Paws in the Park, an event in coordination with Black Dog Appreciation Day and Dog Walk will be held on Saturday April 2, 2016 at Pineville Lake Park (1000 Johnston Drive Pineville NC 28134) from 10am - 2pm. This is a free, kid friendly, and furry-kid friendly event. At 12pm, there will be a dog walk around the lake. Dogs of any color can attend!

This event was started a few years ago to help bring awareness to Black Dog Syndrome. Black dogs in shelters are typically the last dogs to find homes and the first ones to be euthanized. By walking dogs together and promoting the black dogs in need of forever homes, we can spread awareness about Black Dog Syndrome and begin to change the odds for homeless black dogs. I thank Lab Rescue of NC from the bottom of my heart for rescuing Buddy (pictured here), a black labrador on Oct 27, 2008.

In December 2008, I lost my first labrador retreiver Sloan (she was chocolate) to cancer. Two weeks later on New Years Eve, we brought home Buddy, my first black dog. He was my heart dog: that once in a lifetime (twice if you're lucky) dog. We were told by Lab Rescue of NC that Buddy was anywhere from 7-10 years old when we got him. I told my husband as soon as we got him that however long we would have him, it would not be long enough. He lived with us for almost 6 years and that wasn't long enough but I cherish every minute I had with him. My Buddy aka The Budster.

One of my biggest regrets is not having great pictures of Sloan. I have a ton of pictures of her but none that are really good. In the summer of 2014, we knew that Buddy's health was deteriorating and I had been considering buying a 'real' camera so I did. I had the camera for 6 weeks before we lost Buddy. The image above is one I took of Buddy and I can't tell you how much comfort I get from looking at this gray face.

Because of Buddy, Black Dog Appreciation Day means a lot to me. I will be there in his memory.

Why does Black Dog Syndrome exist? Black dogs are typically the last to be adopted because they are hard to photograph. In most shelters the lighting is poor and it is hard to make out facial expressions so the images are generally poor.  We are so fortunate to have professional photographer Fred Levy, Author of The Black Dogs Project attending Paws in the Park and he is also putting on a seminar on 3/31/16. Here are the details for the seminar (which I'm attending of course!):

Learn how to photograph Black Dogs from Fred Levy, Author of The Black Dogs Project. Thursday March 31, 2016 South Charlotte Banquet Center 9009 Bryant Farms Rd, Charlotte, North Carolina 28277 7pm - 9pm. Doors open at 5pm. Admission is $10 (cash) at the door or in advance at charlotteblackdogs@gmail.com

***Sorry, no dogs allowed at this***

Please come out and support See Spot Run Photography at Paws in the Park and drop by my booth to say hello. I'll be taking photos of the dogs attending and I'll post them at seespotruncharlotte.shootproof.com after the event.