If you haven’t heard of Brad Pattison, you may want to check out his TV Series airing on Canada’s Slice TV called At the End of My Leash. It also airs in the USA under the name In The Dog House on Discovery Animal Planet.

ABOVE: Tails were wagging at the Canadian Cancer Society when renowned dog trainer, TV host and author, Brad Pattison arrived to kick-off Bark For Life, a new canine event to fight cancer. Bark For Life will take place in Toronto on July 3 at Allan Gardens.

Luckily I was available as I received a phone call with less than 48 hours advance notice. Sometimes these events come together quickly; that’s the nature of the biz. The Society is launching a really fun fundraising event called Bark for Life in downtown Toronto. If you’re a dog owner or walker you can participate. All you need to do is drum up a minimum of $150 in donations by July 3rd, the date of the event.

ABOVE: Though not yet confirmed, it is suspected that this happy terrier is the culprit who piddled on photographer Dean Oros’ jacket during the media and book launch event for The Canadian Cancer Society and Brad Pattison.

The event and book launch took place in a boardroom. So you can imagine when I walked in and was greeted by a bunch of tail-wagging pooches happily playing amongst a room full of executives, laptops, and promotional “Bark for Life” signage. Fun stuff! I think beagles may have a camera-gene in their DNA because one particular beagle wanted to jump up on the boardroom table to get up close and personal with my camera gear.

When Brad walked in and said something about masturbating dogs I almost lost my focus, but managed to keep shooting. I won’t even mention the amount of dog humping that was going on. Funny guy that Brad Pattison. Well, that’s all I’m going to say about that!

ABOVE: TV Host, renowned dog trainer and author Brad Pattison becomes acquainted with a happy beagle during The Canadian Cancer Society’s canine media event “Bark for Life”.

Photographing rambunctious dogs meant I needed to get down to their level, so for a good part of the shoot I was rolling around on the floor with them. Everyone got a kick out of that, especially when I commented I was getting a good ab workout when shooting in mid sit-up. Kindly enough, the Society offered to pay for my dry cleaning bill. Haha. Which is too funny because after I had completed the shoot I realized that a pooch had piddled on my jacket. Note to self: Don’t hang jacket over back of chair when photographing canines.

ABOVE: Unleashed: A Dog’s Eye View of Life with Humans, the new book by Brad Pattison.

The shoot went well. Brad was great with the dogs. I got the shots I needed. Two hours afterwards a press release was sent out complete with a photograph by yours truly.

For those of you interested in participating in Bark for Life, it’s taking place July 3rd at Allan Gardens in Toronto. Here’s a map to help you out. And this link will take you to Bark for Life registration information.