… or so Lollie would have you believe. Fostermom had the pleasure of photographing Vicktory dog Handsome Dan and his family a few days before Christmas Eve for StubbyDog, and as an incredibly sweet gesture, Dansome got a box of doggie Christmas cookies for Lol and Chick. Lollie has a big crush on Handsome Dan of course (what ladydog wouldn’t?) so she has been shamelessly pretending that the cookies were a gift of love (not friendship) and only for her (not also for Chick).

Here she is with their box of cookies, showing Dansome her most winning “come hither” look: 

Dansome is a real role model for dogs like Lollie, because he has overcome such cruelty and adversity and become a wonderful and gentle family member to Mark, Heather, and their two kids. Dansome is quite shy and wary of strangers– which is understandable after everything he went through at the Vick property– but he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, and as time goes on, he is learning how to trust and love. He is worlds from where he was.

It was especially moving for me to meet Dansome because I had been following the Vick dogfighting drama from the start, and almost obsessively tracked the progress of the dogs at Best Friends and BAD RAP. I still remember the overwhelming emotion that washed over me each time I read a newspaper article or saw photos about the unfolding case or what was happening with the dogs. I remember seeing the Best Friends article about Dansome being adopted, and thinking how kind, gentle, and warm Heather, Mark, and their son Cam looked in the photos. I remember thinking how stark of a contrast his future life was going to be from his dark beginnings.

Well Heather, Mark, Cam, their new baby Josephine, and Handsome Dan himself all easily lived up to my imagination. Here are a few photos from our session: