Ok, maybe love is isn't adequate enough. Anybody who knows me would probably say I'm obsessed...

 

Let's go back, say, 24 years ago, to a little Bambi eyed girl in kindergarten. I used to spend a lot of Recess with my Mr. Magic scented markers drawing all different types of dogs. A lot of my wardrobe was littered in 101 Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp. One year I was even a Dalmatian for Halloween.

 

This obsession wasn't only a hobby—growing up, I was convinced I wanted to be a Veterinarian. My mom even bought me a plastic miniature dog carrier filled with a plastic stethoscope, a plastic booster shot, and a cute little brown stuffed dog. I wanted to pursue that for a while, but needless to say I learned I would have to occasionally put sick dogs to sleep and I could NOT handle that.

 

Nevertheless my obsession continued, my book shelves were covered in children's books like Clifford the Big Red Dog, and and my parents even got me a large dog encyclopedia from Costco that I read almost every single day in second grade. While I can't remember all of my math times tables--to this day when I see a dog that isn't mine I'm usually pretty good at guessing what breed it is.

 

Luckily, growing up I was able to have a dog of my own. My first, was a beautiful adopted Siberian Husky named Samantha. I loved her to pieces—I even loved roller blading and having her pull me around (which was fun, until she saw a Squirrel...). When she passed away after 13 years, we adopted our Golden Retriever Martin three years later, while I was attending college. He's a rambunctious ball of energy and a huge mush.

 

But when I first went to Marist College in New York, it was shortly after Samantha passed away. I was pretty devastated, and my friend Annie and I decided to start paying visits to an animal shelter called, "The Dutchess County SPCA" around the corner from Marist to help ease my pain.

 

I hoped to fill the empty void I felt, and I really wanted to help out dogs in need. After about 2 years of weekly volunteer walks, I decided to focus my senior thesis project (I went to school for graphic designer/photography) on a collection of images and stories from the DCSPCA dogs, titled, Give Me Shelter. The goal of Give Me Shelter was to help eliminate negative stigmas about shelter dogs (To learn more about that project, click here).

 

I approached the shelter some time after graduating with the finished book, and soon after the DCSPCA offered me an internship to turn the project into a fundraiser. During the 3-4 months that followed, we raised over $3,500. I did work for the DCSPCA and managed much of the project on my own, where we set up multiple book signings and fundraising events. It is one of the proudest things I've done in my life, and ever since the fundraiser ended I've looked to find a way to continue telling different types of dog stories.

 

Enter... Dog Park Diaries. Come follow us on our adventures! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see more of Carly's work, click on her website below!