I’m so excited about my new volunteer project! I’ll be working with Assistance Dogs of America Inc. to capture images for their newsletter and new website. I headed out to their Swanton facility to meet the staff and dogs and to hear a little more about what they need me to do. 

Everyone I met was SO nice and the dogs were amazing. Of course I got some pics of them while I was there and I can’t wait to share more from each time I go to visit.

To learn more about ADAI check out their website, and in case you are looking to adopt a dog, not all of them make it through the entire Assistance Dog program so they adopt out the "Fabulous Flunkies"  to families. It’s a great way to get a sweet and well trained dog who may just have a hard time giving up chasing squirrels but would make a fantastic pet (chasing squirrels seems to be a favorite hobby of my 2 dogs:)

Here are a few photos I grabbed of some of the dogs who are in training…

ADAI uses mostly Labs, Golden Retrievers, and mixes like Labradoodles & Goldendoodles. Every dog I met was well mannered and I had to restrain myself from wanting to take them all home, we already almost have a zoo!

The most platinum blonde Golden Retriever I’ve ever seen:)

Victor’s first time over the top:)

Zeus napping after a training session.

Love this guy, they told me he has one of the highest IQ’s of this group.

Dwight the Labradoodle.

This is Lydia, she just got back from the Puppy Prison Program and is ready for her evaluation:)

I really wanted to take Wixey home with me, who could resist a face like that?

And last but not least, Sierra, one of two resident cats. She helps the dogs get used to being around felines (as well as making visitors feel right at home:)

Hope you all enjoyed the photos, I can’t wait to learn more about how ADAI trains the dogs, and I really can’t wait to see the dogs in action to witness how they change people’s lives. I may also have the opportunity to go to the prison to see how the Puppy Prison Program works and to get some photos of the inmates training the pups.

Please go check out the ADAI website, and if you are inspired to help there are many ways to do so. One thing you can do right now is to text  DOGS to 20222, by doing this you will contribute $5 to Assistance Dogs of America* see below for details.

-Tabitha

 *A one time donation of $5 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. All charges are billed by and payable to your m,obile service provider. Service is available on most carriers. Donations are collected for the benefit of ADAI by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to terms found at www.hmgf.org/t.  You can unsubscribe at anytime by replying STOP to short code 20222. Reply HELP to 20222 for help.

Our amazing graphic designer (those of you who have story albums know what I mean) Andrea, stopped by tonight and she brought her pup to play with my pup! Here at WP we love dogs! Anyway, there he was hanging out in her Jeep when she was leaving and I thought he was just too cute. It was nine pm so I know the photos are a bit grainy from a high ISO but I still thought they were worth sharing.

Meet Joe. He is a yellow lab pup…but I think he looks like a baby polar bear.

Joe likes his human’s Jeep.

Sometimes Joe thinks about jumping out of his Jeep.

Then Joe remembered he loves his Jeep…….

…..even when it’s hot out.

Nighty night Joe. Thanks for coming to play. I know Rufus had fun and she zonked out right when you left!

Email wellspringphoto@gmail.com if you’d like to schedule a pet session! They are so fun and make great memories of your furry, quirky friend!

~Bethany

It’s true, at any given session or event at one point or another you can catch me or Tabitha in the dirt. We really don’t care how ridiculous we look as long as we get the shot. Thought I’d share one I grabbed of Tab at our wedding last Saturday. She was grabbing some ring shots and she was tummy down in the wet muddy grass!

Needless to say we both walked into the reception picking grass off ourselves and trying to clean a little of the mud off!!!

The images from this wedding will be posted in a couple days! Check back

~B

Well, it’s been a while since we’ve put up any personal photos so I thought I’d share with you some pics I did of  Bethany with her wonderful husband Ryan (and of course their newest addition Rufus the Pug:) We caught one of those gorgeous days in early April when we had a bunch of warm weather- it is pouring down rain as I write this so I am wishing for one of those days now!

Hope you enjoy the photos…

And I LOVE them all, but this has to be my favorite…

Hope you all are enjoying your Springtime so far! Contact me if you want pics done of you and your honey:)

      419-266-0318 or tabitha.wellspring@gmail.com

      Tabitha

every now and then we get a guest that loves taking our photo instead of the other way around! Cowboy Kenny took this of Tabitha, Joni and me at Beckie and Ryan’s wedding:

We really do love our job and we had such a blast at Ryan and Beckie’s wedding!

