Sylvania Pet Photography. Rosie the Bichon/Cocker. Downtown Sylvania Ohio.

If you know anything about me, you know I love working with animals. I am up for any shape, size, breed or species. You might remember seeing my snake photo shoot last spring. I have to say I felt pretty brave working with a snake. Even a small one! Working with dogs might be my favorite. I do live with two of them.

Jessica contacted me in the fall to schedule some branding images for her new proofreading and editing business. I have known Jessica since I was in high school and we worked together for a long time. I know how much she loves her dog and I wasn’t surprised at all when she asked to let Rosie join in some of the photos.

Interviewing a writer about her dog produced a lot of amazing information. Check out Rosie’s story and Jessica’s insights into her dog:

Where did you get her? “Rosie is from Michigan (from a “breeder”—a family that bred their two dogs, a female bichon named Sophie and a male cocker spaniel; this was not some nefarious breeding situation)—I don’t remember where in Michigan, but it was about 2 1/2 or 3 hours from Toledo. Both of Rosie’s “birth parents” were on-site—I was able to meet both of them—both were very sweet dogs; the puppies (Rosie and her siblings) were well taken care of. The family had four young kids who were very gentle and loving to the puppies; Rosie has LOVED kids her whole life, and I think it’s because of those kids. I think she’s always been looking for “her” kids from when she was a baby. I met Rosie first when she was about 4 weeks old—I picked her out from the puppies. I wanted a bichon (like Daisy, who was about 2 and a half at that time), but bichons were really popular and really expensive back in 2005. The “mutts” like Rosie were much more reasonable in price, but anyway, I digress! I also wanted a girl dog; there were only two white pups in the litter, and those were the girls; the brown pups (cocker spaniel coloring) were boys. So, I picked which white one I wanted; then, a few weeks later I went back to the place to take her home. She was about 6 1/2 or 7 weeks old when I brought her home. (Nowadays I think they have to be 8 weeks old, so you might just say 8 weeks so that nobody thinks I took her away from her mother too soon!)”
How did you choose her name? “Choosing her name, ha ha! Well, I wanted it to be a flower name since I already had Daisy (dearly departed Bichon). Lee (coworker) and I used to sit at work and look up different flowers and think about a name for her. A close runner-up of a name was Lily, but when I held and cuddled her for the first time, I knew she was a Rosie. The name is just perfect for her. Lily wouldn’t have worked. I think other names I thought about were Dahlia and Violet. Those wouldn’t have worked either!”
How old is she? “She’s 13 now but will be 14 on May 3rd.“
What 3 words would you use to describe her personality? “My dad always calls her ‘odd,’ and she is a little bit, but I would describe her as sweet (so sweet!), laidback (generally), and quietly stubborn. Daisy was outspoken in her stubbornness and would make big scenes about things; Rosie has always just gone with the flow, but she certainly asserts herself when she wants to, but it’s usually in a nonchalant or unassuming way. Like when I take her on walks, I have a pretty standard route I take, but some days she decides nope, she wants to go in this other direction and nothing can change her mind. But she does it in such a subtle manner that you don’t always realize that SHE’S making the decision and not you.”
What is her favorite toy? “She doesn’t have one particular favorite toy right now, but most of her life she’s always preferred BIG toys. She had a big plush leopard (that Lee gave her for her 1st birthday)—that was her favorite toy for MANY years. I think I finally had to get rid of it about four years ago. It was not much smaller than she is. Daisy always liked “dainty” toys—she played with these little miniature tennis balls that fit nicely in her mouth (Daisy couldn’t figure out how to hold an actual tennis ball in her mouth—too big); and it seemed that, in an effort to be different from her big sister, Rosie wanted BIG toys—she picked out a HUGE ball (basketball sized) from Petco once, and she LOVED playing with that. Without Daisy, though, Rosie plays with all her toys equally and even plays with Daisy’s tiny little “dainty” balls sometimes. She still loves big plush toys though.”
What do you love to do together? “Rosie loves to shop! So, I take her to dog-friendly stores regularly. She loves to see people (and kids especially), so we walk in the neighborhood where she can find kids to pet her. There’s a park nearby she loves to go to, too. Even at almost 14, she’s in good physical shape—I take her for a 1.5 mile walk most every day, plus a couple of small “strolls.” She’s still very active and is able to jump on the couch without a problem and jump into the papasan in my living room, her favorite place to nap. Napping is another of her favorite pastimes. She’s always loved sleeping. I sometimes think she did that to oppose Daisy, too. Daisy used to wake up early and was always ready to play ball immediately first thing in the morning. She’d bounce up and down the stairs several times before I even got downstairs myself. I’d look around for Rosie, then, and I’d have to go back upstairs, where she often had made it out of bed but had fallen asleep in the hallway.”
Other cute facts? “Another ‘cute’ thing about her is that she loves to cuddle and be held. She also insists on always sleeping right up against me—this is a new thing in the last couple of years. It used to be that she and Daisy cuddled together (a FB memory that popped up recently on my feed was one of Daisy and Rosie resting on the top of the couch, Daisy resting her head on Rosie’s back). After Daisy died, though, Rosie became extra-clingy with me and now always likes to be very close to me whenever possible. Also, she loves to be petted and if anyone (even strangers) start petting her and then stop, she will paw at them to continue. She will also stick her nose in the air when she wants her neck scratched. So, sometimes she’ll paw at someone and when they look at her, she sticks her nose way up—this is a directive to scratch her neck!”

Rosie was very sweet and happy during our session. She got to wear her cute sweater due to the brisk Northwest Ohio November weather. Pink is definitely her color. Rosie has all the grace and pomp of a true princess. I hope you enjoyed getting to know her!