasha

I loved seeing her again. She greeted us outside the front door gate when we pulled in, and nearly scraped my kneecaps off as she jumped for my attention. Burly Dasha, 4 months older and 20+ lbs heavier since I saw her last! I noticed new spots inside her ears and here underbelly, as well as this cute smudge off the corner of her right eye that makes it look as if she’s wearing eyelashes.

Her mom says the dark half of her face is her favorite side. The white side is mine because of that misplaced fake eyelash!

New underbelly spots….

…and new friends…

New friends with delicious stinky dog treats, that is. Those legs are Dan’s. I was wondering for a second there why she was so taken with him.

Dasha is participating in her first show next month. Here she demonstrates her show dog stance.

Later D!

Thank you Dasha for another fun-filled shoot!

But WAIT! there’s more…

There are PUPPIES! Dasha and French Bulldog puppies everywhere! So stay tuned. The squealing will never stop.

Floyd is one lucky and cherished puppy. His parents have been searching high and low for a someone like him, and when the opportunity suddenly presented itself, they were on a plane to Ohio lickidity split to bring him home. They weren’t looking just for any Cavalier King Charles Spaniel you see. They were looking for the PERFECT Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. A rescue.

Floyd was saved from a puppy mill that was going to, you know, let him go, because he didn’t have the right coloring. Ugh! Who cares about coloring when such character is to be had! This little guy is just full of personality and confidence. I called him the Mayor of Boston because he had to stop for everyone and say hello, especially for his fellow four-legged citizens. The two-legged animals were quite eager to make his acquaintance as well. It might have been a little foolish on my part to have Floyd and his mom meet me at the Make Way for Ducklings statues in the Public Garden. All the children! All the squealing! You would have thought Paul McCartney had just showed up. Floyd spent the first ten minutes signing autographs before we had to pry him away for his photo shoot.

OK so I don’t want to interject the photos (lots of them! so hard to narrow down!) with too much text so I’ll just say upfront what fun this shoot was. So, so fun. There was his mom, his mom’s friend, me and Dan, all working hard for the money (one of these shoots I swear I will hire a photog of my own to take behind-the-scenes shots. We must have looked INSANE).
There was much laughing. And near wipe-outs in the mud.
There was an actress with her German shepherd who Floyd befriended in Beacon Hill.
There was an enormous Chocolate Lab with whom itty bitty Floyd fearlessly engaged in a Showcase Showdown for the return of his stuffed toy.
There were shots in a flower pot in front of Senator Kerry’s townhouse.
There was a huge group of German tourists walking up Acorn St. who made such a commotion over Floyd that I got in some trouble with a resident.  I think I’m officially banned from shooting there again. Oops!

But it was all totally worth it! So without further ado…

A perfect way to spend a Sunday evening. Thank you for being so charming Floyd, and see you again soon!

Today’s post is brought to you by the color Violet.

With special assitance from the color Red.

And a huge contribution from the adjective Cute.

This is Violet. She is the reigning Miss Pug Puppy Universe, did you know that? We had made several attempts for this shoot back in June before it finally happened, so when I showed up nearly 6 weeks after our original shoot date – that’s 6 weeks of fast puppy growth to be had – I was absolutely floored to meet this teeny, t i n y, squiggly little pug, no bigger than an acorn, rolling around in figure-8’s around my ankles. She was 4 months old by then, and barely 4 lbs! Dan was with me on this shoot. His voice became 3 octaves higher than normal.

After the photo shoot and going on and on in the car about how much we already missed Violet, we decided that when the time comes for Veebs and Bunny to cross over to that Rainbow Bridge – which I hope won’t be for another ten million years – we would be very very very sad, and cry a lot and mourn for years. And then we would usher in the Era of Pugs. Possibly rename the business to Cute Violet Pug Studio. Was that too crass? Well, Violet was just too much. She filled our heads with pink cotton candy. We couldn’t think straight, except that we had to have a Violet of our own!

Thank you so much Sarah and Chris for setting up this shoot! I’m so glad we were able to have it happen after all.

Little Miss Violet, ready to conquer the world!