~B

 If you’ve been reading our blog you all know that Bethany and her husband have a new puppy named Rufus

(Dr. Rufus if you must know:)

I had the privilege of watching Rufus over Valentine’s Day weekend while Bethany and Ryan went on a romantic getaway. She was a wonderful house guest and LOTS of fun- my two big pups were exhausted when she left.

Tango (my big 9 year old Weimaraner) was happy to stay out of her way, but she definitely cut into his nap time.

Charlie (my 1 year old Weim/Vizsla mix) wanted to do nothing but play with her the entire time, so I had to make sure he wasn’t too rough with her since he towers over her.

She’s a feisty little thing, but SO cute, I (of course) had to get some pics of her, so here they are…

What a profile:)

I just love that curly tail!

She loved stealing Charlie’s toys to tease him.

Bethany and Ryan-thanks for trusting me with your "baby," I hope you two LOVE the pics of her:) You’ve done a fantastic job with her training so far-keep it up!

If you are thinking of getting pet portraits done of your pets, or of a loved one’s pets-give me a call, I do indoor or outdoor or both!

Book a winter or spring date now:)

Call Tabitha @ 419-266-0318 or email me @ tabitha.wellspring@gmail.com

-Tabitha

There’s been a lot of pug talk ( and there will actually be more Monday since I was booked for another pug shoot) but today my husband and I got to go look at the fuzzball we will be bringing home Here’s a pic of our first dog!

She’s four weeks old and I am in love with her squishy wrinkly little face! Stay tuned for updates on our new addition!

Many of you know that Tabitha got a brand new puppy a few months back, maybe even a year ago by now! Well now it’s my turn! Those of you who know me know I’ve been getting very excited (under statement?) about getting a pug! Well we got word from our breeder tonight that our pup was born early this morning! Keep checking back to follow this story!!

~Bethany

I haven’t posted anything personal in awhile so I thought I’d share a few images of my summer with my wonderful hubby! There are some seriously cute kiddos in our life that we love dearly and we’ve spent a ton of time with them; watching them change and grow. Not only has our summer been full of cuties we went to D.C. for our one year anniversary! It seems like just yesterday we were taking our vows and now we are practically an old married couple! . Here are a few snapshots of my summer!

The little firecracker

Nothing says summer like a couple of kids on the trampoline!

He really enjoys his space rockets with the attached guns

The next few are of our anniversary trip

Flags at the bottom of the Washington Monument.

This is from the National Air and Space museum. They had a scrapbook of many things they found leftover from WWII from the airforce! LOVE the pin up girl photos that gals sent to their men overseas.

We also visited Arlington National Cemetery, it was truly something.

President Obama’s face was on my subway ticket! It’s like we practically met!

I hope you all enjoyed the photos, just thought I’d share a little bit of my joy with all of you! Hope you all are enjoying the summer as well! We have a lot more work to come and don’t forget our Girls Day in the Garden promotion going on now! To get details scroll down a couple of posts!

As promised, here are some of my photos from vacation in Michigan where my husband and I visited the beautiful Benzie County area, on the North Western side of the "Mitten." We had a really great time, it was very relaxing -with many photo ops for me:)

(You may have already seen some of those photo ops in the "Summertime Fun" blog post)

Our first full day there was July 4th, and just outside our accommodations in Beulah was a parade! We also got to see fireworks right from our patio and we were super close to Crystal Lake and Lake Michigan.

Here are some images that I shot while we were there…

We stayed in this old Court house that has been turned into condos- what a great idea!

 This next flag  was on top of Fire Engine 5, parked along Crystal Lake the night of the fireworks.

 Anyone who has been to Elberta Beach or the Trick Dog Cafe may recognize this sign:)

 And my favorite of the bunch…this was from the Special Olympics float for the parade, it was all decked out for the 4th & along the side of the float was their motto, “Let me win but if I can not win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

What a great trip it was, hope to make it back up again next year. if you ever get to go, make sure to check out East Shore Market (for my FAVORITE pizza ever), and Crystal Crate & Cargo in Beulah, Trick Dog Cafe and the Cabbage Shed in Elberta, and Celia’s (for the BEST cinnamon rolls in the WORLD) and The Betsie Bay Inn in Frankfort. There are tons more places  to check out in the area- and many that we have never been, all the more reason to go back, I guess!

-Tabitha